BUCS RALLY LATE, EXTEND ‘W’ STREAK TO 11

Reds Fail to Clinch Wildcard

CINCINNATI, Sept. 28 (AP) – The Pittsburgh Prates rallied for three runs in the ninth inning and went on to win their 11^th consecutive game, defeating the Cincinnati Reds 6-4 at Great American Ballpark in their final scheduled game of the regular season. The Reds missed a chance to clinch the second National League wildcard slot and now must wait to see how the San Francisco Giants fare in their game with the San Diego Padres later today. A Giants win would force a one-game play-in with the Reds to determine the final NL playoff spot.

The Pirates broke a scoreless tie with a run in the top of fifth off Reds starter Johnny Cueto when Andrew McCutcheon doubled home Josh Harrison, who had walked two baters earlier. Pittsburgh increased its lead to 3-0 with a two-run, two-out rally in the sixth. Jordy Mercer doubled and was single home by Chris Stewart, who took second on the throw to the plate. Stewart then scored when Pirates starter Gerrit Cole singled.

But Cincinnati rallied to tie the game off Cole in the bottom of the sixth. Kris Negron led off with a base hit and a walk to Brandon Phillips put runners on first and second. Cole fanned Todd Frazier for the first out, but a walk to Devin Mesoraco filled the bases. When Jay Bruce drew the third free pass of the inning, it forced in a run, making the score 3-1. It also ended Cole’s day. Brandon Cumpton replaced Cole and promptly walked Chris Heisey, forcing in another run. Jason Bourgeois then lifted a sacrifice fly to right, scoring Mesoraco to tie the game.

In the bottom of the seventh, the Reds took the lead for the first time when pinch hitter Ramon Santiago led off with a walk. Negron hit into a fielder’s choice, forcing Santiago at second, and Phillips lined to center for the second out. But Todd Frazier drilled a double to the gap in right-center, scoring Negron, to put Cincinnati on top 4-3.

That was the score heading into the ninth, and the Reds called on closer Aroldis Chapman to put the game to bed. But he walked Brent Morel to open the frame, then surrendered a base hit to Harrison, putting runners on first and third. The hit extended Harrison’s hitting streak to 19 games, longest of the season for the Pirates and the third longest such streak in the NL. The Reds decided to try to cut off the tying run at the plate and brought the infield in. That decision paid off when Travis Snider grounded to third and Morel was cut down at the plate for the first out. That brought Andrew McCutcheon to the plate. McCutcheon is Jayson Werth's primary competition for the NL MVP Award and he proved why, again, when he drove Chapman's 1-0 pitch into the left-center field stands for a three-run homer, his 33rd long ball of the year, and a 6-4 Pittsburgh lead.

Mark Melancon came on for the Pirates in the bottom of the ninth and set the Reds down in order, striking out a pair, to seal the victory.

The 11-game winning streak for Pittsburgh matches the longest in the major leagues this season. The Seattle Mariners won 11 consecutive games in June. No other NL team accrued a double-digit winning streak in 2014.

9/28/2014, Pit14-Cin14, Great American Ball Park

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP

2014 Pirates 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 3 6 11 0 9 0

2014 Reds 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 0 0 4 5 0 6 1

Pirates AB R H BI AVG Reds AB R H BI AVG

Harrison,J 3b 3 2 2 0 .341 Negron 3b 5 2 1 0 .319

Snider rf 4 1 0 0 .228 Phillips 2b 3 1 0 0 .248

McCutchen,A cf 5 1 3 4 .302 Frazier 1b 4 0 1 1 .288

Walker,N 2b 4 0 1 0 .277 Mesoraco c 3 1 0 0 .314

Marte,S lf 5 0 2 0 .317 Bruce rf 3 0 1 1 .206

Davis,I 1b 4 0 0 0 .211 Heisey cf 3 0 0 1 .243

Mercer ss 4 1 1 0 .254 Bourgeois lf 3 0 1 1 .194

Stewart,C c 4 1 1 1 .324 Cozart ss 4 0 0 0 .220

Cole p 3 0 1 1 .261 Cueto p 2 0 1 0 .167

Cumpton p 0 0 0 0 .111 Santiago,R ph 0 0 0 0 .263

Morel ph 0 0 0 0 .262 Contreras p 0 0 0 0 .000

Melancon p 0 0 0 0 .000 Ondrusek p 0 0 0 0 .000

36 6 11 6 Chapman,A p 0 0 0 0 .000

Pena,B ph 1 0 0 0 .244

31 4 5 4

Pirates INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA

Cole 5.1 4 3 3 3 8 84 55 3.88

Cumpton BS 1, W 4-4 2.2 1 1 1 2 1 36 24 5.89

Melancon S 39 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 12 8 2.71

9.0 5 4 4 5 11 132 87

Reds INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA

Cueto 7.0 7 3 3 4 6 116 75 2.57

Contreras H 3 0.1 1 0 0 0 0 8 5 2.18

Ondrusek H 8 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 10 7 3.83

Chapman,A BS 4, L 1-4 1.0 3 3 3 1 1 25 15 2.50

9.0 11 6 6 5 8 159 102

Pit: Morel batted for Cumpton in the 9th

Cin: Santiago,R batted for Cueto in the 7th

Pena,B batted for Chapman,A in the 9th

2B-McCutchen,A(37), Mercer(29), Frazier(21). HR-McCutchen,A(33).

RBI-McCutchen,A 4(99), Stewart,C(13), Cole(9), Frazier(80), Bruce(53),

Heisey(30), Bourgeois(3). SB-Marte,S(29). CS-Davis,I. K-Snider, Marte,S,

Davis,I, Stewart,C 3, Cole 2, Negron 3, Frazier 2, Mesoraco, Bruce 2, Heisey,

Bourgeois, Pena,B. BB-Harrison,J, Snider, Walker,N, Davis,I, Morel, Phillips,

Mesoraco, Bruce, Heisey, Santiago,R. SF-Bourgeois. HBP-Harrison,J. HB-Cueto.

GWRBI: McCutchen,A

Temperature: 70, Sky: clear, Wind: right to left at 17 MPH.

Attendance: 41,980

Game Time: 3:01