Pittsburgh, meanwhile, had been leaning on its offense to cover for a beat-up group — Oneil Cruz, Spencer Horwitz and catcher Rafael Flores Jr. all shelved in recent weeks. The Bucs are still hanging around the NL Wild Card picture, but their bats had gone quiet at exactly the wrong time coming into Thursday.
That cold spell showed up early and often. Cincinnati jumped Ramírez for 2 runs in the 3rd, and Pittsburgh's offense — which had been shut out twice in its last five games — didn't answer until single runs in the 5th and 6th tied it at 2-2.
It stayed tied into the bottom of the 9th, when the Reds scratched across the winning run to walk off with a 3-2 win. Cincinnati finished with 9 hits to Pittsburgh's 7 and neither team committed an error — a tight, grinding game that came down to one swing at the end.
It's the kind of loss that stings more for Pittsburgh given the standings. The Bucs are still very much alive in the Wild Card race, but dropping a winnable one to a Reds team that spent Thursday selling off pieces at the deadline is not the kind of result a playoff hopeful wants on the ledger.