Big fifth inning lifts Pirates past Reds 6-3

The Pittsburgh Pirates used a huge fifth inning to leapfrog past the Cincinnati Reds on Monday night for a 6-3 victory.

Bryan Reynolds got things started early with a solo home run in the first inning, his 22nd dinger of the year.

Starter Bryse Wilson then held it down to the fourth inning, when he gave up a two-run homer to Aristides Aquino that put the Buccos in a hole.

But come the fifth inning, Pittsburgh had a mini offensive explosion, with five runs scored in the frame. First, it was Rodolfo Castro smacking a three-run shot that just made it over the fence that scored both Bryan Reynolds and Kevin Newman to give Pittsburgh a 4-2 lead.

The Buccos would add two more that inning when Diego Castillo smacked a two-run blast to give Pittsburgh a 6-2 lead.

Wilson would make it into the sixth, where he gave up another run, but the trio of Bucco homers was enough to give him the decision, as he finished with a line of five and two-thirds innings pitched, giving up three runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts to move to 3-8 on the season.

Robert Stephenson and Wil Crowe closed it out, with Crow snagging his fourth save of the season.

Reynolds was 2-for-4 on the day and Ke’Bryan Hayes finished 2-for-5 as your multi-hit Buccos, as Pittsburgh pounded out 10 total hits on the evening. They’ve been a little better overall at the plate the last several games, even if it hasn’t amounted to a steady stream of victories.

That’s win number 52 on the year for the Bucs. They’ll need to win eight out of their final 22 games to get to 60 wins this year. Do you think they can do it?