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Chris Heisey homers twice to help Reds avoid sweep

Joe Sargent

The Pirates jumped out to an early lead, but Chris Heisey and the Reds came back to tie the game and eventually win 3-2, foiling the Pirates' plans for a sweep.

Josh Harrison hit his 13th home run of the year to lead off the Pirates' half of the first, and Jordy Mercer followed with a solo homer of his own in the second, smashing a Johnny Cueto slider to left as the PNC Park crowd did the "CUE-to" chant that worked so well last October.

Francisco Liriano, meanwhile, cruised through four innings. He ran into trouble in the fifth, though, walking the leadoff batter and then giving up a two-run homer to Heisey. Both teams' offenses were quiet in the late innings until the ninth, when the Bucs tried to get a second inning out of Jared Hughes. Heisey came up with one out and hit a line drive for his second homer of the game, putting the Reds up 3-2. With Aroldis Chapman throwing 101-MPH heat in the ninth, that's how it would stay.