PITTSBURGH - Joey Votto homered off Kyle Farnsworth in the 10th inning and the Cincinnati Reds edged Pittsburgh 6-5 Friday night to pull even with the Pirates for the top wild-card spot in the National League.
Cincinnati pushed across three unearned runs in the ninth off Pittsburgh closer Mark Melancon to tie it and Votto won it an inning later when his fly to left field reached the first row of seats for his 24th home run of the season.
JJ Hoover (5-5) earned the victory for the Reds, who have won four consecutive.Aroldis Chapman worked the 10th for his 38th save.
Farnsworth (1-1) retired Brandon Phillips to start the 10th, but left fielder Starling Marte couldn’t quite grab Votto’s shot down the line and the Reds started a pivotal three-game series with a stunning victory.
The Pirates appeared firmly in control through eight innings. Francisco Liriano overwhelmed the Reds, allowing 2 runs on 3 hits, walking 3 and striking out 7. The left-hander needed only 94 pitches to record24 outs, but was pulled in the ninth for Melancon, who has been outstanding most of the season but was coming off a blown save in a 3-2 loss to San Diego on Wednesday.
Things didn’t get any better 48 hours later.
Melancon sandwiched outs around a single by Ryan Ludwick before things started to unravel. Todd Frazier reached when shortstop Jordy Mercer threw a routine grounder into the stands, scoring Ludwick. Zach Cozart singled to put runners on the corners. Cincinnati rookie base-stealing specialist Billy Hamilton pinch ran for Cozart and promptly swiped second then raced home when Devin Mesoraco’s sharp grounder ping ponged onto the grass in shallow left field.
Votto took care of the rest as Cincinnati climbed out of third place in the heated NL Central race for the first time in three months.
Ludwick finished 3 for 5 for the Reds, while Frazier hit his 17th home run.
Jose Tabata and Neil Walker hit consecutive home runs off Cincinnati starter Mat Latos in the first and Pittsburgh appeared on its way giving itself some breathing room as the franchise pursues its first playoff spot since 1992.
The Pirates did their best to downplay the importance of the franchise’s biggest series in 21 years while Reds manager Dusty Baker joked if his players didn’t understandthe stakes it was time for them “to get new jobs.”
PNC Park, typically a ghost town this time of year as the Pirates play out the string, was electric when Pittsburgh took the field. Ludwick’s RBI single off Liriano in the top of the first took some of buzz out of a crowd that included Pennsylvania governor Tom Corbett and Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma, but only for a moment.
Tabata led off the bottom of the first with his sixth home run of the season on a shot well into the bleachers in left field and Walker took Latos’ very next pitch over the wall in center to give Pittsburgh a 2-1 lead. The blast marked the fourth time in club history the Pirates started a game with consecutive home runs.
Andrew McCutchen walked and Justin Morneau singled, earning Latos a rare first-inning visit from Baker. He worked out of the jam but the reprieve only lasted until the fourth. Marlon Byrd walked with one out, moved to third on a hit-and-run single by Alvarez and scored when Martin recorded his first non-home runRBI since Aug. 22. Mercer beat out an infield hit to plate Alvarez and the Pirates had a commanding 4-1 lead.
Latos left after six innings, giving up four runs on eight hits with two walks and a season-low one strikeout.
CARDINALS 7, BREWERS 6 Carlos Beltran’s 10th-inning sacrifice fly lifted St. Louis to a victory over host Milwaukee and kept the Cardinals in sole possession of first place in the NL Central. The Cardinals hold a two-game lead over Cincinnati and Pittsburgh.
NATIONALS 8, MARLINS 0 Jordan Zimmermann pitched a two-hitter and picked up his NL-leading 19th victory to lead barely alive Washington to a victory over visiting Miami.
BRAVES 9, CUBS 5 Chris Johnson went 3 for 4 with a home run, and Atlanta beat host Chicago to reduce its magic number to clinch the NL East to one.
METS 6, PHILLIES 4 David Wright homered in his return to New York’s lineup, Daniel Murphy had three hits and Daisuke Matsuzaka earned his second straight victory as visiting New York topped Philadelphia.
ROCKIES 9, DIAMONDBACKS 4 Jhoulys Chacin tossed six shaky innings and helped himself with his first career home run and Colorado beat visiting Arizona. Troy Tulowitzki, Charlie Blackmon and Corey Dickerson also went deep for the Rockies.
AMERICAN LEAGUE ROYALS 2, RANGERS 1 Neftali Feliz walked Alcides Escobar on four pitches with the bases loaded and two outs in the eighth inning, giving host Kansas City a victory over Texas in the opener of an important three-game series between teams in the playoff race. Texas dropped a half-game behind the Indians for the second AL wild-card spot with the loss.
RED SOX 6, BLUE JAYS 3 Boston clinched the AL East title on Friday night, getting seven strong innings from Jon Lester to beat Toronto and eliminate Tampa Bay from the division race. One night after securing their first playoff appearance since 2009, the Red Sox added their first division title since ‘07.
TIGERS 12, WHITE SOX 5 Max Scherzer became baseball’s first 20-game winner, pitching through a rainy six innings to help Detroit defeat visiting Chicago. Scherzer (20-3) was making his fifth attempt to win No. 20. He had two losses and two no-decisions in his previous four starts. INDIANS 2, ASTROS 1 Zach McAllister lasted five innings and host Cleveland got two gift runs from Houston in a rain-shortened victory to remain near the top of the AL wild-card standings. The game was delayed for 1 hour, 9 minutes before the umpires decided to call it after 6 1/2 innings.
INTERLEAGUE YANKEES 5, GIANTS 1 Alex Rodriguez set a major league record with his 24th career grand slam, passing Lou Gehrig with a tiebreaking shot in the seventh inning that sent host New York to a victory over San Francisco. Rodriguez’s slam helped CC Sabathia (14-13) beat Tim Lincecum in a matchup of former Cy Young Award winners having subpar seasons.
Friday’s games NATIONAL LEAGUE Atlanta 9, Chicago Cubs 5 Cincinnati 6, Pittsburgh 5, 10 innings Washington 8, Miami 0 NY Mets 6, Philadelphia 4 Colorado 9, Arizona 4 St. Louis 7, Milwaukee 6, 10 innings LA Dodgers at San Diego, (n) AMERICAN LEAGUE Cleveland 2, Houston 1, 7 innings Detroit 12, Chicago White Sox 5 Boston 6, Toronto 3 Kansas City 2, Texas 1 Baltimore at Tampa Bay, (n) Minnesota at Oakland, (n) Seattle at LA Angels, (n) INTERLEAGUE NY Yankees 5, San Francisco 1
Sports, Pages 19 on 09/21/2013