Reds join the rest of us, take Labor Day off, lose to Pirates

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

In a day that was light on the offensive side for the Reds, Scooter Gennett was able to at least put something on the board. He collected 2 hits, both of which were the only extra-base hits the Reds had all day. He finished 2 for 4 with a double and a solo home run and became the first Reds second baseman to have back-to-back seasons of at least 20 dingers since Brandon Phillips did it in 2007-2009. Have a trophy, Scoot.

Honorable mentions are due to: Jackson Stephens, for striking out 2 in a scoreless inning.

Key Plays

• Adam Frazier started off his monster day with a 1-out dinger to right to give Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead.
• Things stayed that way until the bottom of the 6th. Adam Frazier singled to right and then came around to score on a 2-run blast by Gregpry Polanco. Pirates led, 3-0.
• The Pirates were able to add to their lead in the bottom of the 7th. Kevin Newman singled to right with 1 out and then moved to third when Scooter Gennett threw away a double-play ball that put runners on 2nd and 3rd. That brought up Adam Frazier, who collected his 4th hit of the day and drove in both runners. Pirates led 5-0.
• Scooter Gennett hit a solo dinger in the top of the 8th, but that’s all the offense the Reds could muster. Pirates win 5-1.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Matt Harvey wasn’t too bad in this one. He shouldn’t be taking starts from young guys at this point, but whatever. He had a quality start today, scattering 7 hits over 6 innings, allowing 3 runs, no walks, and striking out 3.
• Pirates’ starter Trevor Williams has been on a tear lately, as today’s outing was the 6th of his last 9 appearances where he didn’t allow a run.
• Joey Votto did something cool today.
• Cody Reed will take the mound for the Reds tomorrow to try and even up the series. First pitch is scheduled for 7:05 PM ET.
• Tunes.