Pirates snap losing streak, blast 4 home runs in rout of Reds
PITTSBURGH - The last time Henry Davis hit two home runs in a game was July 21, 2023, against the Los Angeles Angels - both coming off Shohei Ohtani.
Friday night was as good a time as any for Davis, who hadn't yet homered this season, to regain that power. He went deep in back-to-back innings against the Cincinnati Reds at PNC Park as part of a 9-1 rout for the Pirates, who snapped a five-game losing streak.
Mitch Keller tossed a strong seven innings, only giving up three hits, one run and striking out six. Meanwhile, the Pirates knocked out Reds starter Brady Singer after 3 1/3 innings, tagging the righty to the tune of seven hits and four runs, including two homers.
Bryan Reynolds hit home runs in back-to-back games in Cincinnati a month ago, and he made it three in a row against the Reds on Friday night. He clobbered a fastball up in the zone in the bottom of the first, sending it 443 feet to the shrubs in center field.
In the third, Reynolds laced an RBI triple before a Ryan O'Hearn single made it 3-0. The bats stayed hot an inning later, when Davis launched his first homer of the year with a deep shot to center.
And speaking of hitters in need of breaking out of a funk, Marcell Ozuna got in on the home run party, adding another to center field, after pouncing on a 3-2 fastball for a two-run homer. A few batters later, in the fifth, Davis added some extra cushion with a sharply lined home run - his second in as many innings - to left field.
Konnor Griffin drew a bases-loaded walk in the sixth to score the Pirates' ninth run.
It was over when …
Davis hit his first of two homers to put the Pirates up, 4-0, in the fourth.
On the mound
Keller was in cruise control to start, needing only 50 pitches to get through four innings and striking out five. The Reds made him work in the fifth, when he tossed 28 pitches, but he got out of the inning unscathed. An Elly De La Cruz RBI groundout in the sixth was Keller's only damage of the night as he lowered his ERA to 2.85.
Justin Lawrence worked a quick 1-2-3 eighth and Evan Sisk closed things out with little resistance in the ninth.
At the plate
Both Davis and Ozuna - arguably the Pirates who needed positive plate appearances the most - homered. Nick Gonzales went 3 for 4 with a walk, and Reynolds went 2 for 4 with a home run, a triple and a walk.
The Pirates outhit the Reds, 12-3.
Most valuable player
Davis went 2 for 3 with three RBIs and a walk. He only had two hits in his last 30 at-bats entering Friday night but opened the month of May with a performance to remember.
Up next
The Pirates continue their seven-game homestand at 4:05 p.m. Saturday. Carmen Mlodzinski (1-2, 4.13) will get the start and aim to rebound after giving up nine runs across his last eight innings, and Rhett Lowder (3-1, 3.18) is slated to toe the rubber for the Reds.
Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.
This story was originally published May 1, 2026 at 11:35 PM.