Bryan Reynolds extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a two-out homer in the eighth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the visiting Cincinnati Reds 1-0 in the rubber match of a three-game series on Wednesday.
Reynolds deposited a 1-0 changeup from Nick Martinez (2-5) over the center field wall for his 10th homer this season.
Reynolds’ 17-game hitting streak matches his career high and ranks as the longest active streak in the majors.
Colin Holderman (3-0) pitched a scoreless eighth inning for the win. David Bednar retired the Reds in order in the ninth for his 16th save.
Pittsburgh outhit the Reds 3-2 and won for the fourth time in its last six games.
Cincinnati has lost four of its last five.
The contest featured a dazzling pitchers’ duel between the Reds’ Hunter Greene and Pittsburgh’s Mitch Keller.
Keller allowed two hits over seven-plus innings with two walks and seven strikeouts. He has made 46 straight starts of at least five innings, which is the longest active streak in the majors.
Greene tied a season high with nine strikeouts and gave up two hits with no walks over 6 1/3 innings. He has recorded at least five strikeouts in all of his 15 starts this season.
Greene retired 14 consecutive batters before giving up Rowdy Tellez’s one-out double in the seventh inning.
Greene was replaced by Fernando Cruz, who retired Ke’Bryan Hayes and walked Connor Joe before Yasmani Grandal flied out to right field.
Keller threw 83 pitches before being replaced by Holderman after Stuart Fairchild drew a leadoff walk in the eighth inning. Fairchild stole second base with one out, but Holderman retired the next two batters to escape the jam.
–Field Level Media