September 21 – Tyler Stephenson had three hits and five RBI on Friday and scored three runs to help the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8–3 in the first game of a three-game series.
Cincinnati starting pitcher Nick Martinez (10-6) pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only two hits, striking out nine and walking no batters.
In the first inning, Stephenson hit a shot to center field, helping the Reds (75-80) take a 1-0 lead. In the third inning, the home team continued to hit the ball and Stephenson helped the team take the lead.
Will Benson and Jonathan India hit home runs to start the inning, and Eli de la Cruz hit a single with no outs. Stephenson then hit a double to left field, putting out all three runners and giving Cincinnati a 4–0 lead. Ty France hit a sacrifice fly three batters later to make the score 5–0.
Buccaneers starter Mitch Keller (11-11) continued to struggle in the fourth quarter. After Benson homered to start the inning, the Indians hit a slider 425 feet to left-center field and extended their lead to 6-0. De La Cruz then gave up Keller’s fifth walk of the game, tying the record for most walks by a right-hander since July 8, 2023.
When Stephenson hit a single to right field, De La Cruz stole second and scored in the seventh for the Reds. Spencer Steere ended the inning with a double for Keller.
T.J. Friedel drove the ball in on his first at-bat against reliever Joey Wentz, allowing Stephenson to score and making the score 8–0.
Keller allowed eight hits while striking out seven in 3 1/3 innings. He walked five times and struck out once.
The Pirates (72-82) struggled to get on base against Martinez but eventually found success against the Reds bullpen.
O’Neil Cruz hit his 20th home run of the season to start the seventh inning when Brent Suter struck out. Cruz and Andrew McCutchen had singles to start the ninth, and then Joey Bart hit a single off Cruz. Butt then got out two batters later on Roddy Tellez’s single.
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