Pirates take different fork in a very familiar road to break losing skid

In many respects, Tuesday’s game was very similar to most of the ones that the Pittsburgh Pirates have played recently.

They got great starting pitching while the hitting was almost entirely absent.

In some other key areas, however, the latest contest against the Cincinnati Reds was extremely different.

First and foremost, the Pirates actually won it.

The score was 1-0. That shouldn’t be a surprise, seeing as how the batless Bucs dropped a 7-1 contest to Cincy on Monday night, and a 1-0 result in Philadelphia on Sunday. It was also the 25th consecutive game in which the Pirates plated four runs or fewer. That’s one game away from tying a Major League record.

Bailey Falter was the latest starter to put the team on his back. It was Paul Skenes on Sunday and Mitch Keller on Monday. On Tuesday night, Falter tossed seven shutout innings. He walked no one while yielding just four hits and posting five strikeouts.

“He was electric,” manager Don Kelly said during postgame remarks on SportsNet Pittsburgh. “His fastball exploding through the zone. Command (of) both sides of the zone. Pitching in … he did a great job.”

The lefty is now 3-3 with a 3.50 ERA. He’s 2-1 with a 0.38 ERA in May.

Bailey Falter's 5Ks.

(7 Scoreless) pic.twitter.com/b1Yr8a5mDD

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 21, 2025

“We got some good cut on the four-seam today and blew up a couple of bats,” Falter said. “If I can execute that inner-rail to the right-handed stuff, it opens up so many doors for me.”

The end result wasn’t the only significant difference for the Pirates, though.

• Slumping Bryan Reynolds got a rare big hit. Rare for himself. Rare for the Pirates.

Yet again, the Bucco hitters were 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position and left nine men on base Tuesday. Reynolds, entering the game with a .145 batting average in May, came through with a hit to right field with two outs, scoring Oneil Cruz from second base for the lone run of the night.

BRYAN REYNOLDS GIVES THE PIRATES THE LEAD

106.0 MPH exit velocity, .480 xBA pic.twitter.com/uXlLKHGOh2

— Platinum Ke’Bryan (@PlatinumKey13) May 21, 2025

It wasn’t much. But it was enough.

• An error by Isiah Kiner-Falefa and a failed sliding attempt at a sinking liner by Tommy Pham allowed the Reds’ go-ahead run to score Monday.

Tuesday, though, Spencer Horwitz made a couple of nice plays at first base. The Pirates executed a strike-em-out, throw-em-out double play.

Strike 'em out Throw 'em out
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Double play pic.twitter.com/spAh21WeMS

— Pittsburgh Pirates (@Pirates) May 21, 2025

They also turned a clutch double-play in the ninth inning, and, contrary to what happened the previous evening, the game ended with Alexander Canario sliding along the left field line to make a nice grab.

“The guys are working,” Horwitz said. “I’ve been really impressed in the short time I’ve been here. There’s early work, consistent work, the wanting to get better. Hopefully that continues.”

• David Bednar got a save, working a scoreless ninth inning after he and Colin Holderman let a 2-1 game get loose and become a 7-1 laugher in the series opener.

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“What a great job by him to stay with it. We talked about it last night, being able to slow it down and stay in the moment,” Kelly said of Bednar. “He did an awesome job tonight getting that double play.”

This may sound backward from the usual sports credo, but on Tuesday for the Pirates, the more things stayed the same, the more they changed.

And even though the bats stayed in hibernation, the simple sight of a check mark going in the win column for the first time after four losses felt like change enough.