Reds blow 9th inning lead, lose to Pirates 3-2 in walk-off fashion

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Aristides Aquino hadn’t mauled a baseball in several days, but we’ll go ahead and blame a day game followed by an off-day for part of the reason why.

That changed on Friday, however, as The Punisher descended on Pittsburgh and let his bat take the Pirates to task in the Cincinnati Reds series-opening win.

Aquino smashed another homer - his 12th already this season - and backed it up with both a single and a double. The double drove in the would-be game-winning run, too, meaning Aquino pretty well swung the bat that defined the Reds offense in this, their 67th defeat of the season.

Congrats, Aristides, and please keep punishing baseballs for the Cincinnati Reds ad infinitum.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Anthony DeSclafani, who allowed just a lone run in his 6 IP; Freddy Galvis, who singled and doubled; Tucker Barnhart, who doubled and walked; Robert Stephenson, who effectively got 4 outs in the Bottom of the 7th after an oof-ish Eugenio Suarez error; Amir Garrett, who returned to form with a perfect 8th inning; and, well...not Raisel Iglesias.

Key Plays

• The Punisher is a player, and he crushes a lot. That was again on display in the Top of the 2nd, when he belted a Mitch Keller meatball over the CF wall for a 402 foot dinger. Being of the solo variety, it put the Reds ahead, 1-0.
• Disco largely cruised until the Bottom of the 6th, at which point the Pirates managed to level the score. And, as they are wont to do, it was a walk that did the haunting. Bryan Reynolds began the inning with said walk, and after an infield single, a tag-up on a fly-out, and a productive grounder later, he scored to make it an even 1-1 game.
• The Reds re-took the lead in the Top of the 8th, however, and the fact that it came against Keone Kela just made it that much sweeter. Galvis doubled down the RF line to get it started, and he scored on a double into the LF corner by Aquino, giving the Reds a 2-1 lead.
• Unfortunately, Raisel Iglesias took the mound for the save opportunity and fell completley apart. He allowed a trio of singles in a row - the last by Frazier scoring the game-tying run - and a later Pablo Reyes smash to the wall walked it off. Reds lose, 3-2.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Every team in baseball debuted their ‘Player’s Weekend’ jerseys tonight, and they were positively awful. Perhaps the worst attempt at baseball uniforms I have ever seen.
• The last two days have seen a series of roster transactions, highlighted by Jesse Winker finally landing on the 10-day IL. Meanwhile, Tyler Mahle was returned to the roster from his rehab assignment and optioned to AAA. That left a roster spot open for Derek Dietrich to return from his rehab stint at AAA, which he did tonight. He started at 1B against his good friends in Pittsburgh, going 0 for 3 with zero HBPs.
• For the record, rosters expand in a week, so I’d wager we’ll see Mahle then (at the latest) as this season winds down. Hopefully, each of Winker, Joey Votto, and Alex Blandino will get back on the roster around that time, too, both due to health and expanded roster reasons.
• Alex Wood will once again attempt to right his ship on Saturday as the Reds starter, as he’ll oppose Pittsburgh and starter Trevor Williams in the second game of this series. First pitch is set for 7:05 PM ET once again.
• Tunes.