Andrew McCutchen’s homer lifts Pirates over Reds to claim key NL Central series win
CINCINNATI — Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer, Luis L. Ortiz threw six innings of one-run ball and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-1 Wednesday, winning a series between the NL Central rivals for the second consecutive week.
Rowdy Tellez also homered, and Jason Delay drove in a pair of runs with a two-out double in the sixth. The Pirates (39-41) took two of three from the Reds, as they did last week in Pittsburgh.
Ortiz (4-2) allowed four hits in six innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. Kyle Nicolas pitched two hitless innings, and Aroldis Chapman finished with a perfect ninth as the Reds (37-43) were held to four hits or fewer for the 18th time.
“The biggest thing was no walks,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Ortiz's outing. "He gave up the run, came back and had a shut-down inning. Overall, it was extremely impressive.”
Cincinnati has lost four of five and eight of 11, dropping its last four series.
“We'll continue to fight through it, continue to look to make adjustments like we always do," Reds manager David Bell said. "But nothing will change from our players as far as how we approach every single day trying to get better. You know, we feel like we're still right in this. We've got a long way to go and a lot of opportunity ahead.”
A bright spot for Cincinnati has been Jonathan India, who got his fifth consecutive multi-hit game, singling in the first and hitting an RBI double in the third.
Graham Ashcraft (4-4), recalled after three weeks at Triple-A Louisville, allowed six runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.
“I felt like I'm doing what I needed to do,” Ashcraft said. “I just ran into a couple of bad innings right there.”
Brian Reynolds extended his hitting streak to a major league-best 23 games with a first-inning single.
Pittsburgh led 2-1 in the fifth when Delay led off with a double, and McCutchen, the 37-year-old designated hitter, followed with his 11th home run, a 422-foot drive to center.
“It’s been a long season, the ups and downs," Tellez said. "It’s nice to get that going. We’re playing some good ball. Any time you can take two of three in the division, it’s always nice.”
Reds INF Noelvi Marte is eligible to play in the majors again Thursday after an 80-game suspension for a positive test for the performance-enhancing substance Boldenone.
Pirates: After an off day, Pittsburgh opens a three-game series at Atlanta. Starting pitchers haven't been announced.
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