Nathaniel Lowe’s fielder’s choice scored Sal Stewart in the eighth inning to lift the host Cincinnati Reds to an 8-7 comeback victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

Stewart went 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, four RBIs and two runs and JJ Bleday added a solo shot. Lowe collected two hits and an RBI and Noelvi Marte posted three hits for Cincinnati.

Pittsburgh’s Jake Mangum was 2-for-4 with a solo homer and two RBIs and Brandon Lowe was 3-for-5 with a double, an RBI and a run. Nick Gonzales added two hits, two RBIs and a run and Bryan Reynolds had two hits and a run.

Emilio Pagan (4-1) pitched a scoreless ninth to earn the win.

The Reds took an 8-7 lead in a three-run eighth. Marte and Matt McLain each singled before Elly De La Cruz struck out. Stewart’s single brought home Marte and McLain to tie the game at 7-all.

Mason Montgomery relieved Wilber Dotel (1-4) and induced Lowe to hit a grounder to Gonzales at third, allowing Stewart to score.

Pittsburgh took a 7-5 lead with three runs in the top of the eighth. With one out, Gonzales and Endy Rodriguez notched consecutive singles.

Pinch hitter Jared Triolo struck out swinging, but Pittsburgh strung together three straight RBI singles. Henry Davis’ looping liner scored Gonzales, Mangum’s ground-ball single knocked in Rodriguez and Lowe’s hot shot plated Davis.

The Pirates took a 2-0 lead in the first when Gonzales lined a two-out, two-run single up the middle.

In the bottom of the inning, Tyler Stephenson’s double into the left field corner scored Bleday from first. Nathaniel Lowe followed with a single to tie the game at 2-all.

In the second, Mangum’s line-drive homer gave the Pirates a 3-2 lead.

Bleday’s 19th homer of the season tied the game at 3-all in the third.

De La Cruz opened the fourth with a triple and scored on Stewart’s 23rd homer of the year as the Reds took a 5-3 lead.

Pittsburgh cut its deficit to 5-4 in the fifth when Brandon Lowe scored on Esmerlyn Valdez’s sacrifice fly.

In four innings, Skenes allowed five runs on seven hits with four walks and seven strikeouts. Reds starter Hunter Greene scattered seven hits over six innings, giving up four runs while walking two and striking out four.

–Field Level Media

The lone MLS team without a road victory, Austin FC, plans to change that Saturday against the Colorado Rapids in Commerce City, Colo.

The Rapids (6-10-1, 19 points) have fallen to 13th in the Western Conference, five points below the playoff line with only Austin (4-8-5, 17 points) and Sporting KC behind them.

“Any game on the road is difficult,” Austin interim coach Davy Arnaud said.

He added: “We are going to approach the game in Colorado the same way. We are hoping that our first win on the road comes in Colorado.”

Austin forward Brandon Vazquez played the full 90 minutes for the first time this season in Saturday’s 3-0 loss at Houston.

He is still seeking his first goal or assist.

“I’m a player who likes getting in the box and get good crosses,” Vazquez said. “I feel like we haven’t gotten to the end line enough … it’s something we need to work on as a group and keep improving on.”

The Rapids could also use an offensive spark. Since MLS play resumed, Colorado has scored once, beating visiting San Diego 1-0 before losing 1-0 at St. Louis last Saturday.

Colorado failed to register a shot on goal against St. Louis after Rob Holding was shown a red card in the 12th minute.

The English defender also was sent off against St. Louis on May 9. Though Holding is suspended Saturday, coach Matt Wells said the Rapids want to return to their pressing style.

“It’s a chance to impose ourselves offensively,” Wells said. “We didn’t get that chance in St. Louis, going down to 10 men. Defensively, we were excellent, and the commitment was outstanding. We need to show those same traits again.”

Wells believes Colorado has the players to make a playoff run.

“We are a very dynamic team if you look at how we rank for sprint distance and high intensity distance in this league,” he said.

He added: “We know when we score first we are a top team in this division.”

–Field Level Media

Miguel Vargas, Andrew Benintendi and Munetaka Murakami homered in the first three innings as the Chicago White Sox began a six-game road trip by pounding the Tampa Bay Rays 6-1 on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Murakami went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs, and Benintendi totaled two hits and a walk. Colson Montgomery hit a two-run shot to round out the club’s four-homer showing.

Starter Erick Fedde (6-6) allowed one run on four hits in five innings. He fanned six.

The American League Central leaders finished July with a 13-12 mark.

Junior Caminero, who walked twice, joined Evan Longoria, Carlos Pena and Brandon Lowe as the only Rays with multiple 30-homer seasons thanks to a massive solo blast, one of the team’s five hits.

Starter Nick Martinez (10-3) was roughed up in six innings for six runs on seven hits, including all four home runs. He struck out two.

The Rays used a 15-12 July mark to maintain their slim lead in the AL East over the New York Yankees.

All seven runs in the matchup were plated by home runs.

After being swept in three games by the Rays in mid-April on the South Side, the White Sox immediately employed a power surge against Martinez.

In the first inning, Vargas swatted the first pitch he saw 433 feet to left field for his 23rd deep ball. Leading off the next frame, Benintendi cranked a 1-2 pitch off the catwalk above right field for his 11th homer, an estimated 405 feet on the towering blow.

The visitors created more separation in the third via the long ball when Murakami provided the pop, going opposite field for a two-run homer to left and a 4-0 advantage.

Caminero launched the night’s deepest missile in the fourth. He rocketed Fedde’s 3-2 pitch, above the strike zone, 453 feet to center off the D-ring, the farthest catwalk in play from home plate.

It was Chicago’s turn to continue the barrage in the sixth as Montgomery became the third hitter to homer off a hanging walkway, striking a support beam above right field for a two-run homer and a 6-1 lead.

Reliever Tyler Schweitzer, who fired three scoreless frames, whiffed pinch hitter Ryan Vilade with two runners on in the eighth in the Rays’ final good scoring chance.

–Field Level Media