BUCS BLUDGEON REDS, CLINCH NL CENTRAL
21-Hit Attack Paces 10th Straight ‘W’
CINCINNATI, Sept. 27 (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates buried the Cincinnati Reds under 18 runs on 21 hits, winning their 10th consecutive game and clinching the National League Central Division in the process. The 18-7 massacre at Great American Ballpark set a Pittsburgh team-high for hits in a single game, led by Josh Harrison’s five safeties. Harrison is the 21st big league player to accrue five hits in a nine-inning game this season. The Pittsburgh third baseman was one of seven Pirates who had multiple hits in the contest; Neil Walker and Jordy Mercer belted home runs.
The Pirates scored early and often, and the game was effectively over by the third inning. After Walker’s solo home run gave Pittsburgh a 1-0 lead in the second, the Pirates exploded for six runs off Reds starter Alfredo Simon in the third. Pittsburgh starter Francisco Liriano helped himself with a lead-off single—just his second hit of the season—and moved to second on Harrison’s base hit to right. Then came the key play in the inning. Travis Snider grounded a potential inning-ending double play ball to third but Kris Negron booted it for an error, loading the bases. And the flood gates then opened. Simon walked Andrew McCutcheon, forcing in the second Pirates run of the game, and then Walker and Starling Marte laced consecutive singles, accounting for three more runs. That ended the day for Simon; he was replaced by Manny Parra, who fanned Ike Davis for the second out, but Mercer and Chris Stewart followed with back-to-back base hits, each of which plated an additional run, and it was 7-0 before Parra finally ended the inning by retiring Liriano.
The contest was effectively decided at this point, but the scoring had barely started. The Pirates scored twice more in the fourth, on a bases loaded hit batsman and another Cincinnati error, to make it 9-0. The Reds got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth on Negron’s solo home run.
But Pittsburgh scored three more in the sixth, on a Davis double, a wild pitch and Harrison’s RBI single. Harrison and Snider added run-scoring hits in the top of the eighth, to give the Pirates a 14-1 lead.
The Reds erupted for six runs in the bottom of the eighth, though it was just postponing the inevitable. Ryan Ludwick’s three-run homer was the big blow.
Seemingly irritated, the Pirates plated another four runs in the ninth, capping the scoring. Mercer’s three-run homer and Davis’ second double of the game brought home the runs.
The NL postseason picture is now set. The Reds will take on the St. Louis Cardinals in the wildcard play-in game. The winner of that contest will face the Washington Nationals in the divisional round, while the Pirates will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in an NLDS series of their own.
9/27/2014, Pit14-Cin14, Great American Ball Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
2014 Pirates 0 1 6 2 0 3 0 2 4 18 21 1 11 0
2014 Reds 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 6 0 7 8 2 9 0
Pirates AB R H BI AVG Reds AB R H BI AVG
Harrison,J 3b 7 3 5 2 .339 Negron 3b 4 1 1 1 .324
Snider rf 7 2 3 1 .231 Phillips 2b 4 0 1 2 .250
Tabata lf 0 0 0 0 .281 LeCure p 0 0 0 0 .000
McCutchen,A cf 4 1 0 1 .300 Frazier 1b 4 1 1 0 .288
LaFromboise p 0 0 0 0 .000 Mesoraco c 3 1 1 0 .316
Sadler p 0 0 0 0 .000 Heisey cf 5 0 1 0 .245
Walker,N 2b 3 3 2 3 .277 Ludwick lf 4 1 1 3 .251
Marte,S lf 5 3 2 3 .316 Rodriguez,Y rf 5 1 1 0 .310
Davis,I 1b 6 2 2 2 .213 Santiago,R ss 4 1 1 0 .263
Mercer ss 6 1 2 4 .254 Simon p 0 0 0 0 .097
Stewart,C c 5 1 3 1 .326 Parra,M p 0 0 0 0 .000
Sanchez,T pr 1 1 1 0 .325 Elmore ph 1 0 0 0 .000
Liriano,F p 3 1 1 0 .036 Villarreal p 0 0 0 0 .000
Pimentel p 0 0 0 0 .000 Bourgeois ph 1 0 0 0 .182
Polanco,G ph 2 0 0 0 .244 Dennick p 0 0 0 0 .000
49 18 21 17 Diaz,Ju p 0 0 0 0 .000
Hannahan ph 1 0 0 0 .196
Hoover p 0 0 0 0 .000
Cozart ph 0 1 0 0 .222
36 7 8 6
Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Liriano,F W 10-6 5.1 3 1 1 4 8 88 53 3.04
Pimentel H 2 1.2 0 0 0 0 4 25 19 4.86
LaFromboise 0.2 5 6 6 3 1 33 12 25.20
Sadler 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 17 11 7.00
9.0 8 7 7 7 15 163 95
Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Simon L 11-13 2.1 6 7 4 1 0 47 35 3.87
Parra,M 0.2 2 0 0 0 1 18 13 2.70
Villarreal 2.0 3 2 1 1 1 37 22 2.40
Dennick 0.2 4 3 3 1 0 23 13 12.46
Diaz,Ju 1.1 0 0 0 1 1 24 16 2.57
Hoover 1.0 3 2 2 0 0 21 12 3.55
LeCure 1.0 3 4 4 2 1 36 16 6.47
9.0 21 18 14 6 4 206 127
Pit: Sanchez,T ran for Stewart,C in the 8th
Polanco,G batted for Pimentel in the 8th
Snider moved to lf in the 8th
Marte,S moved to cf in the 8th
Sanchez,T moved to c in the 8th
Polanco,G moved to rf in the 8th
Tabata inserted at lf in the 9th
Cin: Elmore batted for Parra,M in the 3rd
Bourgeois batted for Villarreal in the 5th
Hannahan batted for Diaz,Ju in the 7th
Cozart batted for Hoover in the 8th
Santiago,R moved to 2b in the 9th
Cozart moved to ss in the 9th
E-Mercer, Negron, Santiago,R. 2B-Snider(12), Davis,I 2(20), Stewart,C(8).
3B-Snider(1). HR-Walker,N(24), Mercer(13), Negron(8), Ludwick(8).
RBI-Harrison,J 2(59), Snider(41), McCutchen,A(95), Walker,N 3(82),
Marte,S 3(62), Davis,I 2(53), Mercer 4(62), Stewart,C(12), Negron(18),
Phillips 2(52), Ludwick 3(38). SB-Negron(5). CS-McCutchen,A. K-Marte,S,
Davis,I, Liriano,F, Polanco,G, Negron 2, Phillips 2, Mesoraco, Heisey 2,
Ludwick, Rodriguez,Y 3, Santiago,R, Elmore, Bourgeois, Hannahan.
BB-McCutchen,A 2, Walker,N 2, Marte,S, Liriano,F, Negron, Phillips, Frazier,
Mesoraco 2, Ludwick, Cozart. HBP-Walker,N. HB-Villarreal. WP-Liriano,F,
LaFromboise, Dennick.
GWRBI: Walker,N
Temperature: 76, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: out to center at 3 MPH.
Attendance: 42,277
Game Time: 3:43