CINCINNATI (AP) — Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run homer, Luis L. Ortiz threw six innings of one-run ball and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Cincinnati Reds 6-1 on Wednesday, winning a series between the NL Central rivals for the second consecutive week.
Rowdy Tellez also homered and Jason Delay drove in a pair of runs with a two-out double in the sixth. The Pirates (39-41) took two of three from the Reds, as they did last week in Pittsburgh.
Ortiz (4-2) allowed four hits in six innings with seven strikeouts and no walks. Kyle Nicolas pitched two hitless innings and Aroldis Chapman finished with a perfect ninth as the Reds (37-43) were held to four hits or fewer for the 18th time.
“The biggest thing was no walks,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of Ortiz’s outing. “He gave up the run, came back and had a shut-down inning. Overall, it was extremely impressive.”
Cincinnati has lost four of five and eight of 11, dropping its last four series.
“We’ll continue to fight through it, continue to look to make adjustments like we always do,” Reds manager David Bell said. “But nothing will change from our players as far as how we approach every single day trying to get better. You know, we feel like we’re still right in this. We’ve got a long way to go and a lot of opportunity ahead.”
A bright spot for Cincinnati has been Jonathan India, who got his fifth consecutive multi-hit game, singling in the first and hitting an RBI double in the third.
Graham Ashcraft (4-4), recalled after three weeks at Triple-A Louisville, allowed six runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings.
“I felt like I’m doing what I needed to do,” Ashcraft said. “I just ran into a couple of bad innings right there.”
Brian Reynolds extended his hitting streak to a major league-best 23 games with a first-inning single.
Pittsburgh led 2-1 in the fifth when Delay led off with a double and McCutchen, the 37-year-old designated hitter, followed with his 11th home run, a 422-foot drive to center.
“It’s been a long season, the ups and downs,” Tellez said. “It’s nice to get that going. We’re playing some good ball. Any time you can take two of three in the division, it’s always nice.”
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds INF Jeimer Candelario was out with tendinitis in his knee, a condition that also led to his early departure Tuesday.
NOTEWORTHY
Reds INF Noelvi Marte is eligible to play in the majors again on Thursday after an 80-game suspension for a positive test for the performance-enhancing substance Boldenone.
UP NEXT
Pirates: After an off day, Pittsburgh opens a three-game series at Atlanta. Starting pitchers haven’t been announced.
Reds: Go on the road for a four-game set against St. Louis. Cincinnati lefty Andrew Abbott (6-6, 3.40 ERA) is set to face Cardinals right-hander Miles Mikolas (6-6, 4.68) on Thursday night.
PHILLIES 6,
TIGERS 2
DETROIT (AP) — Brandon Marsh had four hits, including a homer, and drove in four runs and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Detroit Tigers 6-2 on Wednesday to take two out of three games.
Marsh singled in the second inning, hit a two-run homer in the fourth, drove in two runs with a fifth-inning single and got another base hit in the eighth.
Phillies starter Spencer Turnbull, facing the Tigers for the first time after spending five seasons with them, allowed one run in three innings before leaving with right shoulder soreness. He said the problem started on his next-to-last pitch.
“I threw a curveball and I felt something grab back in my triceps/shoulder area,” he said. “It just got a little tight, but I didn’t want to do anything to make it worse.”
For Turnbull, it was yet another injury at Comerica Park.
“I don’t know what it is about this place, but I can’t seem to stay healthy here,” he said. “I don’t know if it is cursed or what.”
Jose Ruiz (2-1), the second of six relievers for Philadelphia, got the win with a perfect fifth. The bullpen allowed one run and three hits in its six innings.
“They threw great up and down the line,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “It was a really good game, and we should be close to a full bullpen for tomorrow.”
Keider Montero (0-2) entered the game for Detroit in the fourth inning and allowed five runs and five hits and three walks. The Tigers are 4-8 in their past 12 games, getting held to two runs or fewer nine times, including an 8-1 loss to the Phillies in the series opener.
“We saw their whole bullpen, and it’s pretty good,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “It was a pretty quiet day for us.”
Nick Castellanos, who spent his first seven seasons in the majors with Detroit, gave the Phillies a 1-0 lead with an RBI groundout in the first before former Philadelphia player Matt Vierling tied it with a homer off Turnbull.
After Tyler Holton and Will Vest got through a combined three innings, Montero came in for the fourth. He walked Bryson Stott before Marsh made it 3-1 with a homer to left.
“When you start a bullpen game, the game is going to take you to a couple of spots,” Hinch said. “I had no idea going into the game that Vest would be the second one in there, but that’s how it worked out.”
Montero retired the first two batters in the fifth, but then Castellanos singled, Stott doubled and Marsh hit a two-run single to give Philadelphia a 5-1 lead.
“I think he was a little bit more in attack mode on the fastball,” Thomson said. “That opposite-field home run tells you a lot about his swing.”
David Dahl added a sacrifice fly in the eighth before Vierling doubled and scored in the ninth.
UP NEXT
Phillies: Return home for a four-game series against the Miami Marlins. Right-hander Zack Wheeler (9-4, 2.73) is scheduled to start Thursday against left-hander Trevor Rogers (1-8, 4.90).
Tigers: Travel to Los Angeles for four games against the Angels. Right-hander Jack Flaherty (5-4, 2.92) is expected to start on Thursday.
PADRES 8, NATIONALS 5
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Kyle Higashioka homered twice, including his first career grand slam, and Dylan Cease pitched seven brilliant innings for the San Diego Padres, who beat the Washington Nationals 8-5 Wednesday to sweep a contentious three-game series.
Higashioka hit a two-run homer off rookie DJ Herz in the second inning and then a grand slam against Tanner Rainey in the eighth that hit high off the brick warehouse in the left-field corner and gave San Diego an 8-0 lead. It was the fourth grand slam of the season for the Padres and second in two nights. It was his fifth career-multihomer game. He has eight homers this year.
Higashioka was obtained in the deal that sent Juan Soto to the New York Yankees on Dec. 7. The catcher set his career-high with six RBIs and finished with three hits.
The Padres took a one-hit shutout into the ninth before the Nationals scored five runs against two relievers, on four hits, a walk and a hit batter.
Jurickson Profar, who was at the center of a benches-clearing spat between the teams Tuesday night, added an RBI single to extend his hitting streak to 10 games and his on-base streak to 18 games. Profar, having a career year at 31 and on a $1 million contract is leading the balloting for NL outfielders for the All-Star Game. Washington catcher Keibert Ruiz confronted Profar before his at-bat in the first inning Tuesday night, including touching him on the shoulder and poking at his chest. On-deck batter Manny Machado stepped in between them, placing a hand on Ruiz’s shoulder, and the benches emptied.
Both teams were warned and MacKenzie Gore hit Profar on the foot with a 98-mph fastball. Gore was not ejected because the umpires felt it wasn’t intentional. Padres manager Mike Shildt came onto the field and was immediately ejected. Machado homered on the first pitch he saw and Profar hit a grand slam in the sixth to highlight the 9-6 win.
The Nationals felt disrespected by Profar’s celebration after his walk-off, two-run single in the 10th inning Monday night, when he went running along the track on the third-base side, waving at the fans. His route took him past the Nationals’ dugout. The Nationals intentionally walked MLB hits leader Luis Arreaz to get to Profar, who was knocked down by a pitch from Hunter Harvey.
Cease (7-6) was brilliant through seven innings, when he allowed just a single while striking out nine. He held the Nationals hitless until Nick Senzel singled with two outs in the fifth. He walked just two, and both runners were erased.
Yuki Matsui threw a perfect eighth. Tom Cosgrove allowed two hits in the ninth, including Lane Thomas’ two-run double.
Higashioka’s first homer was a line shot into the left-field corner with two outs in the second, with rookie Jackson Merrill aboard on a single.
The Padres added on in the fourth on a wild pitch by Herz and Profar’s single.
Herz (1-2) allowed four runs and six hits in 3 1/3 innings, walked two and struck out one.
UP NEXT
Nationals: LHP Mitchell Parker (5-3, 3.30 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Tampa Bay, which will start RHP Zach Elfin (3-5, 4.20).
Padres: RHP Randy Vásquez (2-4, 5.10) is slated to start Friday night in the opener of a three-game series at Boston.
