Reds Beat Pirates In Season Finale

PITTSBURGH (AP) – Aristides Aquino hit his 19th home run, Tyler Mahle pitched five shutout innings to pick up his first win since May and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pirates 3-1 Sunday shortly after Pittsburgh fired manager Clint Hurdle.  Brian O’Grady connected for his second home run and Alex Blandino added a solo shot as Cincinnati finished 75-87 under first-year manager David Bell, an eight-win improvement over 2018 and the club’s best record since it posted a 76-86 mark in 2014. Eugenio Suarez went 0 for 4 to finish with 49 home runs.  Mahle (3-12) struck out five and allowed three hits to win for the first time in 13 starts. Michael Lorenzen worked the ninth for his seventh save.  Jose Osuna delivered an RBI single for Pittsburgh. Trevor Williams (7-9) gave up two runs and five hits in seven innings. Tom Prince managed the Pirates, who parted ways with Hurdle after nine seasons shortly before the game’s first pitch.  Aquino connected in the second. He entered the day tied for ninth among major league rookies in home runs even though he didn’t debut until Aug. 1.   The Pirates finished 69-93, a 13-game drop from 2018 and the franchise’s worst mark since losing a major-league worst 105 games in 2010, the year before Hurdle’s arrival.