The Reds and pitcher Mat Latos may have wanted to gain a measure of revenge on behalf of Brandon Phillips against the Pirates on Sunday for his plunkings over the past two days.
But, the real and lasting satisfaction that could have been gained from sweeping a series got away in rather ugly fashion: a 5-4 Reds loss to the Pirates in 11 innings that culminated with Travis Snider’s walk-off RBI single against Alfredo Simon.
“Many things happened during that game,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “We have to put our foot on their throat when we get them down.”
The Reds blew the 4-0 lead they had after the first inning, as Pittsburgh inched back over the course of the afternoon. The Bucs’ bullpen pieced together 10 scoreless innings once starter Jeanmar Gomez left with right forearm tightness.
“The resolve the club showed — the bullpen in particular — throughout the day, they came off the field and I tipped my hat to them,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said.
Cincinnati had a 4-2 lead in the eighth, and setup man Jonathan Broxton had two outs after Neil Walker hit into a double play. Andrew McCutchen then hit a sharp roller to the left side. Todd Frazier attempted a diving play to knock the ball down, but he could not pick it up and it went for an infield single.
On a 2-1 Broxton pitch, Garrett Jones hit a towering shot that exited PNC Park for a two-run home run. Jones became only the second player to ever hit a ball on the fly into the Allegheny River, and the first since Houston’s Daryle Ward in 2002.
“I was throwing a cutter, in,” Broxton said. “He got to it in a hurry.”
It was Broxton’s third blown save of the season, but the first since April 14 at Pittsburgh on a day that Latos also started. In that game, the Reds blew a 5-0 lead, and Broxton gave up six runs in the eighth as the Pirates took a three-game sweep.
“You go in there and try to win today and not worry about the past,” Broxton said. “We were going for the sweep today, and we had it until I came in and gave it up.”
Baker did not consider bringing in lefty closer Aroldis Chapman to face the lefty-hitting Jones.
“Well, it’s a manager’s decision,” Baker said. “You can’t put in Chapman all the time. I was saving Chapman [to save] the win. It’s easy now to say [he should have faced Jones].”
Latos missed a shot at having a 6-0 record, after he pitched six innings and allowed two runs on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts.
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