Reds fans clinch free pizza on automated system challenge vs. Rockies

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Chase Burns threw nine strikeouts in a win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday in Cincinnati. File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI

April 29 (UPI) -- Cincinnati Reds fans erupted after an automated ball‑strike system challenge upheld a called third strike, triggering a free‑pizza giveaway for everyone in attendance.

The saucy sequence occurred in the top of the ninth inning of a 7-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday in Cincinnati.

LaRosa's Pizza, a local restaurant chain, offers a free, one-topping pizza to ticketed fans for seven days after a game in which Reds pitchers combine for at least 11 strikeouts. But they came up one short -- at first.

Reds starter Chase Burns tossed three strikeouts in the first inning. He added three more in the third and another two in the fourth. Burns, who tossed his final strikeout in the sixth, was replaced by relief pitcher Graham Ashcraft to start the seventh.

Ashcraft failed to add to the strikeout total in one inning of work. Fellow relief pitcher Tony Santillan struck out shortstop Ezequiel Tovar to end the eighth, getting fans close one strikeout away from the free pizzas. The Reds then brought in Brock Burke in the top of the ninth.

The left-handed pitcher allowed a leadoff single to pinch hitter Jordan Beck, bringing second baseman Edouard Julien to the plate. Burke threw a sinker for a called strike to start the exchange. He then worked to a 1-2 count.