Oneil Cruz homered twice and Ryan O’Hearn hit a three-run shot as the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-3 on Tuesday night.<\/p>\n
O’Hearn and Bryan Reynolds went back-to-back in the second inning. Cruz finished with three hits and three RBIs. He also scored three times. <\/p>\n
The Reds were held hitless until Jose Trevino singled off reliever Hunter Barco with one out in the seventh. Pirates rookie starter Bubba Chandler tossed 4 1\/3 innings with six strikeouts, but also walked six. <\/p>\n
Sal Stewart and Elly De La Cruz hit consecutive homers off Barco to trim the Pirates’ lead to 6-3 in the eighth. <\/p>\n
Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly was ejected in the eighth for arguing with plate umpire Jordan Baker. <\/p>\n
Cruz hit a solo homer in the fourth off left-hander Brandon Williamson, then provided insurance for Pittsburgh with a two-run homer off Pierce Johnson in the ninth.<\/p>\n
Williamson made his first major league appearance since Sept. 1, 2024. He missed last season following left elbow surgery.<\/p>\n
Williamson (0-1) allowed consecutive homers in the second to O’Hearn and Reynolds that made it 5-0.<\/p>\n
It was the 139th career homer for Reynolds, tying Jason Bay for ninth on the franchise list. <\/p>\n
Chandler issued three walks in the third but allowed only one run, helped when TJ Friedl popped into a double play attempting to bunt. <\/p>\n
The Reds’ first run scored when Reynolds and Cruz allowed Ke’Bryan Hayes’ flyball to drop between them in left-center. It was initially ruled a single but later changed to an error on Reynolds in left, keeping the no-hit bid intact for a while. <\/p>\n
Cincinnati had the bases loaded with one out in the fifth but Yohan Ram\u00edrez (1-0) struck out Matt McLain and De La Cruz to end the inning. <\/p>\n
Pirates: RHP Paul Skenes (0-1) looks to rebound from a rough opener Wednesday. <\/p>\n
Reds: LHP Andrew Abbott (0-0) tossed six shutout innings last Thursday. <\/p>\n
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AP MLB: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/mlb<\/p>\n