• Associated Press

Sep 23, 2023, 10:54 PM ET

CINCINNATI — The

Reds rookie Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl all homered off Bailey Fatter, who allowed eight runs and nine hits in two innings. Friedl hit a drive into the right-field corner that Joshua Palacios couldn’t come up with and wound up with the Reds’ first inside-the-park homer since Jay Bruce at the New York Mets on June 15, 2012.

Spencer Steer’s RBI double off Kyle Nicolas boosted the lead to 9-0 in the third.

Held hitless for three innings, Pittsburgh started its comeback on Rivas’ RBI single in the fourth off against Connor Phillips. Ji Hwan Bae and Palacios had run-scoring singles in a five-run sixth and Bryan Reynolds hit a three-run homer against Alex Ríos.

Rivas greeted Lucas Sims with a three-run double in the seventh that tied the score 9-9, and the Pirates opened a 13-9 lead in the eighth against Reds closer Alexis Díaz (9-6) when Jack Suwinski and Rivas hit run-scoring singles and Bae followed with a two-run double. Right fielder Stuart Fairchild saved a run when he threw out Ke’Bryan Hayes at the plate trying to score from second on Jared Triolo’s single.

Nick Martini hit into a run-scoring forceout in the eighth and Encarnacion-Strand followed with an RBI single against Colin Selby. With two on, Bae made a diving backhand stop on Stephenson’s grounder, stepped on second and threw to first for an inning-ending double play.

On a night each team had 16 hits, José Hernández (1-1) got the final out of the seventh in his first major league win.

Pinch-hitter Joey Votto singled off rookie Carmen Mlodzinski leading off the ninth on a ball that took a bad hop over Bae, Friedl doubled and pinch-hitter Jake Fraley hit an RBI groundout that cut the Reds’ deficit to one.

Rookie Elly De La Cruz struck out on an inside sweeper in an 11-pitch at-bat, and India flied out to center.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.