CINCINNATI – Oneil Cruz belted a pair of towering home runs, including one to right field projected at 444 feet as part of a four-homer night for the Pirates, who outlasted the Cincinnati Reds, 8-3, on a wild, windy night at Great American Ball Park Tuesday night.
Ryan O’Hearn and Bryan Reynolds also connected for long home runs off Cincinnati starter Brandon Williamson while starter Bubba Chandler battled wildness over 4 1/3 hitless innings in claiming Pittsburgh’s second win of the season.
With the Pirates struggling with runners in scoring position in the first two innings, O’Hearn launched a 94 mph four-seamer from Williamson (0-1) to the bleachers in right center with two outs for a 4-0 lead.
Reynolds followed with a line drive off the messageboard facade in left for his first of the season and 139th as a Pirate, moving him out of a tie with Bill Mazeroski for 10th and into a tie with Jason Bay for ninth in club history.
Pirates manager Don Kelly was ejected in the eighth inning by home plate umpire and crew chief Jordan Baker for arguing a check-swing call made by first base umpire Rob Drake on Eugenio Suárez, who had already begun walking back to the Cincinnati dugout thinking it was strike three. TV replays caught Kelly mouthing the words “watch the game” twice.
After back-to-back homers from Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart made it 6-3, Suárez and Dane Myers singled to bring the tying run to the plate twice, in Noelvi Marte and Nathaniel Lowe. But Dennis Santana induced a pop out from Marte and got Lowe to line softly into a double play as Brandon Lowe made a diving catch and threw to first to end the inning.
The combination of Chandler, Yohan Ramírez (1-0) and Hunter Barco held the Reds hitless until Jose Trevino’s sharp grounder to left field evaded the reach of shortstop Nick Gonzales with one out in the seventh.