Pirates revel in playing spoiler, gaining experience vs. rival Reds

CINCINNATI -- Bryan Reynolds made the turn back to the dugout and could only shake his head. In a year of offensive frustrations, both for the Pirates and their two-time All-Star right fielder, a potential game-tying home run robbed by Noelvi Marte was about as on-the-nose as a single snag could be.

Trailing 2-1 with one out in the ninth at Great American Ball Park Thursday, Reynolds put a charge into Emilio Pagán’s fastball, but it couldn’t escape Marte’s outstretched, leaping arm in right field.

“What a play,” manager Don Kelly said. “Bryan hit it and Marte did a great job of going up and bringing it back. Unbelievable play.”

That catch was the difference in the Pirates’ 2-1 loss to the Reds, their 90th loss of the season. The Reds, on the other hand, were able to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Pirates, keeping Cincinnati's playoff hopes alive.

Throughout the series, the Pirates didn’t shy away from the fact that they were playing for pride while the Reds were playing for October. They also want to change that in 2026, viewing this series as a preview of what a playoff atmosphere could be like.

“It gives us a taste of what's ahead for us,” Paul Skenes said after his stellar start on Wednesday. “The atmosphere is just electric. I wasn't out there most of the game after I came out [of the game], but just watching, it was unbelievable. Hopefully, we have that in Pittsburgh next year."

Work is going to have to be done to achieve that. Thursday’s loss was indicative of that.

Starter Braxton Ashcraft was efficient through four innings, but the Reds finally broke through with a series of hits in the fifth. While a strong relay by Nick Yorke to Joey Bart was able to catch Ke’Bryan Hayes at the plate upon review, Nick Gonzales made a throwing error on an RBI single by Marte that allowed him to move to second and eventually score on a Gavin Lux base hit. Had Gonzales not thrown the ball home, the Reds likely would have had a run taken off the board.

But when you factor in that the Pirates had just three hits on the day and it was their 36th game this season where they scored zero or one run, the greater issue that’s plagued this team all season is evident.

Pitching is going to have to carry the franchise moving forward, and having arms like Ashcraft emerge is one of the biggest positives in a season like this. Not only did he pitch well all year, finishing with a 2.71 ERA in his rookie campaign, he also threw significantly more innings than he ever had as a pro, finishing at 118 between Triple-A and the Majors.

“Setting a foundation to carry that workload into next year and be able to build on that and be pitching in the next month next year, that's the goal,” Ashcraft said. “And I think that was the biggest win of this year, is throwing up zeros and quality zeros, and still maintaining stuff, maintaining velocity, and giving our team a chance to win whenever I'm well above the previous year's innings numbers.”

That’s a start, but like Ashcraft’s innings, the Pirates are going to need to build in 2026. If nothing else, they at least hung tough all series against the type of team they will need to beat next year.

“That was a great baseball series,” Kelly said. “Well played on both sides. The defensive effort, the pitching effort, offensively, finding ways to come through. Bryan should've, could've tied that up, Marte pulls it back. We pulled three double plays late in the first game. Yesterday, Yorke made some unbelievable plays and it was back and forth. That was a playoff atmosphere and I thought we responded really, really well.”