Pirates take advantage of overextended Cincinnati bullpen to rally for a 6-5 win

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan De La Cruz drove in a pair of runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied past the Cincinnati Reds 6-5 on Friday night.

The Pirates had dropped nine straight one-run games since the July 30 trade deadline before coming back from five down to beat the skidding Reds for the sixth time in eight meetings so far this season.

“Very excited about it, we’ve lost too many of them,” Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said after his team improved to 20-26 in one-run contests. “But it was good. They continued to battle.”

Joey Bart and Rowdy Tellez had two hits each for Pittsburgh, which is 5-3 since a 10-game slide dropped it to last place in the NL Central and effectively ended its playoff chances.

De La Cruz, acquired from Miami to help spark an offense that has struggled most of the year, is finding his footing with the Pirates. The right fielder is batting .351 (13 for 37) with eight RBIs in his last 10 games.

“At the beginning there was a little struggle,” De La Cruz said through a translator. “I wasn’t hitting like I wanted to, but now I’m in a good spot.”

Dennis Santana (3-1) worked two scoreless innings in relief. David Bednar earned his 23rd save when left fielder Billy McKinney made a sliding grab on a liner by Elly De La Cruz with two on and two out in the ninth.

Tyler Stephenson hit his 17th home run of the season for Cincinnati. Santiago Espinal had three hits for the Reds but was also thrown out at second base in the seventh while trying to advance on a fly ball to center field, one of a handful of miscues by Cincinnati.

Cincinnati’s battered starting rotation took another hit Friday when the club placed Andrew Abbott on the 15-day injured list with a strained left shoulder. Reliever Buck Farmer got the start in Abbott’s place and Farmer, Sam Moll and Tony Santillan held the Pirates without a hit for four innings.

Alan Busenitz, called up to take Abbott’s roster spot, wasn’t so fortunate. He gave up a leadoff single to Bart leading off the fifth and the floodgates opened. Bart scored on a double by De La Cruz as part of a surge that eventually pulled the Pirates within 5-4.

Pittsburgh took the lead in the sixth when Oneil Cruz led off with a double and scored on an RBI single by Bart. Tellez followed with a hit-and-run single that moved Bart to third and Bart jogged home on De La Cruz’s sacrifice fly off Justin Wilson (1-3).

Holding leads in tight games has been difficult of late for Pittsburgh, but Santana breezed through two frames and Chapman escaped a two-on, two-out jam in the eighth by striking out Stuart Fairchild.

Bednar, who had given up at least one run in seven of his previous nine appearances, surrendered a leadoff double to Will Benson and walked Jonathan India with two outs before McKinney’s slick grab let Pittsburgh exhale.

“He stayed in aggressive mode,” Shelton said of Bednar. “I think in the past we’d seen him when guys got on base, maybe (he’d) be a little tentative. Today was kind of like the David Bednar we’re used to where he just stayed right after and it highlights that he went right after Elly.”

Pirates starter Bailey Falter gave up five runs in five innings, including four in a sloppy fourth. Shelton stuck with Falter for the fifth. The left-hander responded by throwing a scoreless frame that keeping the Pirates within striking distance before the offense erupted against a Cincinnati bullpen that’s been stretched thin.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: RHP Hunter Greene (right elbow soreness) is expected to rejoin the team this weekend after having his elbow examined in Los Angeles. ... Cincinnati also transferred C Austin Wynns (right shoulder) to the 60-day injured list.

Jake Woodford (0-5, 6.67 ERA) will start for Pittsburgh on Saturday. The Reds have yet to announce a starter. Before the game, the Pirates will induct manager Jim Leyland, outfielder Barry Bonds and catcher Manny Sanguillén into the club’s Hall of Fame.

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