Cincinnati Reds hit 3 solo homers, beat Pirates in series opener

With a solid effort from everyone involved, the Cincinnati Reds are back in the win column.

A trio of solo home runs was the only offense the Reds need on Monday evening against the Pirates, as they snapped a modest two-game losing streak to defeat their NL Central rival 3-2. Zack Cozart led off the bottom of the first inning with a bomb, before Joey Votto hit an opposite field shot in the sixth to tie the game and Tucker Barnhart hit took Jon Niese deep in the seventh inning to put Cincinnati ahead for good.

Here are some observations from the game:

Straily stays steady

Once again, the Reds got exactly what they needed from starting rotation fill-in Dan Straily. The right-hander turned in his third consecutive quality start, pitching six innings and surrendering just two runs on four hits, with four strikeouts and three walks. He stayed out of trouble for most of the game, but he did have some issues in the sixth when he allowed a single, a walk and another single to load the bases with no outs. But he was able to limit the damage, allowing one run to score on a sacrifice fly by Francisco Cervelli and another on a ground-out by Jung Ho Kang before getting out of the inning. Since moving from the bullpen to the rotation, Straily now has a 3.53 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 28 innings.

Bullpen holds up

It’s been as rare to see as a unicorn this season, but the Reds’ relievers did not allow a run on Monday and held on to a slim, one-run lead. In relief of Straily, J.C. Ramirez fired a perfect seventh inning on a weak pop-up and a pair of ground-outs. Blake Wood was brought on in the eighth to face the heart of the Pirates order and despite giving up a leadoff walk to Andrew McCutchen, he was able to avoid any damage, ending the inning by striking out Cervelli on a nasty changeup. In pursuit of his second save of the season, things got off to a grim start for Tony Cingrani in the ninth when Kang roped a double on the first pitch he saw. The southpaw buckled down, however, retiring the next three hitters to preserve the win.

More from Blog Red Machine

• Reds vs. Pirates: Pitching preview, prediction, and more
• Reds appropriately designate reliever Brad Brach for assignment
• Reds: 3 reasons why Jonathan India will win NL Rookie of the Year
• Reds: Despite six straight series defeats, Cincinnati is still contending
• Reds: It’s time to end Asdrúbal Cabrera’s brief tenure in Cincinnati

Dazzling defense

While the bullpen should be commended for holding down the fort, it wouldn’t have been possible without some great glove work from the Reds infield. With one out in the eighth, Starling Marte hit a sharp grounder up the middle, but Cozart laid out at shortstop to make the stop and fired to first to retire the second batter of the inning. Had the ball gotten through, runners would’ve been on the corners with one out, as McCutchen was running on the pitch. In the ninth, with pinch runner Sean Rodriguez on third base and one out, it was Brandon Phillips who game up with the defensive gem. Playing in to prevent the run from scoring, the second baseman dove to his right to rob Jordy Mercer of a hit and was able to look the runner back to keep the Reds in front. If those two plays hadn’t been made, it would’ve been a different outcome and we’d be talking about another bullpen letdown.

Notes:

• Barnhart’s go-ahead home run was his first from the right side in his entire professional baseball career. It barely left the yard, but hey, a dinger is a dinger.
• Billy Hamilton had himself a great night at the dish, picking up three singles. He’s shown an improved offensive approach that hasn’t had great results yet, and perhaps Monday was the start of something good.
• With Jay Bruce mired in a slump, Tyler Holt got the starting nod in right field and went 1-for-3 with the bat.