Bryan Reynolds Makes Three Robberies in Four Games
Bryan Reynolds turned three likely home runs into outs in four games at PNC Park, and the Pittsburgh Pirates felt the difference immediately. His latest came Saturday, when he climbed at the left-field wall to take away Heriberto Hernandez’s drive in a 3-2 win over the Miami Marlins. The sequence covered two wins and one loss, but the run prevention stayed the same.
Reynolds at PNC Park
The stretch started Wednesday against the Los Angeles Dodgers, when Reynolds robbed Shohei Ohtani of a two-run homer in the third inning of a 9-8 Pirates win. On Thursday, he followed with another denial, snaring Mookie Betts’ drive to wipe out what would have been a three-run homer in an 8-6 loss to Los Angeles. By Saturday, he had made it three robberies in four games at PNC Park.
The stops were not routine catches. On Ohtani’s ball, Reynolds went above the wall in a play Don Kelly called the best he had seen him make in the outfield. Reynolds said, “That was one of my better ones.” He added, “Yeah, it was two rows back. It was a tough catch. It was a perfect ball for it. It was high. Had time to time it. It was perfect.”
Ohtani, Betts, Hernandez
The margins were real. Reynolds prevented six runs from scoring by stealing the three home runs, and the Pirates won two of the three games by one run. Jared Jones summed up the effect in one line: “It saves us a lot of runs.”
The Ohtani ball showed the edge of the feat. It left the bat at 105.4 mph with a 41-degree launch angle and carried to the 379-foot marker, a shot that would have left 29 out of 30 ballparks. Reynolds still got to it. That same reach showed up again against Betts and then Hernandez, keeping Pittsburgh from giving back runs that had already started to look settled.
Reynolds’ son Reese and his son Brooks imitated the catch when they got home from the game, which fit the night as well as any stat line. The plays have become the latest part of his value in left field: not a streak of noise, but three outs that changed the scoreboard in a four-game span.
Pirates Run Prevention
For Pittsburgh, the result is plain. Reynolds has taken away six runs across four games at PNC Park, and two of those saves came in one-run wins. That is the difference between a close box score and a tighter one, and the Pirates have already cashed in on it twice.
