Pitching is still the main attraction for the Cincinnati Reds.
Reds pitching prevailed against the Pittsburgh Pirates in a series-opening 5-3 win Friday at Great American Ball Park before a crowd of 16,375.
Reds starter Brady Singer improved to 3-0 and didn't allow a hit until the fifth inning. Over the five innings, he allowed three runs on two hits and three walks. He also struck out three. Fifty-three of his 88 pitches were strikes.
Cincinnati relievers Taylor Rogers (sixth inning), Graham Ashcraft (seventh and eighth), and Emilio Pagán (ninth) then followed behind Singer to close out the win, which saw the Reds improve to 6-8 on the first night of a six-game homestand.
For Ashcraft, his scoreless, two-inning outing was his second of the week. He also went two scoreless inning in Tuesday's 1-0 win against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.
For Pagán, the save was his third of the season.
Collectively, the Reds pitching staff ranks fourth in MLB in ERA (3.17).
The homestand continues Saturday at Great American Ball Park as Reds pitcher Andrew Abbott will make his 2025 debut against Pittsburgh's Andrew Heaney (0-0, 1.50 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 6:45 p.m.
The victory wasn't a hitting clinic by Cincinnati, but it didn't have to be. The Reds struck for a lead in their first at-bat, which was aided by three consecutive walks by Pirates starter Bailey Falter (0-2) to begin the bottom of the first.
The Reds didn't even need a hit to go on the board. With the bases loaded, Spencer Steer grounded into a double play but leadoff man T.J. Friedl crossed home on the play.
Steer wasn't credited with an RBI.
Jeimer Candelario then blasted a two-out, two-run home run the left field, lifting the Reds to a 3-0 lead. The homer was Candelario's first of 2025.
Cincinnati didn't need any contact when its lead swelled to 5-0 in the third inning. Elly De La Cruz and Steer took off from second and first, respectively, on a Falter pitch, which was wild.
Then, in attempting to throw out De La Cruz at third base, Pirates catcher Endy Rodriguez's throw missed the target, rolled down the left field line and into the corner beneath the left field foul pole.
De La Cruz and Steer both scored on the play.
The Pirates broke up Singer's no-hitter and clawed two runs in the fifth inning.
After reaching on a walk, Jack Suwinski scored from first base on a double by one-time Red, Tommy Pham. The next batter, Adam Frazier, homered to right field to cut the visitors' deficit to 5-3.
That was as close as the Pirates would get. Ashcraft allowed just one hit over his two innings, and Pagán set the Pirates down in order to close out the game.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Brady Singer wins again as Cincinnati Reds down Pirates, 5-3
