PNC Park Still Haunts Reds in Late-Inning Loss to Pirates
PITTSBURGH — PNC Park has been a tough place for the Cincinnati Reds, and that trend continued Friday in the middle of their playoff push. Rookie Chase Burns turned in another stellar start, but the Pirates rallied late to hand Cincinnati a 3-2 loss.
The Reds led 2-1 in the eighth before Pittsburgh, sitting last in the division at 51-66, pushed across two runs against reliever Tony Santillan. The big blow came when Bryan Reynolds sent a perfectly placed ball down the right-field line. It ricocheted off the side wall, forcing right fielder Noelvi Marte to change his route, and two runs scored on what was ruled a triple after Marte bobbled the pickup.
“We had chances to add on so one mistake wouldn’t cost us,” manager Terry Francona said. “That ball was perfectly hit. We were playing no-doubles, it caught the carom — kind of the perfect storm.”
Cincinnati first scored in the third when Jake Fraley grounded into a bases-loaded double play. Tyler Stephenson later restored the lead in the sixth with an RBI double, but the Reds finished just 1-for-5 with runners in scoring position.
Burns went six innings, striking out 10 and allowing only one run on three hits and a walk. Despite eight starts in 2025, he remains winless. Francona brushed off concerns over that stat line. “If he keeps pitching like this, the wins will come,” he said. “I’m not worried about him.”
The loss was Cincinnati’s second straight in the four-game set and dropped them to 1-4 at PNC Park this year — 5-14 there since 2023. Second baseman Matt McLain couldn’t pinpoint why the venue has been so troublesome. “We just have to play better,” he said. “It’s frustrating to lose late, but we’ll come back ready tomorrow.”
The Reds will send Nick Martinez (9-9, 4.66 ERA) to the mound Saturday in hopes of forcing a series split, while Pittsburgh counters with rookie Braxton Ashcraft (3-2, 3.24 ERA), making just his second career start.
Leave a Reply