Oneil Cruz went 5-for-13 with three home runs and six RBIs across three games in Cincinnati, and the Pirates beat the Reds in two of them by the exact same score both times. Pittsburgh came into this series at 1-2 after getting embarrassed by the Mets on Opening Day and left at 3-3 with their first series win of 2026. When Cruz is locked in like this, the Pirates beat whoever is in front of them. That is the short version.
The Pirates Beat the Reds Because Oneil Cruz Owns Cincinnati
Nine home runs in his last 19 games played at Great American Ball Park. That is not a hot streak, that is a specific and documented problem the Reds organization has not come close to solving. In game two on Tuesday, Cruz and Ryan O’Hearn went back-to-back in the second inning and Pittsburgh walked away with an 8-3 win. In the series finale today, Cruz turned an Andrew Abbott fastball into a three-run homer in the first inning before the Reds could breathe. Bryan Reynolds added a two-run shot at 413 feet in the ninth, his second of the season, and the Pirates beat the Reds 8-3 for the second time in three days. When Cruz and Reynolds are both driving the ball this lineup looks genuinely dangerous.
Game one was rough. Chase Burns held Pittsburgh to one hit over five innings in his first major league win and the Reds won 2-0. That is the kind of game you file away. The Pirates beat their way out of it the next two afternoons, which is the only thing that matters when you leave town.
Paul Skenes Bounced Back and That Was the Whole Job Today
Skenes went five innings, allowed one run on three hits, walked two and struck out five. That is not the version of Skenes who posted a 1.97 ERA last season and won every award available to him, but that was never going to happen in game two of his 2026 season after what happened against the Mets. His Opening Day start in New York was the worst of his career. He lasted two-thirds of an inning, gave up five earned runs on four hits and did not make it out of the first inning. Eugenio Suarez hit a pinch-hit two-run homer today in the sixth to briefly make it close, but Skenes had already put Pittsburgh in a position to win. The Reds had gone 31 consecutive scoreless innings against Skenes entering today. One brutal outing against the Mets does not change what Skenes is and anyone who panicked after Opening Day needs to relax.
Marcell Ozuna Is Hitting .063 and the Roster Clock Is Running
The Pirates signed Marcell Ozuna this offseason to be a middle-of-the-order bat who could protect Cruz and Reynolds and make pitchers think twice. Through six games Ozuna is 1-for-16 and hitting .063. The Reds walked him in the first inning today and Cruz made them pay with the three-run homer, but Ozuna getting protection from Cruz is the opposite of how this is supposed to work. He cannot continue like this.
Sitting in Triple-A Indianapolis right now is Konnor Griffin, the number one prospect in baseball. Griffin is a 19-year-old shortstop so he is not a direct replacement for Ozuna at DH. But Griffin is coming to Pittsburgh at some point this season and when he arrives every roster spot gets harder to justify. The Pirates kept Griffin down because he hit .171 this spring and has never appeared in a Triple-A game, and that was a defensible decision. It will not stay defensible forever. Ozuna has a window to produce before this conversation gets forced.
The Orioles Are Not a Soft Landing for Opening Day at PNC
The Pirates come home Friday for their first game at PNC Park in 2026 against Baltimore, with Mitch Keller getting the ball. Baltimore can score runs and Keller needs to be sharp. The energy at PNC on home opener day is always locked in and this team is coming back off a series win, which is better than what anyone expected after watching the Mets game last Thursday. The Pirates beat the Reds and proved the offense is real when Cruz is right. Now Keller has to prove the rotation can hold up when Skenes is not pitching. That is the question Friday answers.
