Cincinnati Reds back Tyler Mahle with pair of TDs in 14-1 win over Pirates

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

It was thoroughly impossible to stop anything the Cincinnati Reds offense did on the day.

Every single starter reached base, and every single starter got at least one hit. Still, it was probably Tyler Naquin who again deserves the most dap for his work against the Pittsburgh Pirates on the day, as he just continues to destroy almost every pitch they throw him.

He belted a 3-run dinger and added an RBI-double to his ledger to boot, in the process reclaiming the team lead in arby-eyes with an absurd 24 through just 32 team games.

Honorable Mentions are due to: pretty well every single other hitter, including Tyler Mahle, who singled, walked, and drove in a run on top of limiting the Pirates offense to a lone run in 5.1 IP.

Key Plays

• It was Eugenio Suarez who broke the ice on the scoring in this one, socking a Mitch Keller meatball over the wall in right-center in the Top of the 2nd for a solo job that gave the Reds a 1-0 lead.
• Jacob Stallings, though, got that back for the Pirates in the Bottom of the 2nd in short order. He, too, swung a solo-dinger stick, turning around a stale Mahle breaking ball to level things at 1-1.
• A jam-shot single into CF by Jesse Winker got the party started for Cincinnati against Keller in the Top of the 4th. A walk to Nick Castellanos followed, and Mike Moustakas then singled to plate Winker. Naquin then socked an RBI-double into the RF corner to plate Castellanos, giving the Reds a 3-1 lead with still none out and a pair of runners in scoring position. Two batters later, Tucker Barnhart blasted a 2-run double to the deepest part of the ballpark in CF to give the Reds a 5-1 lead, while a Kyle Farmer single and Mahle walk then followed to chase Keller to the showers. Duane Underwood, Jr. took over to try to mitigate the damage, but a 2-run single into RF by Nick Senzel gave the a 7-1 lead before the inning finally ended.
• The Reds played add-on in the Top of the 6th, and it was the bottom of the order doing the damage. Barnhart doubled down the RF line to begin things, and he moved up a bag on Farmer’s single. That put runners in scoring position for noted RBI-guy Tyler Mahle, who plated a run with a productive grounder to the right side. Reds led, 8-1.
• Luis Oviedo was on the bump for the Reds to thump in the Top of the 7th, and thump they did. A double by Winker was followed by a single from Moose, putting a pair of runners on for Naquin’s titantic 3-run dinger off the fair pole in RF. Reds led, 11-1.
• Geoff Hartlieb was the designated run-surrenderer for Pittsburgh in the Top of the 8th, and he chipped in with a pair of walks before an RBI-double by Nick Senzel made it 12-1. A subsequent double by Castellanos emptied the bags to make it 14-1, which is how this one eventually finished.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Mahle struggled with command early, and that caused his outing to again be a bit shorter than you’d have expected given how he also at times had Pirates hitters looking silly. Overall, he threw 96 pitches in his 5.1 IP, scattering 4 H and 4 BB while allowing a lone ER and fanning 7.
• Heath Hembree and Amir Garrett successfully kicked this game down the line, combining for 2.2 IP of scoreless ball.
• Jeff Hoffman is scheduled to start tomorrow in the second game of this intradivisional series in Pittsburgh. He’ll be opposed by the Dave Brubeck Quartet as the Pirates try to hit the Time Out button on losing to the Reds this year. First pitch is set for 6:35 PM ET.
• Tunes.