Incredible Play Thwarts Pirates’ Attempt To Play Spoiler

The Pittsburgh Pirates did their best to play spoiler over their three-game series with the Cincinnati Reds that began on Tuesday. Pittsburgh took the first two games of the series behind excellent pitching from Paul Skenes and Johan Oviedo, as well as stellar bullpen performances.

Entering Thursday’s series finale, the Reds trailed the New York Mets by one game for the final National League Wild Card spot. Cincinnati holds the head-to-head tiebreaker over both the Mets and Arizona Diamondbacks, but needs to pick up a game for the tiebreaker to come into play.

On Thursday, the Pirates trailed by a run with one out in the ninth inning. Bryan Reynolds hit a ball deep to right field and appeared to tie the game. Reds outfielder Noelvi Marte sized up the ball and timed his jump perfectly to take away a home run and protect the lead. Andrew McCutchen flew out to end the game, with the Reds taking a 2-1 victory.

Pittsburgh’s bats were held silent for most of the game. Reds starter Nick Lodolo turned in the outing Cincinnati needed after dropping the first two games of the series. The lefty threw 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just three base runners and striking out 12 Pirates. Lodolo gave Pittsburgh trouble earlier this season as well, throwing six innings of one-run baseball.

Cincinnati will spend the rest of the day scoreboard watching. The Diamondbacks fell behind the Los Angeles Dodgers early in their series finale, while the Mets have a 7:40 EST first-pitch against the Chicago Cubs.

Thursday’s game was the Pirates’ final chance to play spoiler. Their final series of the season is a three-game weekend series with the Atlanta Braves.

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