Pirates 4, Reds 1
A.J. Burnett pitched eight strong innings to reach 10 wins for the ninth straight season and Pedro Alvarez hit a two-run homer as visiting Pittsburgh seized the opener of a key three-game series.
Marlon Byrd also drove in two runs among his three hits for the Pirates, who need a victory Saturday or Sunday to earn the right to host Cincinnati in Tuesday's National League wild card game. Burnett (10-11) allowed one run and five hits while striking out six to win back-to-back starts - both against Homer Bailey and the Reds - for the first time since May 3.
Todd Frazier homered for the Reds, who must win Saturday and Sunday to host Tuesday's game. Bailey (11-12) allowed four runs, as many hits and four walks in five-plus innings while falling to 13-6 in 30 career September starts.
Pittsburgh took a 2-0 lead in the third inning after Starling Marte was hit by a pitch and Andrew McCutchen and Justin Morneau worked one-out walks before Byrd delivered a two-run single to left. Cincinnati cut the lead in half when Frazier's 19th homer struck the left field foul pole in the fourth.
Byrd missed a home run by inches when he doubled off the left-center wall to open the sixth inning and Alvarez followed with his 35th homer to center - an estimated 443 feet - to chase Bailey. Jason Grilli worked around a leadoff single in the ninth before earning his 33rd save in 35 chances.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Cincinnati 1B Joey Votto went 2-for-4 and has reached base 312 times this season, breaking Pete Rose's club record set in 1969. ... Alvarez set a team record for home runs by a third baseman, breaking the previous mark by Aramis Ramirez (2001). ... Bailey reached a career high for innings pitched with 209 as Cincinnati lost all four of Bailey's starts to Pittsburgh in 2013.