CINCINNATI -- The Reds completed their convincing sweep of the Pirates Wednesday afternoon at Great American Ball Park, jumping out ahead early and then coasting the rest of the way in a 11-4 decision.
It took the Reds just one pitch in the bottom of the first to claim the lead, with Tyler Naquin hitting a leadoff home run for the second game in a row. The Reds would tally five runs against Pirates starter Chad Kuhl (0-1) in that first frame.
While Kuhl settled down from there and didn’t allow any more runs over his four innings pitched, he still finished with a less than appealing line of five runs against -- four earned -- two hits, five walks and five strikeouts.
His pitching counterpart, Luis Castillo (1-1), spun seven shutout innings, allowing just four hits and a walk while striking out five.
The Pirates’ only offense came in the ninth inning on an Erik Gonzalez grand slam off Amir Garrett. It was the second home run Garrett allowed this series, the first coming Monday night to Bryan Reynolds.
It was the first grand slam of Gonzalez’s career. Wilmer Difo went 3-for-4 with two doubles.
Nick Castellanos, Tyler Stephenson and Arisides Aquino homered for the Reds, Jonathan India picked up three RBIs and Nick Senzel drove in a pair with a double and a triple.
In relief, Chris Stratton allowed three runs over two innings, Michael Feliz was on the hook for a run in the seventh and David Bednar allowed a pair of homers in the eighth.
The Pirates are heading home to take on the Cubs in the home opener Thursday afternoon. Tyler Anderson (0-1, 5.40) will take on Jake Arrieta (1-0, 1.50) in a rematch of Saturday’s contest, which started the Pirates’ current five-game losing streak. First pitch is scheduled for 12:35 p.m.