Pittsburgh Pirates’ Yasmani Grandal, bottom right, celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off two-run home run during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Sunday, Aug. 25, 2024, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Matt Freed)
PITTSBURGH — Yasmani Grandal hit a two-run homer in the ninth inning, sending the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.
Bryan De La Cruz was hit by a pitch from Alexis Diaz (1-4) before Grandal connected for his seventh homer — a drive into the first row above the Clemente Wall in right field. It was Grandal’s fourth career game-ending homer.
“My 3-year-old keeps telling me to hit homers,” Grandal said. “Every time he’s said that, I’ve hit a homer. So he needs to keep telling me the same thing over and over.”
Diaz blew a save opportunity for the first time since May 13, when he allowed two runs in the ninth inning of a 6-5 loss to Arizona. It was the first loss for the closer since May 19 at the Dodgers.
“We put ourselves in a position to win,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Alexis has been through it before, so he’ll bounce back. But obviously, he’s not happy with it, but he has been great in that spot.”
Aroldis Chapman (5-4) handled the ninth for the win. Elly De La Cruz reached on a leadoff single, but Chapman picked him off before striking out Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa had three hits for Pittsburgh, which won three of four in the series.
“The confidence that he has is really important for our group,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Kiner-Falefa. “I mean, this is a veteran guy that has played in some major markets. … We need that energy in our clubhouse. He stepped right into our clubhouse, has a leadership role, has a ton of energy.”
Cincinnati trailed 2-0 before rallying for three runs in the seventh. Noelvi Marte singled and advanced to third on Jonathan India’s one-out double off Kyle Nicolas.
Elly De La Cruz then greeted Jalen Beeks with an RBI single. Following an intentional walk to Stephenson, India scampered home when Beeks mishandled Friedl’s sacrifice bunt.
A bases-loaded walk by Spencer Steer gave the Reds a 3-2 lead.
Dennis Santana then replaced Beeks and limited the damage by retiring Santiago Espinal and Dominic Smith, leaving the bases loaded.
Luis L. Ortiz pitched six sparkling innings for Pittsburgh. He allowed four hits, struck out five and walked one.
The Pirates jumped in front in the first. Kiner-Falefa hit a leadoff single against Nick Martinez and took second on a fielding error by Steer in left. He moved to third on Oneil Cruz’s single and scored on Joey Bart’s groundout.
“I take pride in taking care of myself,” said Martinez, who allowed two runs in three innings on three days of rest. “Working with the trainers and being completely transparent about how I feel and where my body’s at … I’m good to go. I can do this.”
Bart was removed with left hamstring discomfort in the third. He was replaced by Connor Joe as the designated hitter.
Bryan Reynolds made it 2-0 when he singled home Michael A. Taylor in the third.
“We had a couple opportunities we didn’t take advantage of,” Shelton said. “At that point, yeah, you look back and think, ‘That’s going to bite you.’ A couple things we have to be a little more aware of.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: RHP Hunter Stratton was placed on the 60-day injured list with a ruptured left patella tendon. Stratton was carted off in the fourth inning Saturday after chasing a wild pitch and colliding with the brick wall behind the plate.
UP NEXT
Reds: Have not announced a starter for Tuesday, the start of a three-game series against Oakland. RHP Mitch Spence (7-9, 4.67 ERA) will go for the Athletics.
Pirates: RHP Mitch Keller (11-7, 3.76 ERA) will take the mound Monday to begin a three-game series against the Cubs, starting opposite RHP Jameson Taillon (8-8, 3.77 ERA).
