Jake Woodford Bounced Early in Pirates' Blowout Loss
PITTSBURGH - There won't be a series sweep over Cincinnati this weekend as the Reds poured it on the Pirates tonight by a 10-2 score.
For the second straight outing, Pirates starting pitcher Jake Woodford got hit around giving up seven earned runs on seven hits in just 3.1 innings of work. Four of those runs came right off the rip in the first inning, starting off with a pair of walks. TJ Friedl singled to right to plate the first run, Elly De La Cruz, from second. Spencer Steer dumped one into left for a two-RBI double and then pulled off a successful steal of third, setting up Ty France to knock him in via a sacrifice fly.
Reds manager David Bell probably felt déjà vu starting to take place when Rowdy Tellez crushed a two-run homer over the Clemente wall to cut the deficit in half. Last night, the Reds opened up with a 5-0 lead, only to fall 6-5. That eerie feeling didn't last long, though.
Cincinnati put up another four spot in the fourth, knocking Woodford out of the game just a handful of batters in. His replacement, Hunter Stratton, only lasted four pitches, injuring his knee chasing after a ball that deflected off his glove on a play at the plate. Stratton hit his knee off the limestone-covered backstop but also appeared to have twisted it before crashing into the wall. He was able to get up after a few minutes of staying put on the ground, but did have to be carted off.
The Reds tacked on two more runs to push the lead to 10-2 and with the Pirates not wanting to eat too much into their bullpen, manager Derek Shelton had first baseman Rowdy Tellez pitch the ninth. After giving up a leadoff hit to De La Cruz, Tellez induced a ground ball double play and got a fly out to end the frame.
PITTSBURGH PIRATES
1. 2B Isiah Kiner-Falefa 1-3
ph Alika Williams 0-1
2. DH Bryan Reynolds 0-4
3. SS Oneil Cruz 1-4
4. C Joey Bart 0-3, BB
5. 1B Rowdy Tellez 1-4, HR, 2 RBI
6. RF Bryan De La Cruz 0-3
7. LF Billy McKinney 0-3
8. 3B Jared Triolo 0-3
9. CF Ji-Hwan Bae 0-2, BB
CINCINNATI REDS
1. 2B Jonathan India 2-5
2. SS Elly De La Cruz 3-4, BB, 2B, 2 RBI
3. C Tyler Stephenson 1-3, 2 RBI, BB
4. CF TJ Friedl 2-5, RBI
5. LF Spencer Steer 1-3, 2B, 2 RBI, BB
6. 1B Ty France 0-3
7. DH Dominic Smith 1-4
8. 3B Santiago Espinal 1-4
9. RF Will Benson 1-4, RBI
Tomorrow's probables: Carson Spiers (4-5, 5.43 ERA) vs. Luis Ortiz (5-4, 3.56 ERA).
SCHUYLER CALLIHAN