CINCINNATI (AP) — Three batters in, the game looked grim for Tyler Glasnow. The right-hander walked the first two, gave up Joey Votto’s homer and was lamenting another slow start.
Instead of giving in, he ended up getting his first win.
Josh Harrison hit a three-run homer — his third in two games — and Glasnow singled home a pair of runs during a six-run rally that swept the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 12-3 victory on Tuesday night, their first of the season over the Cincinnati Reds.
The Pirates had lost their four previous games against the Reds. They overcame that three-run deficit to end the drought, matching their season high for runs.
“The one thing I’ve found out after 26 games is we’re really interesting,” manager Clint Hurdle said. “I don’t know what’s going to happen, but I know I’m going to show up and watch it.”
Glasnow (1-1) steadied himself after a rough first inning that included three walks and 36 pitchesl.
“That’s been the theme of my starts this year,” Glasnow said. “I haven’t started out well, so I guess I’ve had a lot of practice at it.”
He settled down after the first inning and lasted six in all, giving up only two more hits.
“He was put in a spot where it was fight or flight, and he fought,” Hurdle said.
Glasnow also contributed to the fourth-inning comeback. The Reds intentionally walked Jordy Mercer to load the bases with two outs, and Glasnow singled up the middle off Scott Feldman (1-3) to put the Pirates ahead to stay.
Harrison followed Glasnow’s first hit of the season with his third homer in five at-bats for a 7-3 lead. The six-run inning was the biggest allowed by the Reds this season.
“Everything just really snowballed,” Feldman said. “The fourth inning got away from me. I had a chance to get out of it with one run, but the pitcher hits a bases-loaded grounder up the middle. I’ve got to do a better job, especially when the guys give me early runs.”
Harrison hit two solo homers on Monday night — his first career multi-homer game — during Cincinnati’s 4-3 win in 10 innings. The Pirates have homered in six straight games, their best streak of the season.
Glasnow gave up four hits, three runs and four walks in six innings, sending the Reds to their ninth loss in 12 games. He also drew a bases-loaded walk from Blake Wood during Pittsburgh’s five-run seventh inning. Pittsburgh scored on a wild pitch and a passed ball during the inning.
BIG INNINGS
The Pirates sent nine batters to the plate for six runs in the fourth. They sent 10 up for five runs in the seventh.
BAD WAY TO START
Feldman gave up seven runs in four innings. Reds starters are last in the NL with a 6.09 ERA. They’ve pitched the fewest innings and given up the most homers.
STATS
Pirates also scored 12 runs against the Marlins last Friday for a 12-2 win. … Catcher Elias Diaz had his first career hit, a single over the mound in the seventh inning. He got the ball in the clubhouse after the game and posed for photos. … Votto’s homer was his sixth in his last 14 games.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: 2B Adam Frazier took batting practice, fielded grounders and ran in the outfield before the game on Tuesday. Hurdle said Frazier, who has a strained left hamstring, could begin a minor league rehab assignment later this week.
Reds: RHP Anthony DeSclafani is in Cincinnati for a precautionary MRI on his pitching elbow. DeSclafani opened the season on the DL with a strained elbow and has been working out at the team’s spring training facility in Arizona. There is no timetable for his return. “You keep looking at it periodically and see what kind of progress you’re making and go from there,” he said.
UP NEXT
Pirates: Jameson Taillon (2-0) is 1-0 with a 3.18 ERA in three career starts against the Reds. He received a no-decision on April 11 at PNC Park, allowing two runs in six innings.
Reds: Rookie Davis (0-1) is coming off his roughest outing. He gave up 11 hits and eight runs in 2 2/3 innings of a 9-4 loss at Milwaukee on Wednesday.
