Time on the disabled list did as much for Sean Rodriguez’s bat as it did for his leg.

Rodriguez homered and drove in four runs Tramaine Brock Jersey , Starling Marte hit a grand slam and the Pittsburgh Pirates extended their winning streak to a season-high seven games with a 12-1 rout of the Cincinnati Reds after a long rain delay Friday night.

”Every swing, you’re not going to get exactly what you want,” said Rodriguez, who snapped an 0-for-17 skid with a fourth-inning RBI single after being activated before the game. ”You’re trying to put the ball in play as much as you can. I was able to go up and execute what I’ve been working on.”

Corey Dickerson had a solo homer for the Pirates, who finished with 16 hits – their most in a nine-inning game this year.

In the fourth, however, it was a daring cat that stole the show.

The feline appeared on the field from the first base side, scampered behind the plate to the third base side and twice almost jumped into the stands before finding an unoccupied spot on the third attempt.

The cat escaped, according to a Reds spokesman.

The start was delayed by a thunderstorm for 2 hours, 55 minutes, and rain continued intermittently throughout a game that ended at 1:32 a.m. But the Pirates hardly seemed to mind.

”When you sign up for this, you know what can happen,” Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle said. ”You just do it. There’s lots of things you can’t control, and one of them is the weather. We stayed focused, stayed ready Rob Havenstein Jersey , guys did their work, and when they said `Play ball,’ we went out and did.”

The win streak is the Pirates’ longest since a seven-game run from June 29 through July 6, 2016. Pittsburgh has won nine of 10, including a five-game sweep of Milwaukee that knocked the Brewers out of first place in the NL Central.

Jameson Taillon, who threw a one-hit shutout against the Reds on April 8, allowed six hits and a run with six strikeouts and one walk in 5 1/3 innings. Taillon (7-7) also drove in a run with a safety squeeze.

Rodriguez, who had been sidelined since June 25 with a right quadriceps strain, added his drive into the left-field seats in the sixth on the first pitch after Cincinnati pitching coach Danny Darwin visited Tyler Mahle on the mound.

Marte’s eighth-inning slam was the second of his career.

Mahle (7-8) set a career high by allowing six earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. Pittsburgh reached him for eight hits and three walks.

”We were talking earlier in the year about getting past that sixth inning,” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said. ”The sixth inning bit one of our starters again. He had given up a couple runs, but not many hard-hit balls. He was kind of cruising right along, but he lost control there. A couple walks. Later in the inning he hung a slider. It is a hurdle we’ve got to get over.”

SPEAKING OF STREAKS

Marte extended his hitting streak to 13 games, tying a career high. He is tied with Houston’s Yuli Gurriel for the longest active streak in the majors.

DISTURBING TREND

Mahle was coming off a start at Cleveland in which he lasted a career-low 2 1/3 innings and set career highs by allowing seven runs, five earned.

FAMILIAR FACE

Cincinnati recalled OF Phillip Ervin from Triple-A Louisville to replace injured OF Scott Schebler on the 25-man roster. The recall was Ervin’s second since opening the season with the Reds. Schebler went on the 10-day disabled list Wednesday, retroactive to Sunday Anthony Castonzo Jersey , with a sprained joint in his right shoulder after running into the wall to make a catch in St. Louis last Saturday.

BEAT THE CURFEW

The Reds went ahead with their postgame fireworks show during the storm that delayed the first pitch. Local curfew regulations prohibit fireworks shows starting after midnight.

EXTENDED BREAK

Reds All-Star first baseman Joey Votto, 34, didn’t start to help him get over traveling from St. Louis to Washington to Cincinnati this week.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Pirates: 2B Josh Harrison worked out in the outfield before the game but wasn’t in the starting lineup after leaving Sunday’s game with left hamstring discomfort.

Reds: 2B Alex Blandino, just inserted into the game in the ninth, had to be helped off with an apparent right knee injury after colliding with Max Moroff while turning a double play.

UP NEXT

Pirates: Rookie RHP Nick Kingham (4-4) is 0-3 in his last three road starts.

Reds: RHP Anthony DeSclafani (4-2) allowed five hits and six runs in 3 1/3 innings during his last start Sunday in St. Louis.

—

As the Minnesota Vikings conducted their first full-team practice of training camp, the offensive linemen, once again, found themselves in the spotlight.

The center of attention is precisely where these players would prefer not to be, and their position coach's sudden death was about the worst circumstance imaginable. The day after the starters served as pallbearers at Tony Sparano's memorial service, they turned their focus back to the field while carrying forward those lessons learned about the game and about life.

"He took me to places I couldn't go as a player and as a man," center Pat Elflein said. "It wasn't just football with him. He really cared about his players, the well-being of his players, and it hurts."

Sparano's personality in practice was gruff. He was simply aiming to help his players improve, and once they realized the passion behind his motives they quickly gained a deep appreciation for his presence that's been dearly missed this week.

"It's still there," Elflein said. "You can still sense it in the room Nathan Peterman Jersey , that Tony's not there, but he is."

Injuries have taken a toll on this group over the last few years. Some draft picks didn't develop, and some free agent additions didn't fit. Add that all up, and Minnesota's offensive line has struggled more than any other position group on the team since head coach Mike Zimmer was hired in 2014. Strides were made last year, but the NFC championship game loss at Philadelphia showed there's a long way to go. That's where the toughness and pride that Zimmer hired Sparano to more deeply instill in the blockers ought to continue on even without their leader.

"What his vision was on the makeup of his offensive line and what he truly believed in, over the past two years we've really focused on bringing in," general manager Rick Spielman said. "I used to kid him all the time, 'It's like watching a bunch of Tony Sparanos running around the building.' They're all in that mold. But I do think the group that we have, that they will rally. I know that they will want to make him proud as we move forward."

Zimmer announced Saturday his decision to switch tight ends coach Clancy Barone to become co-offensive line coach with Andrew Janocko, who assisted Sparano last season. Todd Downing, who was Oakland's offensive coordinator last year and hired by the Vikings as a senior offensive assistant, will assume supervision of the tight ends.

"We're still kind of mourning Tony, but he would've wanted us to move on, get back to grinding, so that's what we're going to do Mark Barron Jersey ," left tackle Riley Reiff said.

Barone coached tight ends and offensive line at different times during eight seasons with Denver, where he was before joining the Vikings last season. Janocko is in his fourth year on Zimmer's staff.

"I feel really good about it," Zimmer said. "These guys are experienced in the things that they're doing, and I think it was the best way to go."

Continuity was the top priority in replacing Sparano, who died of heart disease on Sunday at age 56.

"For the last two years we've worked really hard on the footwork and the techniques and the schemes we were running, so I felt like it was important that we continue to do that regardless of whatever we decided to do," Zimmer said.

Reiff is the anchor of the group, which has begun training camp in a mild state of flux with Elflein recovering from offseason surgeries on his ankle and shoulder. Nick Easton, likely the starting left guard again, has been handling center with Elflein still in rehabilitation mode. Mike Remmers has made what appears to be a permanent move to right guard, and Rashod Hill is in place at right tackle. While Elflein is out, newcomer Tom Compton is taking most of the turns at left guard.

"These guys are professionals. They understand that things happen. This isn't the first time that something's happened to us here," Zimmer said. "So we're used to overcoming adversity, and that's what we're going to continue to do."

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