Pirates 7, Reds 3
CINCINNATI -- Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run home run and Francisco Liriano allowed only three hits in six innings, lifting the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 7-3 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park.
Liriano (10-7) was stellar on the mound and at the plate with one walk, 10 strikeouts, and a pair of hits, including a double.
Third baseman Jung Ho Kang hit a solo homer and Starling Marte went 3-for-5 with a double and run scored for the National League wild-card leading Pirates (82-55), who began play 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Cardinals in the NL Central standings.
Raisel Iglesias (3-7) took the loss for Cincinnati (57-80), which suffered just its fifth loss in 15 meetings this season against Pittsburgh.
It was a costly loss for the Reds, who lost a pair of left fielders in the game.
In the fifth, Adam Duvall left with a left knee contusion after being struck by a pitch and Kristopher Negron exited in the seventh after partially dislocating his left shoulder making a diving catch.
X-rays on Duvall's knee were negative. Negron will be examined again Wednesday.
Kang's monster shot in the eighth off right-hander Collin Balester traveled an estimated 447 feet into the left-center field bleachers, putting the Pirates ahead 6-0.
Shortstop Eugenio Suarez tripled home two runs during a three-run seventh for Cincinnati.
With one out in the first, Marte's double off the wall in right-center was misplayed for an error by center fielder Jason Bourgeois, allowing the Pirates left fielder to reach third.
Iglesias, who struck out a combined 23 batters in his previous two outings, fanned two straight Bucs batters to end the inning. However, the rookie right-hander had a nightmarish third.
The Pirates went ahead 1-0 when Liriano doubled and scored on right fielder Gregory Polanco's single to right.
Following a single by Marte, McCutchen crushed Iglesias' first pitch an estimated 404 feet to right for a three-run homer. It was McCutchen's 21st homer this season, and the 24th of his career off Reds pitching, his highest total against any team.
Iglesias later committed a run-scoring balk, making it 5-0. He left after three innings, having allowed five runs on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts.
NOTES: Pittsburgh's Aramis Ramirez started at first base, the first time he played a defensive position other than third base in his 2,174 major league games. ... Pirates RHP Gerrit Cole will skip his next scheduled start in order to limit his workload. Cole, 25, is 16-8 with a 2.54 ERA in 28 starts. The move also lines up Cole to start the National League wild-card game if necessary. ... The Reds reinstated OFs Billy Hamilton and Brennan Boesch from the 15-day disabled list and recalled LHPs Tony Cingrani and Brandon Finnegan, RHP Josh Smith and INF/OF Kristopher Negron from Triple-A Louisville.