PITTSBURGH – Trailing by five runs heading into the bottom of the fifth inning Friday evening, Joey Bart stepped to the plate looking to give the Pirates their first baserunner of the evening. For the opening four innings, the Reds bullpen had kept Derek Shelton’s lineup in check, retiring the first 12 batters in order. But all Pittsburgh needed was a spark. Bart simply wanted to give his team a reason to keep fighting. But instead, the Pirates catcher would end up making a series of key plays in back-to-back innings that paved the way for a 6-5 Pirates comeback victory over Cincinnati at PNC Park.
The first part of Bart’s heroics began in his at-bat in the fifth, as he singled to give his team its first hit. He then came around to score their first run of the night on an RBI double from Bryan De La Cruz. which was followed by three more runs in that frame. Billy McKinney, Jared Triolo and Isiah Kiner-Falefa each drove an additional run home to turn a five-run deficit into a one-run contest heading into the sixth. One inning later, after Oneil Cruz led things off with a double to left field, Bart tied the contest with another single. After moving from first to third on a single to the right side by Rowdy Tellez, Bart then completed his second trip around the bases on a sacrifice fly from De La Cruz to score the game’s winning run. ON THE MOUND Pirates starter Bailey Falter looked to have settled in after surrendering a homer to Tyler Stephenson in the first inning, but he lost control in the top of the fourth, allowing four runs to give the Reds a 5-0 cushion.
Stephenson started the rally with a single, which was followed by a double from Spencer Steer. Ty France drove home Stephenson with a sacrifice fly, which was followed by an RBI single from Stuart Fairchild to make it a 3-0 game. Santiago Espinal then knocked home two more runs in the frame with a single but was tagged out trying to stretch his hit into a double. Dennis Santana replaced Falter in the top of the sixth, hoping to keep the score close after the Pirates’ big four-run inning in the previous frame. The 28-year-old right-hander was successful, blanking the Reds during two innings of work to earn his second win of the year. Aroldis Chapman relieved Santana in the eighth, posting a zero for his eighth straight appearance. David Bednar then finished the job in the ninth, bouncing back from his loss Wednesday in Texas to record his 23rd save of the
