Joey Votto was 4-for-4 in the win over the Pirates. (David Kohl-USA TODAY Sports)
CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds have broken out of their offensive doldrums with nine home runs in the past three games. On Tuesday night, third baseman Todd Frazier and even starting pitcher Mike Leake joined the homer parade.
“Hitting is contagious, I believe that through and through,” Frazier said. “Once you see one guy doing well, you want to be prepared and do the same thing. It’s a great thing to see.”
On a frigid evening at Great American Ball Park, Frazier and Leake each hit two-run homers, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to a 7-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Frazier said his two-run homer off Pirates starter Gerrit Cole was an especially good sign for him.
“I still got that little power to the opposite field, which is nice to see,” Frazier said. “It was a slider. I’m starting to see more breaking balls. Sometimes you just surprise yourself, I guess.”
It was a complete offensive night for Cincinnati (5-9), which collected 15 hits. Catcher Devin Mesoraco went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, including a two-run single with the bases loaded in the seventh inning. First baseman Joey Votto went 4-for-4 with a walk and RBI.
“We understand and appreciate it’s early in the season,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “There’s no rhyme or reason to what happens in baseball sometimes. We’d like to have a better record than we do.”
Second baseman Neil Walker hit a two-run homer for Pittsburgh, his fifth career home run as a right-handed batter and first since 2011.
Cole (2-1) allowed five earned runs and nine hits in six innings with three walks and three strikeouts.
“A very frustrating game,” Cole said. “I was getting balls up most of the game, not being able to put guys away with two strikes. Everything was kind of wishy-washy over the plate.”
In the ninth, Pittsburgh (7-7) had runners on first and third with two outs and center fielder Andrew McCutchen at the plate against Reds right-hander Jonathan Broxton. After an eight-pitch at-bat, McCutchen popped out to second baseman Brandon Phillips for the final out.
“He hits me pretty well,” Broxton said of the reigning National League MVP. “I just tried to keep the ball down and tried to get him to get himself out.”
Leake (2-1) threw 110 pitches, allowing five hits and three earned runs in 6 2/3 innings with a walk and tied a career high with eight strikeouts. At the plate, he went 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs.
“My maturity level has progressed every year,” Leake said. “I’ve gotten behind batters a little too much this year. I usually get hurt early in an at-bat. It’ll come, where I can pitch deeper into games.”
The Pirates collected only three hits off Leake through six innings but led 2-1. Leake retired eight straight during one stretch.
Frazier’s two-run homer to right field in the sixth came on a 1-1 pitch from Cole to put Cincinnati ahead 3-2.
Later in the inning, Leake launched a 2-1 pitch from Cole 356 feet into the left-field seats to put the Reds ahead 5-2. It was Leake’s third career home run.
“That guy’s a good hitter as a pitcher,” said Cole, who played against Leake while at UCLA. “I saw that at Arizona State. He wore us out at the plate. That’s not the first time he’s done stuff like that.”
The Reds loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh and Mesoraco singled on a 1-2 pitch from right-hander Jeanmar Gomez to make the score 7-3.
Gaby Sanchez, who homered twice against right-handers on Monday night, lined a RBI single off the left-field wall against the right-handed Leake to put Pittsburgh ahead 1-0.
Leake led off the third with a double to left-center field. He was sacrificed to third base on left fielder Chris Heisey’s bunt and scored on Votto’s single to tie the score 1-1.
A throwing error by Leake allowed McCutchen to score the go-ahead run that made it 2-1 in the fourth. But despite two hits and four baserunners, Leake limited the Bucs to one run in the inning.
“We’re long on guts, long on grit,” Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. “We’ve just got to find a way to continually execute at a championship level.”
NOTES: Reds RHP Mike Leake has 58 career hits, most of any big-league pitcher since he debuted in 2010. … The Pirates and Reds have been involved in eight one-run games this season, most in the major leagues. … Tuesday night’s game-time temperature was 39 degrees, nearly 30 degrees colder than the previous night. … Tuesday was Jackie Robinson Day throughout baseball to commemorate the 67th anniversary of Robinson breaking baseball’s color barrier in 1947. Pirates and Reds players and on-field personnel wore Robinson’s No. 42 during the game. The Reds honored Chuck Harmon, their first African-American player, in a pregame ceremony.
