If you have Xfinity, watching Pistons' Game 7 is going to be tricky
Xfinity subscribers in Detroit may miss Pistons' Game 7 due to ABC dispute
The Pittsburgh Pirates bounced back from a losing streak to defeat the Cincinnati Reds 17-7, clinching the series win after a 9-1 victory in the first game.
Photo provided by Eddie Provident
PITTSBURGH — Things couldn’t have gone much worse for the Pittsburgh Pirates against the St. Louis Cardinals to begin a seven-game homestand.
The Pirates were swept in four games as part of a five-game losing streak and fell to the cellar of the National League Central with a 16-16 record.
With no time to waste, the Pirates quickly flipped the script against the Cincinnati Reds to start a three-game series. After a 9-1 win in the first game of the series on Friday night, the Pirates exploded even more on Saturday for a resounding 17-7 victory.
“Yeah, we won, so it was fun,” Ryan O’Hearn said following Saturday’s win. “Sometimes they get out of hand a little bit but it’s fun to put a bunch of points on the board. Had a good offensive day.”
The Pirates’ 17 runs were a season-high while their 19 hits were also the most they’ve had in a game this year. While both totals are impressive, the team’s greatest feat was drawing 11 walks, including seven in a row in the third inning to force home three runs.
The Pirates tied a major league record by drawing seven-consecutive free passes, which had been done two other times.
“It was staying in the middle of the plate, being really stingy with what we were looking for and really, really being stingy,” manager Don Kelly said on the approach. “When we get in trouble, we try to do too much and go on the edges. I thought we did a real good job, especially in that inning, of shrinking the zone and making them throw it over the middle.”
The Pirates scored five times in that third inning, one of three frames in which they touched home five times. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, Pittsburgh strung together five hits and plated five runs in the bottom of the inning. They also sent 10 men to the plate as part of a five-run fourth.
The Pirates won both games against the Reds, with scores of 9-1 and 17-7.
Before facing the Reds, the Pirates had a 16-16 record and were on a five-game losing streak.
The win allowed the Pirates to clinch the series against the Reds and marked a turnaround from their previous losing streak.
The Pirates were swept in four games by the St. Louis Cardinals before their series against the Reds.
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The Pirates had only scored five-plus runs in three separate innings in the same game four other times in franchise history and not since 1912.
“The offense was great,” said Kelly. “I thought we had great at-bats, continued to do the things we’ve talked about. Worked the count. Passed the baton.”
There were many stars in Saturday’s win. Every starter in the lineup had at least one RBI, the first time the Pirates have done that since 1975.
But the star that shined the brightest was rookie Konnor Griffin, who set a career-high with four hits, finished a home run shy of the cycle, drove in a pair of runs and scored twice.
Griffin, who entered the series with a .231 batting average and a .631 OPS, is now hitting .260 with a .714 OPS.
“I don’t have to do too much,” Griffin said. “I’ll just be a little piece of the puzzle. I got a lot of really good hitters in front of me and my job’s to get on base for those guys to drive me in, so I’m gonna try to do that as much as I can.”
After the homestand could not have started on a worse note, the Pirates now have a chance to break out the brooms and gain three games on the team who entered the weekend in sole possession of first place in the division.
Considering the circumstances and the pure dominance the Pirates have displayed, that’s quite an accomplishment.
“That was a tough series against the Cardinals and credit to our guys for not letting that hang over our heads after a rough couple days during the week and coming out and having two great games,” said O’Hearn. “Vibes are good and the team’s winning. You just want to keep it going. That’s what we’re gonna try to do tomorrow.”
The post From Sweep to Surge: Pirates Pour it on Reds Again to Clinch Series Win appeared first on Pittsburgh Baseball Now.