Reds rout Pirates one day before MLB trade deadline as Pittsburgh fights to stay afloat
CINCINNATI — Chase Burns won his 12th straight decision, and Sal Stewart hit his 24th home run as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-2 Sunday to take three of four in the series.
Stewart tied Joey Votto for second-most homers by a Reds rookie. Votto hit 24 in 2008. Frank Robinson holds the franchise's rookie mark with 38 homers in 1956.
Burns (13-1) is the first Reds pitcher to win 12 straight decisions since Brooks Lawrence won 13 straight in 1956.
Burns allowed one run on two hits with two walks and nine strikeouts in six innings and lowered his ERA to 2.35. It was Burns' 17th start allowing two runs or fewer.
The game was delayed 25 minutes in the fourth while the grounds crew applied drying compound on the infield and batter's box. Despite steady rainfall, the tarp was never brought out. Pirates manager Don Kelly was ejected after voicing his displeasure.
Pirates starter Mitch Keller (6-8) allowed three runs on four straight hits in the first inning.
Stewart's homer into the second deck of the bleachers in left field put the Reds ahead 1-0.
JJ Bleday followed with a single and scored on a double by Tyler Stephenson, who then came home on Nathaniel Lowe's single to make it 3-0.
Former Pirate Ke'Bryan Hayes hit a homer to make the score 4-0 in the second.
Elly De La Cruz's third-inning single off Noah Murdock drove in two runs to make the score 7-0. Keller allowed seven earned runs and walked four in two innings.
Consecutive RBI doubles by Lowe and Dane Myers off Ron Marinaccio made the score 9-1 in the fourth.
Right-hander Camilo Doval, acquired on Saturday from the Yankees, made his Pirates debut in the eighth inning and allowed an opposite-field home run by Stephenson.
Pirates: RHP Bubba Chandler (3-8, 4.56 ERA) is scheduled to start Monday at Milwaukee.
