CINCINNATI, Ohio (Interstat) — Elly De La Cruz scored the go-ahead run in the ninth inning on Nathaniel Lowe’s forceout, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

Rhett Lowder threw six innings, allowing two earned runs and five hits while striking out five. Emilio Pagán (3-1) earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief, and Brock Burke, Tejay Antone and Pagán combined to keep the Pirates scoreless after the sixth. Gregory Soto (5-3) took the loss.

Cincinnati took a 2-0 lead in the third when De La Cruz doubled in Matt McLain and scored on Sal Stewart’s single. Pittsburgh cut it to 2-1 in the fifth on Jacob Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly, then tied it in the sixth. The score stayed 2-2 until De La Cruz singled in the ninth and later came home on Lowe’s fielder’s choice. De La Cruz finished 3 for 4 with an RBI and two runs. Nick Gonzales went 2 for 4 for Pittsburgh. The Pirates had seven hits, the Reds nine.

Pittsburgh fell to 55-55. Cincinnati improved to 51-57. Attendance was 25,532. The game lasted 3 hours.