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Russell Martin after hitting the first of his two solo home runs, which helped Pittsburgh to its first postseason victory in 21 years. Marlon Byrd also homered.
PITTSBURGH — It was everything the Pittsburgh Pirates could have dreamed, and the best part, for them, is that there is more to come. The Pirates, after two decades of losing seasons, have stormed into the National League division series.
They did it Tuesday by thumping the Cincinnati Reds in the wild-card game, 6-2, before 40,487, the largest paid crowd to see a game at this sparkling riverfront ballpark. Some fans watched from the Clemente Bridge beyond center field. A Jolly Roger flag hung proudly over the Allegheny River.
Neil Walker, a Pittsburgh native who has been with the organization longer than any other active player, fielded a grounder at second base for the final out, securing a date with the Cardinals on Thursday in St. Louis.
This park was not here in 1992, when the Pirates lost a trip to the World Series on the final play of the seventh game of the championship series. They lost their star, Barry Bonds, and lost their way.
Yet on Tuesday, they invited Doug Drabek, the pitcher who lost that infamous Game 7 in Atlanta, to throw the ceremonial first pitch. Drabek waved a black towel, then fired a strike from the top of the mound. Pertrina McCutchen, the mother of Andrew McCutchen, the Pirates' star center fielder, sang a stirring national anthem.
And off the Pirates went, to play ball and play it well. Francisco Liriano stifled the Reds for seven innings, Russell Martin homered twice, and the crowd — waving flags, honking horns and wearing black at the players' suggestion — made a difference. Johnny Cueto, the Reds' right-hander, never seemed to have a chance.
"If you know Johnny Cueto like I know Johnny Cueto," Reds Manager Dusty Baker said before the game, "he thrives in this type of environment."
But how could Baker have known the environment Cueto would face? The Pirates had never hosted the playoffs at PNC Park, and their fans did their best to influence the game, chanting Cueto's last name in the second inning.
Cueto had started the inning by allowing a line-drive homer to the left-field seats by Marlon Byrd, the former Met acquired in August. After an out, with his singsong name in stereo around him, Cueto inexplicably dropped the ball on the mound. He picked it up as the fans roared, and Martin homered on the next pitch.
Martin also homered in his first playoff game last October, for the Yankees, who allowed him to leave as a free agent for two years and $17 million. The Pirates' other major free agent was Liriano, who signed for a guarantee of just $1 million after breaking his right arm in the off-season.
Fortunately for the Pirates, Liriano throws with his left arm, which stays close to his body as he delivers the pitch, adding deception to an arsenal of two-seamers, sliders and changeups. Left-handers batted just .131 off him this season.
"You have to be a good left-handed hitter to buy ownership and stay in the lineup with him," Manager Clint Hurdle said, and the Reds had three such hitters: Shin-Soo Choo, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce. All looked helpless as Liriano retired the first nine hitters in order.
By the time he allowed a base runner, Liriano had a 3-0 lead, thanks largely to an error by Zack Cozart, the Reds' shortstop. Cozart botched a one-out grounder, and McCutchen, who had reached on a broken-bat single, took two bases. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Pedro Alvarez.
The Reds just kept playing poorly. Cueto left with one out in the fourth, and his replacement, the left-hander Sean Marshall, was no help. A run-scoring double, an intentional walk and another walk forced Marshall from the game, and when J. J. Hoover induced a grounder to second, it kicked off Brandon Phillips's wrist.
There was no error on the play — official scorers cannot assume a double play — but the inning should have been over. Instead, the Pirates scored to make it 5-1. With Votto flummoxed by Liriano's hard sliders and Phillips making four harmless outs to the right side of the infield, the Reds' offense could not catch up.
It was another bitter letdown for Baker, who has reached the postseason seven times, with three teams, without winning a championship. The Reds have won two division titles and a wild card in the last four seasons, without ever advancing.
"This is a year where there are not really any excuses," Votto had said after Monday's workout. "We've been here before. Players are experienced. It's important for us to start doing some playoff winning."
The Reds could have stomped on the feel-good story of the baseball season and broken their own drought of 18 years without moving on in the playoffs. Instead they were the perfect guests for the greatest baseball party here in decades.
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