Field Level Media
Sep 14, 2020
Tyler Stephenson's two-run homer in the seventh inning Monday gave the Cincinnati Reds a walk-off 3-1 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates in the first game of a doubleheader.
Tied 1-1 in the seventh and final inning, while facing Pirates reliever Sam Howard (2-2), there were two outs before the Reds' Jose Garcia singled to left. Stephenson followed with his game-ending shot to left, his second of the season.
Joey Votto hit a solo homer for Cincinnati (22-26), which won consecutive games for the first time in nearly two weeks.
Colin Moran hit a home run for the Pirates (14-31), who have lost five consecutive games.
Cincinnati starter Trevor Bauer was dominant for most of the game. In 6 1/3 innings, he struck out 12 and walked two, giving up one run and four hits.
Raisel Iglesias (3-3) got the final two outs of the seventh to earn the victory.
Pittsburgh starter Cody Ponce pitched four innings, giving up one run and one hit, with three strikeouts and two walks.
Offense was tough to come by early in a pitchers' duel.
Through four innings, Bauer struck out six, allowing four Pittsburgh base runners: a single by Erik Gonzalez to lead off the game, a walk to Ke'Bryan Hayes with one out in the first, a walk to Bryan Reynolds to lead off the second, and Kevin Newman reaching on third baseman Eugenio Suarez's error in the second.
Through 3 2/3 innings, Ponce faced the minimum. There was one base runner, a walk to Shogo Akiyama to lead off the bottom of the first, but he was erased trying to steal second.
With two outs in the fourth, Votto sent his eighth homer of the season over the wall in left to give Cincinnati a 1-0 lead.
Bauer stayed the course, striking out the side in the fifth to give him a streak of 11 straight retired batters.
In the seventh, after retiring 14 in a row, Bauer gave up a leadoff homer to Moran. It was Moran's eighth of the season, tying the game at a run each.
--Field Level Media