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Pablo Reyes hit a game-ending RBI single, driving in pinch-runner Joe Musgrove, and the Pittsburgh Pirates rallied to beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2, on Friday night.
The Pirates won for the games in the All-Star break by chipping away at Reds closer Raisel Iglesias (2-9).
The Pirates put together three straight singles to start the ninth, the last a flare to shallow center by Adam Frazier that scored pinch-runner Erik Gonzalez. A sacrifice bunt by Jacob Stallings moved Musgrove to third, and Reyes feels a drive to the gap to the Pirates their eighth straight home victory over the Reds.
Felipe Vazquez (4-1) picked up the win by pitching a scoreless top of the ninth.
Cincinnati rookie Aristides Aquino hit his 12th homer of the month RBI double in the eighth while going 3 for 4 to boost his batting average to .338.
Aquino's drive to the first row of seats in center off Mitch Keller leading the way to the top of the world in 22 games, the fastest player in the league history. The 24-year-old Aquino then put Cincinnati in a position for third straight when he ripped a tiebreaking to Keone Kela's eighth off.
Aquino's 12 homers since making his 2019 debut on Aug. Frank Robinson hit in August 1962 and Greg Vaughn played in September 1999.
Keller, the Pirates' top pitching prospect, put together the best start of his young career. The 23-year-old struck out nine in six-plus innings.
Cincinnati starter Anthony DeSclafani was just as strong, permitting one run and five hits in six innings.
Iglesias, however, could not lock Cincinnati's first victory in Pittsburgh since June 17, 2018.
Both teams insisted they were ready to move on their field in Cincinnati last month, one that resulted in eight total suspensions spread among six players as well as Pirates manager Clint Hurdle and Reds counterpart David Bell.
Bell, a vocal critic of the Pirates for what he believes is their penchant for pitching inside a little too aggressively, stressed his club did not "have time" to let the feud continue to fester.
"I just feel like it's not going to happen anymore," he said.
For a night anyway, Bell was right. When Keller went up and down in the sixth, the 6-foot-4 Cincinnati slugger simply leaned back to get out of the way and play continued without incident.
Neither the presence of Reds first baseman Derek Dietrich, who sparked a benches-clearing dustup in Pittsburgh in April after admiring a home run, nor Kela, whose decision to airmail a pitch to Dietrich last month served as the jumping-off point for the wild melee in Cincinnati, resulted in anything resembling fireworks.
Dietrich went to Kla again when Kela left him in the circle of the top of the eighth.
Pirates RHP Trevor Williams (5-6, 5.65 ERA) is just 3-5 with an 8.20 ERA in 10 starts since returning from the injured list June 19. Williams gave up eight runs in just two innings against Washington last Monday and will start Saturday against the Reds.
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