Marte's Game-Winning Blast
Noelvi Marte's Tiebreaking Homer Secures Reds 6-4 Victory Against Pirates
Pinch-hitter Noelvi Marte crushed a 405-foot, two-run homer in the eighth inning Friday night, lifting the Cincinnati Reds over the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4 at PNC Park CBS Sports. The blast broke a 4-4 tie and snapped a five-game Reds losing streak against Pittsburgh Washington Post.
The win was built on a chaotic second inning that knocked ace Paul Skenes around for four runs — and sealed in the eighth when Marte, entering as a pinch-hitter, delivered the knockout blow AP via Seattle PI Tribune Democrat.
Four Runs Off Skenes in One Chaotic Second Inning
Skenes, the reigning 2025 NL Cy Young winner, looked vulnerable for the first time in weeks. Nathaniel Lowe doubled and Eugenio Suárez singled to start the rally. Spencer Steer and Tyler Stephenson followed with back-to-back RBI singles, tying the game at 1. Skenes' pitch count ballooned to 56 by the end of the frame Erie News Now.
The inning's turning point was a successful ABS appeal — baseball's new automated ball-strike challenge system. Matt McLain used one of Cincinnati's two challenges to reverse a called strike three into a ball, loading the bases. Blake Dunn and Elly De La Cruz followed with back-to-back sacrifice flies. Reds 4, Pirates 1 The Hour.
Skenes Hits 500 Strikeouts but Pirates Lose Again
Skenes finished with a line of 5.0 innings, 6 hits, 4 earned runs, and 7 strikeouts. He reached his 500th career strikeout in the game — the fastest in Pirates franchise history. Yet the milestone was overshadowed by his fourth-inning struggles. His ERA rose from 2.86 to 3.10 Washington Post.
Pittsburgh has now lost eight straight games started by Skenes. During that skid, Skenes has posted a 4.40 ERA over 43 innings — matching a franchise record for team losses in an ace's starts. Skenes was blunt after the game. "It's a fickle game," he said. "You've got to look at what's real... Feelings get in the way of winning" CBS Sports.
Rookie Griffin's 435-Foot Blast Started the Drama Early
The Pirates drew first blood. Twenty-year-old rookie Konnor Griffin hit a 435-foot leadoff homer off Reds starter Andrew Abbott in the first inning. At 20 years and 63 days old, Griffin became the sixth-youngest player in MLB history to hit a leadoff home run Tribune Democrat.
Pittsburgh briefly tied the game at 4-4 in the sixth. Marcell Ozuna and Esmerlyn Valdez hit back-to-back solo shots off Abbott. Abbott's final line was 5.1 innings, 6 hits, 4 earned runs, and 6 strikeouts. Then Marte stepped up in the eighth and ended the drama Erie News Now.
Marte's Redemption Shot and What It Means for Both Teams
Marte's 2024 season was wrecked by an 80-game PED suspension. He spent parts of 2025 and early 2026 rebuilding. Manager Terry Francona's call to use him as a pinch-hitter in the eighth was praised as a "clutch gamble" that paid off AP via Seattle PI. Caleb Ferguson then closed it out with a clean ninth inning for his first save since 2024.
The win nudges the Reds to 37-42, though they sit 12.5 games back in the NL Central with just a 3.4% playoff chance, per Fangraphs. The Pirates fall to 41-40 — still 2.5 games out of a Wild Card spot. Attendance at PNC Park was 25,186 The Hour.
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