. Manager David Bell then sent Stephenson up to hit for Shogo Akiyama, and the catcher hit a drive to left for his second homer.The 24-year-old Stephenson lifted his batting helmet off his head with his left hand and pumped both arms in the sir before being swarmed by teammates at the plate.''I had one of these at High A, but this was so much more exciting,'' Stephenson said. ''(Coach) Freddie (Benavides) told me right before that, if Jose gets on, I'm going to pinch-hit. I had been hitting in the cage all game, but that time I didn't get a chance to put my gloves on because it was the next pitch he got a hit.'' Howard was in his second inning of work, but he was facing the bottom of Cincinnati's lineup.''We had the matchups we liked,'' Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton said. ''He did a good job. Garcia got the hit. He got a breaking ball up to Stephenson, and he got it up and out of the ballpark. He didn't execute a pitch.'' Trevor Bauer and Cincinnati carried a 1-0 lead into the seventh, but Colin Moran led off with his eighth homer. Bauer had retired 14 consecutive batters before Moran's towering fly ball into the seats in right.''I went from hating my life for giving up that home run - analyzing everything I did wrong,'' Bauer said. ''I was looking for something to break our way. I'm really happy for (Stephenson).'' Bauer, who was trying for his third seven-inning shutout of the pandemic-shortened season, was pulled with one out and two on. Raisel Iglesias (3-3) then struck out pinch-hitter Gregory Polanco and John Ryan Murphy.Bauer allowed four hits, struck out 12 and walked two. The right-hander is one of the top candidates for the NL Cy Young Award.Pittsburgh starter Cody Ponce also turned in a solid outing, allowing one hit in four innings. But that one hit was Joey Votto's opposite-field drive to left that glanced off the yellow padding along the top of the wall and into the seats for his eighth homer.The Reds loaded the bases against Chris Stratton with two outs in the fifth on singles by Tucker Barnhart and Garcia and Akiyama's second walk of the game, but Nick Castellanos lined out to Bryan Reynolds in deep center field.ABOUT TIMEMoran's tying drive in the opener was the first homer by a current Pirate off Bauer.FAMILIAR FACECincinnati's Nick Senzel started in center field and went 0 for 3 in his first game in exactly one month. The second-overall selection in the 2016 draft was placed on the 10-day injured list on Aug. 14 with an undisclosed issue.TRAINING ROOMPirates: Between games, RHP Kyle Crick was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained lat. Mitch Keller was reinstated from the IL after being sidelined by a left oblique injury. Keller was set to start the second game of the doubleheader.Reds: RHP Matt Bowman will undergo Tommy John surgery later this week, Bell said. Bowman went on the injured list on July 30. The Reds removed Bowman from the 60-man player pool on Monday.UP NEXTPirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (0-4) was slated to start Tuesday. He threw four scoreless innings against the White Sox last Tuesday in his second start since coming off the injured list. He had been sidelined by right triceps inflammation.Reds: RHP Anthony DeSclafani (1-2, 7.20 ERA) is the Game 2 starter for Cincinnati. After 242 consecutive relief appearances, RHP Michael Lorenzen (1-1) makes his first start on Tuesday since Sept. 16, 2015, at San Francisco.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Pirates, Reds gear up for doubleheaderIf carryover from a team's previous game is a real thing, the Pittsburgh Pirates will be lugging some heavy baggage into their doubleheader Monday against the Reds in Cincinnati.The Pirates (14-30) not only have lost four straight to reach the 30-loss mark in this 60-game season, but also got boonswaggled Sunday in getting swept by the Royals in Kansas City.Pittsburgh fell 11-0 in an afternoon that was sloppy and frustrating and so disastrous that during a Royals four-run first inning, two runners came home on a Chad Kuhl wild pitch that clanked off the home plate umpire's facemask."We didn't give ourselves a chance," Pirates manager Derek Shelton told reporters after the game.Pittsburgh is assured it will fall short of a winning record for the 24th time over the past 28 years.Cincinnati (21-26) comes into the doubleheader on a much different note. The Reds won a series for the first time in more than a month Sunday by beating the St. Louis Cardinals 10-5."That was one of my favorite games I've been a part of," Reds manager David Bell said.Bell said center fielder Nick Senzel could come off the IL and return Monday. He hasn't played since Aug. 14, which came just before the Reds shut things down for four days because of a positive COVID-19 test.Senzel went on the IL without a specific injury designation.The Pirates didn't divulge their starters for the doubleheader until Sunday. Right-hander Mitch Keller (1-1, 3.52 ERA) will start one game, and rookie right-hander Cody Ponce (1-1, 3.46 ERA) will be called up as the Pirates' 29th man and start the other. However, Shelton declined to say which one would pitch which game.Keller (strained left oblique) will be activated from the 10-day IL and make his first appearance since Aug. 1."I'm excited to have him back," Shelton said. "It's not going to be fully built up. It's good to get him back. We need to get him innings." Keller is 0-1 with a 6.30 ERA in two career starts against Cincinnati (none this year).Ponce's most recent start, and second of his career, came Sept. 4 against the Reds. In four innings, he gave up three runs and three hits, including two homers.The Reds had narrowed it to right-handers Anthony DeSclafani (1-2, 7.20 ERA) and Trevor Bauer (4-4, 1.74 ERA), and after Sunday's game, Bell said Bauer will start Game 1.Bauer has two complete games, both in scheduled seven-inning starts, a two-hitter Aug. 2 at Detroit and a one-hitter Aug. 19 at Kansas City.In his career against Pittsburgh, Bauer is 2-2 with a 4.03 ERA in four starts. That includes a 4-3 Reds loss Sept. 4, when he struck out seven in six innings and gave up six hits, but three of the four runs he gave up were unearned, and Bauer yelled at his teammates in the dugout after the fourth inning."I was mad," Bauer said. "It takes a lot of intensity, a lot of focus to win at the big-league level and I was upset with the way that inning transpired, both on my part and our team's part." DeSclafani is 2-7 with a 5.31 ERA in 15 career starts against the Pirates. This year, DeSclafani is 0-1 in two starts against Pittsburgh, giving up 11 runs and four homers in six innings.--Field Level Media
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