Reds use homers, walks to squelch Pirates
PITTSBURGH -- Eugenio Suarez and Scooter Gennett each solo homers, and the Cincinnati Reds took advantage of five walks Monday night for a 7-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park.
What was billed as a marquee matchup of young starters fizzled quickly.
Pittsburgh's Tyler Glasnow (0-1), a 23-year-old who won the fifth starter's spot late in the spring, had a rough 2017 debut. He gave up five runs and four hits with five walks and a strikeout in 1 2/3 innings.
Cincinnati's Brandon Finnegan, also 23, lasted only two-plus innings. He allowed one run, four hits and five walks with four strikeouts.
Michael Lorenzen (1-0) pitched three innings of no-hit ball in Finnegan's wake. Four Reds pitchers combined for a four-hitter with 13 strikeouts.
Cincinnati (5-2) led 6-1 through five innings. Gennett homered to right-center field in the eighth to increase that to 7-1.
The Pirates (3-3) had won three in a row.
Glasnow's first inning was a disaster. Billy Hamilton led off with a single to center and stole second. After Jose Peraza popped out, Glasnow walked four batters in row to give the Reds a 2-0 lead.
The crowd grew restless, including scattered boos.
Gennett hit into an RBI fielder's choice to make it 3-0 before Glasnow got Tucker Barnhart to ground into the third out.
In the second, Glasnow gave up two more runs, on back-to-back, one-out singles, a double steal on a strikeout, and a two-out single by Adam Duvall to make it 5-0.
Glasnow then walked Suarez and he was done, having thrown 64 pitches.
The Pirates chased Finnegan in the third. Andrew McCutchen and Gregory Polanco started the inning with back-to-back singles, and Finnegan walked David Freese and Francisco Cervelli to bring McCutchen home and make it 5-1.
Finnegan was replaced by Lorenzen, who got out of the inning with no further damage.
Suarez hit a home run into the left-field bleachers in the fifth for a 6-1 Reds lead.
NOTES: Cincinnati SS Zack Cozart was a late scratch because of a sore wrist. ... Pirates 3B David Freese returned to the starting lineup, three days after taking a grounder to the collarbone, although he came off the bench Sunday. ... Pittsburgh INF/OF Adam Frazier made his fourth start of the season, in his fourth position -- left field, DH, third base, and on Monday, second base. ... Sunday's 8-0 win over the Cardinals was the Reds' second-largest shutout in St. Louis in the past century (10-0 win on Aug. 28, 2013). ... The Pirates played the first of three games in four in which they are scheduled to face a left-handed starter.