Oneil Cruz, Ryan O'Hearn lead Pirates to win against Reds

Colin Beazley, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Mar 31, 2026

Published in Baseball

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CINCINNATI — For most of the game, the lone question for the Pittsburgh Pirates wasn’t whether they would beat the Cincinnati Reds, but if they would do it in historic fashion.

Instead, not only did the Pirates not make history, but they had to hold on for dear life to win at all.

The Pirates had a five-run second inning and three pitchers held the Reds hitless until the seventh, but they had to weather a late Cincinnati rally in a 8-3 win Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park.

It was a good game for the Pirates offense. They combined for four homers — two from Oneil Cruz, plus blasts from Ryan O’Hearn and Bryan Reynolds. O’Hearn’s homer, a three-run shot off of Brandon Williamson, gave the Pirates a comfortable lead, then Reynolds followed with his first of the season.

Defense was also a factor. Brandon Lowe has made an impact with his bat in his first few games in Pittsburgh, but his glove made the difference Tuesday. With two on and two outs in the fourth inning, Lowe made a diving stop of a 111 mph Elly De La Cruz grounder to save at least one run. He made another diving play to end the Reds’ best chance of the game in the eighth, diving to his left for Nathaniel Lowe’s soft-hit liner and throwing to first to double off Dane Myers.

The latter play essentially secured the win for Pittsburgh. The Pirates had led the Reds, 6-1, going into the inning, but Hunter Barco, pitching his third frame of relief, allowed back-to-back homers to De La Cruz and Sal Stewart and a single to Eugenio Suarez to give the Reds life. Adding to Reds fans’ excitement was that Pirates manager Don Kelly was ejected by home plate umpire Jordan Baker midway through Suarez’s at-bat.

The Pirates finished the game with eight runs on eight hits. After three days of struggling to score, they left just two runners on Tuesday.

It was over when …

… Cruz’s second homer hit into the seats. He hit a two-run blast off of Reds reliever Pierce Johnson in the ninth inning to once again give the Pirates the five-run lead they had enjoyed for most of the game.

On the mound

Bubba Chandler started for the Pirates and had one of the weirder lines you’ll see all season — 4 1/3 hitless innings, one unearned run, six strikeouts and a whopping six walks. He had walked just four batters in his major league career before Tuesday.

Concerning was the walks came in bunches, as Chandler walked three in the third and three before he was removed in the fifth.

The lone run off of Chandler scored in the third. After back-to-back walks, former Pirates third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a routine fly ball that Reynolds and Cruz saw fall between them as they collided. Both called for it — Cruz, as the center fielder, should have been given priority. Reynolds was charged with the error.

With the bases loaded and one out in the fifth, Yohan Ramirez came in and struck out Matt McLain and De La Cruz.

At the plate

The Pirates capitalized against Williamson, making his first major league start since missing all of 2025 with Tommy John surgery. It was encouraging to see homers from Reynolds and Cruz, who had both gotten off to slow starts.

Most valuable player

Cruz. He finished 3 for 4 with two homers, a single, three runs and three RBIs. His first homer, a 444-foot shot, and the single came against the lefty Williamson.

Up next

The Pirates and Reds will play for the series at 12:40 p.m. ET Wednesday, with Pirates ace Paul Skenes (0-1, 67.50) looking for redemption after opening day against Reds left-hander Andrew Abbott (0-0, 0.00).

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