Billy Hamilton ran wild on the bases and in the outfield, extending Gerrit Cole’s career-long struggles against Cincinnati and leading the Reds to a 7-3 win over the Pirates on Sunday afternoon at PNC Park.
“It’s a completely different dynamic,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “He just has a special talent and it certainly shows itself when he’s getting on base and not just stealing the base, but scoring the runs.”
Hamilton went 3-for-4 with a walk, and he took advantage of his time on the bases. The speedy center fielder — who showcased his athleticism with a running, twisting grab to rob Eric Fryer in the third inning — twice swiped both second and third base, his fourth career four-steal game.
“You can’t stop him. You can only hold him for a few pitches,” Cole said. “We did neither today.”
Hamilton came around to score three times, sparking the Reds’ attack against Cole. Pittsburgh’s ace remains winless against Cincinnati in eight career starts after allowing four runs in 5 2/3 innings, carrying a 5.44 ERA against the Reds and a 2.85 mark against the rest of the league.
“I just feel like we come and treat Cole like we treat every other pitcher,” Hamilton said. “We try to get on base and try to do our job, but we come here and we face him and we always do pretty well. There’s nothing that we do different than other pitchers. We have the same approach and the same mentality.”
Reds right-hander Dan Straily turned in a quality start, pitching four perfect innings to start the game and ultimately allowing two runs on three hits over six innings. The Reds added to their lead in the seventh, scoring three runs off Pirates relievers Jared Hughes and Curtis Partch, and avoided a sweep. The Pirates, meanwhile, went 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, committed two errors and made several mental mistakes — none more glaring than Jordy Mercer getting picked off first base with nobody out in the ninth inning — as they fell back to one game above .500 and three games behind the Marlins in the National League Wild Card standings.
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