Revved-up Pirates complete sweep of Reds taken at PNC Park (Courtesy of StepOutside.org)

Pirates pitcher Chris Archer and Reds outfielder Yasiel Puig meet at the mound. – MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

Courtesy of StepOutside.org

Revved-up Pirates complete sweep of Reds

By Hunter Homistek

Apr 7, 2019 • 6:00 pm

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It's Sunday in Pittsburgh. Cincinnati is in town. Pittsburgh's won the last four meetings between the two teams.

There's a fight on the field.

That sure sounds like a Steelers vs. Bengals lede, doesn't it, Vince Williams?

Today's mayhem, however, belonged to the Pirates and the Reds, who added a healthy chapter to the city rivalry at PNC Park on a dreary, 72-degree day. The Pirates eventually prevailed, 7-5, and they largely controlled the game throughout, but the focus is (rightly) here:

That's Chris Archer buzzing one behind Derek Dietrich and getting WrestleMania 35 started early. The seed for all that was planted two innings earlier, when Dietrich did this:

On the Pirates' side, Felipe Vazquez and Keone Kela got ejected for their parts in the altercation. Yasiel Puig, Amir Garrett, and David Bell joined them for the Reds. To hear Archer tell it inside the locker room at PNC Park, he simply missed his spot:

But to hear Dietrich tell it...

"You don't like to get thrown at," he told reporters after the game. "When someone's throwing at someone, they're trying to inflict pain or possibly hurt someone."

Regardless of intent, one thing is clear: The scuffle sent the Pirates into overdrive. After allowing three earned runs before the fracas, Archer blanked the Reds and completed six full innings before turning the game over to Nick Kingham with a 7-3 Pirates lead.

"Seeing my guys come out there and have my back like that, it's encouraging," Archer said. "I'm kinda getting goosebumps just thinking about it right now."

It didn't solely affect Archer, either. The moment provided a needed jolt to the Pirates' bats, as well.

"It definitely put a spark in our offense," Archer continued. "The following inning, JB [Josh Bell] hit one of the farthest balls I've ever seen with my eyes. Melky [Cabrera] was doing his thing. J-Mart [Jason Martin] was doing his thing... Altogether, we looked really good today."

In all, that spark was enough for the Pirates, who didn't score a run after the fifth inning and didn't need to. Josh Bell homered in the bottom of the fourth (more on that in "The Good" below) then Jason Martin drove in Cabrera on a single to right. The following inning, Bell doubled, sending home Adam Frazier, then Cabrera hit a hard single up the middle, scoring Francisco Cervelli and Bell.

With that burst, the Pirates swept the Reds and improved to 5-3 on the year. They're in second place in the NL Central, two games behind the Brewers.

Moving on from the "brawl," that's what matters here. The Pirates now embark on an eight-game, 11-day road trip, and they'll take some much-needed momentum with them.

THE ESSENTIALS

THE GOOD

As noted by our own John Perrotto in yesterday's Game Report, Josh Bell has been smacking the ball with authority since opening day, but the results didn't follow.

Until yesterday — and even more so today.

Bell entered yesterday's contest vs. the Reds hitting .190/.190/.217 and ended it with a .269/.333/.462 line. After today's 2-for-3 performance, his metrics took another bump, all the way up to .310/.382/.621.

And yeah, did you see that home run?!

He cleared the batter's eye, which, as far as Dejan Kovacevic, the Pirates PR team and myself could remember, has never happened. You might hear that Giancarlo Stanton did it, but go ahead and read DK's Grind to see why that doesn't hold up. And as an added bonus, there's this from Bell himself:

Don't look now, but No. 55 just might be returning to his standout 2017 form — or better.

And I couldn't just leave this section without something on Cabrera, so here's this: 3-for-4, two runs, two RBIs. Not a bad day.

THE BAD

The bullpen once again gave up a splash play, as Nick Kingham allowed a two-run home run to Dietrich in the eighth. While Kingham ultimately did enough to preserve the Pirates' lead before handing things over to Richard Rodriguez to close it down, it's never ideal to see the same problems repeat.

That issue led to the Pirates' opening-day loss to the Reds, and it contributed heavily to their two losses against the Cardinals. In all those games, there's a common factor: The bullpen gave up a home run and allowed the opponent to close the lead.

Tonight, the Pirates stopped the bleeding and held on for the win. But it's a bittersweet thought for Pirates fans to consider how realistic 7-1 or even 8-0 might have been for this squad.

THE OTHER SIDE

The Reds played their role in all this as well, and they weren't shy about discussing their side postgame.

"It’s just completely unacceptable for anyone to intentionally try to hurt one of our players," Reds manager David Bell told reporters. "It’s just that simple. And it was obvious."

"We saw [on] the first pitch, [he] tried to hit one of my teammates," Puig added.

While Puig did concede that Dietrich admired his home run — just as Puig has flipped his bat in the past — he called it "normal baseball."

The Reds made their stances clear, but ultimately they have bigger problems: They haven't won since the season opener and dropped to 1-8 after today's game.

THE DATA

• Dietrich's home run in the second — estimated at 436 feet — took a hop and landed in the Allegheny River. With that, he became the 32nd player to smack one into the water. It's been done 47 times total at PNC Park.

• Dietrich's second home run in the eighth off Kingham also landed in the river. Nobody's ever airmailed two to the Allegheny in the same game.

• Bell's homer in the fourth inning sailed 474 feet, the fourth longest in PNC Park history.

• That dinger is also the second longest of the season, trailing only Texas' Nomar Mazara's 482-foot rip on March 28 when the Rangers faced the Cubs in Arlington.

• This was the Pirates first four-game sweep of the Reds in Pittsburgh since 1969.

• The Pirates out-hit the Reds, 12 to 7, but also committed two errors to the Reds' zero.

• Archer's line through six full innings: five hits, three earned runs, two walks (one intentional), seven strikeouts, two home runs on 100 pitches (62 strikes)

• Richard Rodriguez, closing after Vazquez and Kela were ejected, earned his first career Major League save.

• Time of game: 2 hours, 54 minutes

THE INJURIES

• Corey Dickerson, outfielder, has a strained right shoulder but has resumed swinging and "some exercises." The initial expectation was for him to be back in late April/early May, and that hasn't changed.

• Gregory Polanco, outfielder, is recovering from left shoulder surgery and played in the Bradenton Marauders' 3-1 loss to the St. Lucie Mets today. He went 0-for-2 with two walks.

• Dovydas Neverauskas, right-handed reliever, is recovering from a strained left oblique and also played in the Marauders' loss. He pitched one inning, giving up no hits and notching one strikeout.

• Lonnie Chisenhall, outfielder, out with a broken right hand, has started gripping activities and simulated throws.

• Kyle Crick, right-handed reliever, was placed on the injured list with right triceps tightness and could return as soon as next weekend.

• Elias Diaz, catcher, is recovering from a virus and is on a rehab assignment at high-A Bradenton. In two games, he is 2-for-5 with two doubles, two walks and a strikeout.

• Jose Osuna, first baseman/outfielder, is in extended spring training rehabbing a strained neck and is participating in all baseball activities except throwing.

THE SCHEDULE

The Pirates travel to Chicago to kick off a three-game series against the Cubs (2-7). First game's Monday at 2:20 p.m., and John Perrotto will be live on the scene.

THE COVERAGE

Visit our team page for everything Pirates.

MATT SUNDAY GALLERY

Pirates vs. Reds, PNC Park, April 7, 2019 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS

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