It was one day before April Fool’s Day and a full moon Tuesday night, but the Cincinnati Reds and Pittsburgh Pirates played as if it was April Fool’s under a full moon.
It was frustrating with a capital F for the Reds during an 8-3 loss that ended a three-game winning streak.
Start with the starting pitchers.
Cincinnati’s Brandon Williamson, making his first MLB appearance in a year-and-a-half, was on the struggle bus all night.
He put the first two Pirates in the game on base then escaped by striking out Marcell Ozuna and Brandon Lowe.
If that was a soothing moment for him, it only lasted until he took the mound in the second and gave up five runs, including back-to-back home runs by Ryan O’Hearn and Bryan Reynolds.
It was only 1-0 when O’Hearn came to bat with two outs and two on. Williamson got two strikes, one strike from a major escape, but O’Hearn drilled a three-run homer into the right field moon deck.
It was Pittsburgh’s fifth game and O’Hearn’s homer was the Pirates first extra base hit by a lefthanded batter.
“Williamson got to two outs and two strikes on O’Hearn and obviously that was the big hit of the inning,” Reds manager Tito Francona told reporters after the game.
Cincinnati Reds’ Matt McLain fields a ground ball during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
Kareem Elgazzar
It was the big hit of the game.
“He was dodging a lot of trouble the whole time,” Francona added about Williamson’s 94-pitch night with 41 out of the strike zone.
“The first couple of innings, Williamson’s strikes-to-balls ratio was probably fifty-fifty. He just wasn’t commanding like he can and will.”
Then there was Pittsburgh starter Bubba Chandler, baseball’s top pitching prospect.
He pitched two perfect innings, striking out four. Then over the next 2 1/3 innings he couldn’t find home plate if he had a guide dog, GPS and a couple of Sherpas.
He walked six batters, three in the third and three in the fourth. But the Reds could score only one run and that came on an error by Reynolds.
After the run-producing error, the Reds had runners on second and first with no outs. TJ Friedl bunted up in the air and Chandler snared it and fired to first for a double play.
Cincinnati Reds’ Elly de la Cruz rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the eighth inning of a baseball game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
Kareem Elgazzar
Chandler walked the bases loaded in the fifth with one out and his day was done even though he hadn’t given up a hit.
At the point, the Reds had no hits, but they had seven base runners on six walks and the error.
“Their guy, as hard as he was throwing (99 to 101 on a steady flow of fastballs). . .we thought we were one hit from jumping back in that game more than once,” Francona told reporters.
Yohan Ramirez replaced Chandler and struck out both Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz to throttle the threat.
A home run by Oneil Cruz in the fourth, the third homer off Williamson, had the score at 6-1 when the Reds came to bat in the eighth.
Suddenly, the bats came alive against Pirates relief pitcher Hunter Barco.
Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler delivers during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
Kareem Elgazzar
De La Cruz, batting righthanded, lobbed a 338-foot home run that scraped the paint off the right field foul pole. Sal Stewart followed with a 372-foot home run to right center that ticked the outfielder’s glove before it settled into the seats.
Then came back-to-back singles by Eugenio Suarez and Dane Myers. It was 6-3 with no outs, two on and the potential tying run at the plate.
Noelvi Marte popped up and pinch-hitter Nate Lowe hit one between second and first. Second baseman Brandon Lowe made a diving, lunging grab, scrambled to his feet and doubled Myers off first.
The Pirates put it out of reach in the ninth when Reds relief pitcher Pierce Johnson gave up a single to Nick Gonzales and the second home run of the game by Cruz.
Cruz loves Great American Ball Park. He has eight home runs in 18 games there.
The Reds filled the bases in the ninth with two outs but Eugenio Suarez took a called third strike, meaning the Reds were 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11.
On the eighth inning double play that ended the Reds comeback challenge, Francona said, “He (Brandon Lowe) made a nice play. That was a good play. It’s hard to fault Myers. You don’t want to get doubled off, but when Myers sees the ball go over the first baseman’s head he’s thinking third. I understand that.”
General view of Great American Ball Park during the fifth inning of a baseball game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Cincinnati Reds, Tuesday, March 31, 2026, in Cincinnati. (AP Photo/Kareem Elgazzar)
Kareem Elgazzar
Pirates second baseman Lowe, who made a diving catch to start the double play, also made a diving stop on a 109 miles per hour ground ball by De La Cruz and threw him out to end the third with a runner on base.
That was two sensational defensive plays by Lowe, rated the worst defensive player in the entire league last season, tied with Kansas City’s Jonathan India, the former Reds second baseman.
After going 8-for-8 on challenges during their first four games, Sal Stewart and Dane Myers made early-game challenges and were wrong, so the Reds had no challenges left after the fifth inning.
“This was the first time we didn’t do a very good job,” Francona told reporters. “We’ll tighten that up.”
The Reds will have to tighten everything up Wednesday afternoon when Andrew Abbott goes to the mound to face Paul Skenes, last year’s Rookie of the Year.