Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (96-63)	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	4	10	3
Pirates (77-82)	0	0	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	3	7	0

Boxscore

A day after losing to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 9th, the Cincinnati Reds returned them the favor.

Of course, having the offense show up early enough in the game to provide Johnny Cueto with his 20th win of the season would have been too easy. No, the Reds had to keep all of that scoring until the end.

Still, Cueto finished the year strong. In his final start, he went 7 innings, allowing 3 runs (1 earned), 6 hits, and 1 walk. He struck out 6. If he’d pitched a scoreless 8th or the offense had woken up before the 9th, he would’ve had the win. Heck, if the defense hadn’t screwed the pooch and allowed so many unearned runs, he would’ve gotten the win. I guess that just shows you how meaningless of a statistic wins can be.

As for that offense, they started the game off by getting on base, but not being able to knock in any runs. Both of the first two innings ended with runners in scoring position. But in the third, Joey Votto was given a pitch he could hit, and hit a double that scored Brandon Phillips. The next batter, Todd Frazier, hit a ground-out to the shortstop that scored Wilson Valdez.

After that, the Reds’ bats were silent until the 9th. Then, Xavier Paul, the very first batter against the Pirates’ closer Joel Hanrahan, hit a pinch-hit home run to right field to tie the game. And instead of being a rally killer, this got the offense going. Eventually.

The next two batters recorded out, but when Ryan Ludwick hit a pinch-hit double, I started feeling that this would turn into a win. With two outs, Zack Cozart was the hero, driving in the go-ahead run with his own double.

Aroldis Chapman pitched the bottom of the 9th for the save. He was a little shaky, but he got the job done. Hopefully, he can get an appearance or two before the playoffs start. I don’t want him rusty.

The Reds next travel to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals. If Cincinnati can sweep, there’s a chance they’d knock the Cardinals out of the playoffs. I’m hoping for that. Bronson Arroyo will go against Jaime Garcia at 8:15pm.

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	7	2
Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	1	2	8	0

Boxscore

The Reds let the Pirates tie up the series last night when they lost 1-2.

After Homer Bailey’s no-hitter the night before, Mike Leake kind of needed a perfect game and four hits to get himself into serious contention for the play-off roster. Unfortunately, he blew the perfect game on the second batter when Josh Harrison singled to center field. He did go 1-for-2 on the night, though, which is something.

Leake pitched 6.0 innings, surrendering 4 hits and 3 walks before his tenure was up. It was Jose Arredeondo who got credit for the Pirates’ first run in the seventh inning. The Reds managed to tie it up in the eighth, and Logan Ondrusek held the Bucs during that inning. But alas, the Reds’ offense couldn’t come up with anything in the ninth, and Jonathan Broxton failed to send the game into extras when Andrew McCutchen, the second batter in the bottom of the inning, hit a home run to right field for the walk-off.

The Reds did have plenty of hits: 7 different guys each contributed 1 to the team’s 7 hit total. Joey Votto also walked twice, of course, so that didn’t help matters. Votto’s protection for the night, Scott Rolen, was the one to hit in the Reds’ only run though.

The loss brings the Reds’ record to 95-63. They try to win the series this afternoon at 1:35 p.m. Johnny Cueto (RHP, 19-9, 2.83 ERA) will take his last chance for win number 20 when he faces off against Wandy Rodriguez (LHP, 5-4, 3.78 ERA).

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	R	H	E
Reds (95-62)	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	7	1
Pirates (76-81)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0

Boxscore

In case you missed it yesterday, Homer Bailey pitched a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates last night.

It’s the first no-hitter in PNC Park history, and it’s the first that a Cincinnati Reds pitcher has thrown since Tom Browning threw his perfect game back on September 16, 1988. Bailey accomplished his feat with 115 pitches. Over the 9 innings, he allowed no runs, no hits, walked one, and struck out 10.

The offense was again not really present. The Reds scored early, in the top of the first, but their bats fell silent after that. Thanks to Bailey’s flirt with flirtation, the 1 run was all they needed.

Phillips started the game off by singling to left. Zack Cozart followed with a single, providing Joey Votto with a rare opportunity to bat with runners on base. So of course, the Pirates walked him. But clean-up hitter Todd Frazier kept the bases-loaded, no-out situation from being a total loss by hitting a sacrifice fly to drive in Phillips.

It was all pitching after that, for both teams. In the end, the Pirates couldn’t score, and the Reds doomed them to their 20th season in a row without a winning record.

The Pirates still have a shot at a .500 record, but they’ll have to win all their remaining games. They’ll send out Kyle McPherson to attempt that, while the Reds will counter with Mike Leake, a man on the bubble of being included on the playoff roster. The game starts at 7:05pm.