Pirates lose 90th game and 35th by 1 run as Reds make 2 runs stand up

The Pirates couldn’t secure a three-game sweep of the Reds on Thursday at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati but did clinch their first 90-loss season since back-to-back 100-loss seasons in 2021-22.

A two-run fifth inning by the Reds was too much for the Pirates to overcome as they dropped to 69-90 with a 2-1 loss, their 35th one-run loss of the season.

“That was a great baseball series,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said on the SportsNet Pittsburgh broadcast. “It was well played on both sides. The defensive effort, the pitching effort and offensively finding ways to come through … that was a playoff atmosphere and I thought we responded very well.”

The Pirates nearly tied it in the top of the ninth inning when Bryan Reynolds hit a fly ball to right field that had the distance to clear the wall. However, Reds right fielder Noelvi Marte stretched his glove above the wall to pull it back and potentially save the Reds’ playoff chances.

“What a play,” Kelly said. “Bryan hit it and Marte did a great job of going up and bringing it back. It was an unbelievable play.”

Right-hander Braxton Ashcraft and Reds starter Nick Lodolo combined to throw eight scoreless innings to start the game.

Ashcraft allowed at least one hit in all five innings he worked but was able to escape trouble for the most part. After a leadoff single by third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes and a six-pitch walk to center fielder TJ Friedl in the third, Ashcraft recorded back-to-back strikeouts before inducing a ground ball to escape the jam.

The Pirates defense aided Ashcraft again in the fifth when Friedl doubled into the right-center gap. Center fielder Alexander Canario played it off the wall and made a successful relay throw to second baseman Nick Yorke, who threw out Hayes at the plate.

However, the Reds’ offense came alive after that. Marte and second baseman Gavin Lux recorded back-to-back RBI singles to make it 2-0 and force Ashcraft from the game.

“I thought he threw the ball extremely well,” Kelly said of Ashcraft. “The velo was there, the sharpness to the breaking balls, attacking early. I thought he did a really good job. That fifth inning, it just looked like he ran out of gas a little bit.”

In his final appearance of the year, Ashcraft threw 4 2/3 innings, allowed eight hits, two earned runs, one walk and struck out five, capping a rookie season in which he worked in several roles. He was called up May 26 in Arizona and made 26 appearances but started eight games and produced a 2.71 ERA over 69 2/3 innings. He struck out 71 and produced a 1.25 WHIP.

“Unbelievable,” Kelly said of Ashcraft’s rookie season. “I mean, starting off in the minors and coming up. He filled so many different roles from the first pitch of the game to the last. Starting games, saving the game against the Phillies in the rain. Bulk innings, all in between and back-and-forth. The mindset and the competitiveness that he showed, and the way that he was able to adjust his stuff and continue to work on that while filling different roles. I thought he had a heck of a year.”

Lodolo threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings before leaving the game with a right groin injury in the seventh inning. He struck out 12, walked one, and allowed two hits, one each to Reynolds and left fielder Tommy Pham. Neither hitter advanced past first base as Lodolo retired 16 of the final 17 hitters he faced following Pham’s leadoff hit in the second inning.

The left-hander kept the Pirates off balance with several curveballs as he produced a 75% whiff rate with the pitch, which he threw 27 times. He also utilized 24 fastballs, none of which were put into play.

“He was really effective throwing his fastball. It’s sneaky, 94 to 96, but it’s got some hop to it and he runs it up there at the top of the zone,” Kelly said about Lodolo. “Then, I thought we weren’t picking up the breaking ball as well, expanding the zone on him, but that’s due to his stuff.”

The Pirates got on the board in the top of the eighth inning on the back of a red-hot Spencer Horwitz. After recording two doubles and three RBIs on Wednesday, Horwitz pinch-hit for Canario and hit a leadoff double to the right-center gap.

Horwitz, who is hitting .333 over his past seven games, came around to score moments later when Jack Suwinski and Nick Yorke moved him around the basepaths to cut the lead to 2-1.

Relievers Kyle Nicolas and Carmen Mlodzinski were able to keep the Reds close as they threw 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief while allowing only two hits. Nicolas struck out three before Mlodzinski worked the final two innings.