Cincinnati 4, Pittsburgh 3
When: 7:10 PM ET, Monday, September 10, 2012
Where: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, Ohio
Temperature:
77°
Umpires:
Home -
Phil Cuzzi, 1B -
Gerry Davis, 2B -
Manny Gonzalez, 3B -
Greg Gibson
Attendance:
16577
By SportsDirect Inc.
Reds 4, Pirates 3 (14): Ryan Ludwick's infield single in the bottom of the 14th inning drove home the winning run to lift host Cincinnati over fading Pittsburgh.
Ludwick ripped a hard shot that Pirates shortstop Chase d'Arnaud had to dive to backhand, but couldn't control it as he came up to throw, giving Ludwick his 10th career walk-off hit and sending Pittsburgh to its fourth consecutive loss.
Alfredo Simon (3-2) earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief and Rick VandenHurk (0-1), promoted from Triple-A earlier Monday, took the loss.
Chris Heisey homered and Dioner Navarro had a two-run double for the Reds, who boosted their lead atop the National League Central to 9 1/2 games over St. Louis.
Andrew McCutchen hit a solo homer in a three-run fourth-inning for Pittsburgh, which couldn't hold a 3-0 lead and remained 2 1/2 games behind the Cardinals for the second wild-card slot.
It was the longest game between the teams since they went 14 innings in 1984.
Reds starter Mat Latos labored through six innings, allowing three runs on five hits. Pirates left-hander Wandy Rodriguez was charged with three runs on three hits in 6 2/3 frames.
Following McCutchen's leadoff blast in the fourth, his 26th, the Pirates sandwiched walks around Jose Tabata's ground-rule double to load the bases for Rod Barajas, who dumped a single into right field. Tabata scored on Rodriguez's groundout.
Rodriguez retired the first 10 batters before Heisey hit his seventh homer to left-center to cut the deficit to 3-1. He exited after allowing singles to Joey Votto and Todd Frazier in the seventh, but Jared Hughes coughed up Navarro's tying two-run double.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Both teams loaded the bases in the 10th inning but were unable to push a run across. ... Hughes angered Brandon Phillips when he plunked him with a pitch in the eighth. Phillips tossed the ball back at Hughes and the two had words before the umpires interceded. ... Reds RF Jay Bruce was named NL co-Player of the Week after batting .500 (11-for-22) with four homers and nine RBIs in six games. He went hitless in five at-bats Monday and had his nine-game hitting streak snapped. ... McCutchen needs four runs to become the first Pittsburgh player to reach 100 since Nate McLouth in 2008. ... Reds 3B Scott Rolen (back spasms) missed his fifth straight start but grounded out as a pinch hitter in the 13th inning. ... Pittsburgh promoted RHPs VandenHurk and Bryan Morris, and d'Arnaud from Triple-A Indianapolis. RHP Evan Meek was designated for assignment.
Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Pittsburgh |
|
Cincinnati |
Wandy Rodriguez
|
Player |
Mat Latos
|
No Decision |
W/L |
No Decision |
6.2 |
IP |
6.0 |
5 |
Strikeouts |
5 |
3 |
Hits |
5 |
4.05 |
ERA |
4.50 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
Pittsburgh
|
9 |
1 |
15 |
.180 |
32 |
13 |
3 |
9 |
0 |
0 |
Cincinnati
|
8 |
1 |
12 |
.167 |
26 |
13 |
4 |
7 |
1 |
0 |