|
|
Cincinnati
Reds Shin-Soo Choo, center, collects himself
after being hit by a pitch from
Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher
Jeanmar Gomez in the first inning in Pittsburgh, Sunday.
|
|
Reds squander early lead in extra-innings
loss to Bucs
Miss chance at a
sweep to fall into a tie for second in the NL Central
reds.com
PITTSBURGH -- The Reds and pitcher Mat Latos may have wanted to gain a
measure of revenge on behalf of Brandon Phillips against the Pirates on
Sunday for his plunkings over the past two days.
But, the real and lasting satisfaction that could have been gained from
sweeping a series got away in rather ugly fashion: a 5-4 Reds loss to
the Pirates in 11 innings that culminated with Travis Snider's walk-off
RBI single against Alfredo Simon.
"Many things happened during that game," Reds manager Dusty Baker said.
"We have to put our foot on their throat when we get them down."
The Reds blew the 4-0 lead they had after the first inning, as
Pittsburgh inched back over the course of the afternoon. The Bucs'
bullpen pieced together 10 scoreless innings once starter Jeanmar Gomez
left with right forearm tightness.
"The resolve the club showed -- the bullpen in particular -- throughout
the day, they came off the field and I tipped my hat to them," Pirates
manager Clint Hurdle said.
Cincinnati had a 4-2 lead in the eighth, and setup man Jonathan Broxton
had two outs after Neil Walker hit into a double play. Andrew McCutchen
then hit a sharp roller to the left side. Todd Frazier attempted a
diving play to knock the ball down, but he could not pick it up and it
went for an infield single.
On a 2-1 Broxton pitch, Garrett Jones hit a towering shot that exited
PNC Park for a two-run home run. Jones became only the second player to
ever hit a ball on the fly into the Allegheny River, and the first
since Houston's Daryle Ward in 2002.
"I was throwing a cutter, in," Broxton said. "He got to it in a hurry."
It was Broxton's third blown save of the season, but the first since
April 14 at Pittsburgh on a day that Latos also started. In that game,
the Reds blew a 5-0 lead, and Broxton gave up six runs in the eighth as
the Pirates took a three-game sweep.
"You go in there and try to win today and not worry about the past,"
Broxton said. "We were going for the sweep today, and we had it until I
came in and gave it up."
Baker did not consider bringing in lefty closer Aroldis Chapman to face
the lefty-hitting Jones.
"Well, it's a manager's decision," Baker said. "You can't put in
Chapman all the time. I was saving Chapman [to save] the win. It's easy
now to say [he should have faced Jones]."
Latos missed a shot at having a 6-0 record, after he pitched six
innings and allowed two runs on three hits with two walks and seven
strikeouts.
In the bottom of the first inning, both benches were warned after Latos
drilled Walker with a two-out first pitch. It was likely retaliation
for Phillips being hit each of the last two nights, with latter forcing
him out of Sunday's game with a left forearm contusion.
"Things happen, the ball slips," Latos said. "I'll say if you're that
type of person that's counting that, it's 6-2 them so far this series."
Although Shin-Soo Choo was plunked in the fourth for his Major
League-leading 17th hit-by-pitch -- and the Pirates' Starling Marte was
hit in the eighth and 10th innings -- none of those appeared to be
intentional and no ejections were issued.
Choo was also hit by a pitch to begin the game, and he scored the first
run when Zack Cozart hit a triple through the gap in left-center field.
After a Joey Votto walk, Jay Bruce hit an RBI single to right field.
Frazier's single was next, followed by Xavier Paul's RBI single to
right field that scored Votto and loaded the bases.
From there, Gomez did some decent damage control, however, and only
allowed a Devin Mesoraco sacrifice fly that made it 4-0. The top of the
first inning ended when Cesar Izturis grounded into a double play to
second base and Gomez exited with tightness in his right forearm.
For the rest of this article, click here
|
|
|
|
