CINCINNATI (AP) — Ho Kang a few at-bats this weekend as a reward for working back from wrist surgery. His first plate appearance in two years was a hit.Kang had a pinch-hit single in the seventh inning as Pittsburgh pulled away to its seventh straight win over Cincinnati Miguel Gonzalez Jersey , 8-2 on Friday night . Elias Diaz hit a tiebreaking homer, and Colin Moran also homered and drove in three runs.Kang’s single was the most long-awaited.The 31-year-old infielder hadn’t played in the majors since September 2016 because of visa issues related to DUI arrests in his native South Korea. Earlier this season, he played in the Pirates’ minor league system before a left wrist injury required surgery. The Pirates decided to add him to the roster for the final series.“He worked hard to put himself in position to be back before the season ended,” manager Clint Hurdle said.Asked whether he was nervous when he finally got to bat, Kang didn’t need the translator to reply.“A lot,” he said.Through a translator, he added, “A lot of mixed emotions stepping into the box, even until the last moment.”Otherwise, it was another typical win. The Pirates are 13-4 against their Ohio River rivals this season with their longest winning streak against Cincinnati since 1991, when they took nine in a row.“Pittsburgh’s been rough on us,” interim manager Jim Riggleman said.The Reds are ending another disappointing season in a rut, dropping six straight and 11 of 14. Their loss on Friday was their 94th of the season, matching their total for each of the last two years. They’ve dropped at least 90 games in four straight seasons, one shy of the club record from 1930-34.Corey Dickerson doubled in the first inning off Anthony DeSclafani (7-8), who completed another injury-shortened season. He missed the first two months with a strained oblique. DeSclafani lost each of his last four starts.Diaz snapped a 2-2 tie in the fourth inning with his 10th homer off DeSclafani, who lasted five innings. Moran added a sacrifice fly, a solo homer and a run-scoring single as the Pirates pulled away.Since moving a bit farther from the plate, Moran has gotten better results. He’s batting .300 with three homers and 10 RBIs in September.“I’m just trying to learn to be consistent,” Moran said. “I’m trying not to get too down on myself Tim Anderson Jersey , use it as a learning experience.”Nick Kingham gave up Eugenio Suarez’s two-run homer , his first since Sept. 10, during his 3 2/3 innings. Steven Brault (6-3) allowed three hits in 2 1/3 innings.Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart had a career-high five hits, including a triple, a bunt single and a two-run homer.“It stinks that we lost, but that’s a night you won’t forget,” Barnhart said.HOT STUFFDickerson is batting .382 in 16 games against the Reds this season with eight doubles, a triple, five homers and 13 RBIs. At Great American Ball Park, he’s 15 for 33.INTERIM MARKSThe Reds are 63-79 since April 19, when Bryan Price was fired and Riggleman took over on an interim basis. He’s one of the candidates under consideration for the job moving ahead.MAINTAINED POSSESSIONReds center fielder Billy Hamilton caught Kevin Kramer’s fly at the wall in the fourth inning, then had right fielder Phillip Ervin slam into him, knocking him to the ground as he held onto the ball. Ervin also was trying to make the catch.UP NEXTPirates: Jameson Taillon (14-9) has allowed three earned runs or less in his last 21 starts. Since the All-Star break, he’s gone 8-2 with a 2.16 ERA in 12 starts.Reds: Michael Lorenzen (3-2) makes his third straight start after pitching in relief in 42 appearances this season, part of the Reds’ experiment to sort out their pitching for next season. In his two starts, Lorenzen has given up four earned runs in eight innings. ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Joey Gallo’s first sacrifice fly in more than 1,300 plate appearances for his career helped Shelby Miller get his first big league win in two years.The problem for the Texas Rangers was needing their closer after leading by nine runs, then having to replace Jose Leclerc to finish off the Houston Astros.Gallo’s first sac fly in plate appearance No. 1,337 helped him match his career best of five RBIs and Shawn Kelley came on for the faltering Leclerc to get the final out in an 11-10 victory over the Astros on Sunday.“One thing I told Jose after the game is the ball is going right back in your hand tomorrow in that situation http://www.whitesoxfanproshop.com/authentic-paul-konerko-jersey ,” said first-year manager Chris Woodward, who had to replace Leclerc in the middle of the ninth of a win at Arizona 11 days earlier. “He’s going through a tough situation.”Hunter Pence homered and drove in three runs in already the second series victory, both at home, for the rebuilding Rangers against the two-time defending AL West champions. Texas also won two of three in the first week of the season.“We’re not going to wait until later in the season to get tight as a team,” said Elvis Andrus, the longest-tenured Texas player. “It’s always important to get off on the right foot. It’s something as a team we’ve been doing so far, especially against this team.”The Astros hit five solo home runs after falling behind 10-1, including a pair from Carlos Correa and Josh Reddick in the eighth inning to get within three.George Springer led off the ninth with the fifth Houston homer, this one off Leclerc, who was pulled after forcing in another run with four walks, capped by Jose Altuve as a pinch-hitter on what was supposed to be a day off for the star second baseman.Kelley helped the Rangers avoid a complete collapse by striking out former Texas catcher Robinson Chirinos for his first save since 2017 with Washington.“At 10-1, it didn’t look good, we didn’t feel good, we didn’t play good,” Houston manager AJ Hinch said. “Then from that time forward, we put together some really good at-bats. At the end of the day it’s a loss, but I expect this out of these guys.”Miller (1-1) allowed homers on consecutive pitches to Alex Bregman and Michael Brantley in Houston’s five-run sixth inning. The right-hander gave up five hits and four runs — three earned — in 5 1/3 innings.The last win for Miller was April 18, 2017, with Arizona against San Diego, not long before Tommy John surgery that sidelined him until the middle of last season. The Texas native was making his fourth start after signing a one-year contract with the Rangers in the offseason.Pence and Logan Forsythe homered on consecutive pitches in the third off Collin McHugh. The Houston right-hander (3-2) gave up a career-high 10 runs — nine earned — in 3 1/3 innings after allowing five runs total in his first four starts.GALLO’S BUSY DAYGallo Welington Castillo Jersey , the 25-year-old in his third full season after spending parts of two years in the big leagues, finally got a sac fly on one of his typical towering fly balls. Danny Santana scored easily after center fielder Tony Kemp made the catch in the fourth.“Just hearing about it nonstop,” said Gallo, who triggered a celebration from teammates in the dugout. “It was good to get that out of the way. Obviously they knew about it as well. You saw the reaction. And I got the ball, too. So that was pretty cool.”A lefty slugger with more homers (96) than singles (88) in his career, Gallo pulled the singles count a little closer with a sky-high popup that shortstop Carlos Correa lost in the sun on a blustery Texas day.Playing on the right side in a shift, Correa stopped in shallow right center and froze, even flinching at one point before the ball landed on the other side of second base, not far from his normal spot. Bregman, the third baseman, scrambled over as Shin-Soo Choo trotted home from third.“He hits the ball high, and when he misses them they go really high, and the wind blowing,” Bregman said. “Just one of those pop flies that you’ve got to catch.”Gallo opened the scoring with a two-run triple in the first and had an RBI groundout in the third.UP NEXTAstros: RHP Brad Peacock (2-0, 3.94 ERA) is set for the opener of a three-game home series against Minnesota on Monday night. Peacock made two relief appearances while the Astros used a four-game rotation because of off days. The second of his two previous starts was April 7.Rangers: LHP Mike Minor (2-1, 2.60) will pitch the opener of a three-game series in Oakland on Monday night. Minor is 2-0 with a 0.78 ERA in his past three starts.