April 29 (UPI) -- Cincinnati Reds fans erupted after an automated ball‑strike system challenge upheld a called third strike, triggering a free‑pizza giveaway for everyone in attendance.
The saucy sequence occurred in the top of the ninth inning of a 7-2 win over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday in Cincinnati.
LaRosa's Pizza, a local restaurant chain, offers a free, one-topping pizza to ticketed fans for seven days after a game in which Reds pitchers combine for at least 11 strikeouts. But they came up one short -- at first.
Reds starter Chase Burns tossed three strikeouts in the first inning. He added three more in the third and another two in the fourth. Burns, who tossed his final strikeout in the sixth, was replaced by relief pitcher Graham Ashcraft to start the seventh.
Ashcraft failed to add to the strikeout total in one inning of work. Fellow relief pitcher Tony Santillan struck out shortstop Ezequiel Tovar to end the eighth, getting fans close one strikeout away from the free pizzas. The Reds then brought in Brock Burke in the top of the ninth.
The Reds have a promotion where fans win free pizza if the team gets 11 strikeouts in a game.
They clinched it in the ninth inning on an ABS challenge and it was electric pic.twitter.com/yVPLmlKEX0— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) April 29, 2026
The left-handed pitcher allowed a leadoff single to pinch hitter Jordan Beck, bringing second baseman Edouard Julien to the plate. Burke threw a sinker for a called strike to start the exchange. He then worked to a 1-2 count.
Burke tossed in a 97.9-mph fastball for his fourth offering. The high-and-outside pitch was initially ruled a ball, but Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson challenged the call.
The automated system replay showed the pitch touched the outside of the strike zone, and home plate umpire Alex Tosi's call was overturned, sending fans into a frenzy.
"The crowd is ready to burst," Reds play-by-play announcer John Sadak said on the broadcast. "That's a strike! Pizza for everybody!"
Burke then struck out Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman to end the game.
Burns surrendered seven hits and two runs over six innings to improve to 3-1 this season. Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz was 3 for 4, with a two-run homer and two RBI singles. Outfielder Spencer Steer also hit a two-run homer.
"We just try to do the job every night," De La Cruz said on the MLB broadcast. "Help the team win and we are doing pretty good."
The Reds (19-10), who have won eight of their last 10 games, sit in first place in the National League Central, 1.5 games in front of the second-place Chicago Cubs (18-12). They are tied with the San Diego Padres for the third-best record in the National League, behind the Atlanta Braves (21-9) and Los Angeles Dodgers (20-10).
The Reds will host the Rockies (13-17) at 6:40 p.m. EDT Wednesday in Cincinnati. The finale of the four-game series will be Thursday at Great American Ball Park.