Cincinnati Reds Top Sloppy Pirates in Series Opener, 3-1

W: Anthony DeSclafani (8-10)

L: Jeff Locke (7-10)

SV: Aroldis Chapman (29)

There aren’t many teams the Cincinnati Reds have a winning record against this year, but the Pittsburgh Pirates, holders of the third-best record in baseball, are one of the exceptions. The Reds added another win onto their 9-4 record against the Pirates this year with a 3-1 victory on Labor Day.

The Reds raced out to a quick 3-0 lead in the second inning, behind two singles, one walk and two errors by the Pirates’ defense, which had also committed an error in the first inning.

The inning started with Brandon Phillips reaching on shortstop Sean Rodriguez‘s second error in as many innings. Phillips was followed by a Jay Bruce single and scored a batter later on a single by Eugenio Suarez. A walk to Adam Duvall loaded the bases and brought Tucker Barnhart to the plate. Barnhart hit a lazy fly ball to right fielder Gregory Polanco for a sacrifice fly to score Bruce, but his throw to the plate ended up in the camera well, allowing Suarez to touch the plate as well.

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There would be no more runs for the Reds during the remainder of the game, but three runs was all that was needed for starter Anthony DeSclafani. The rookie gave up only one run on seven hits in 7.1 innings, pitching a shutout into the eighth inning. DeSclafani added six strikeouts and didn’t walk a batter.

He didn’t allow more than one baserunner in an inning until the eighth, when Jaff Decker doubled to lead things off, and scored on a single from Neil Walker, which chased DeSclafani from the game.

DeSclafani was relieved by Jumbo Diaz, who walked Andrew McCutchen, but got Jung Ho Kang to ground into an inning-ending, 3-6-1 double play.

Aroldis Chapman struck out Josh Harrison to start the ninth, but then hit Rodriguez with a pitch to put a runner on first. Rodriguez’s bad day would continue, however, as he was promptly picked off of first base. Chapman then struck out Starling Marte to end it and pick up his 29th save of the year.

Other Notes:

Joey Votto picked up a single to extend his on-base streak to 26 games.
Barnhart stepped to the plate three times in the game and saw only three pitches, swinging at the first offering in every at-bat.
The Pirates would commit a fourth error on an errant throw by first baseman Pedro Alvarez in the sixth inning.

Up Next: The Reds and Pirates meet again on Tuesday, when Raisel Iglesias and Francisco Liriano face off. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.

Next: Series preview: Pirates vs. Reds

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