Pirates, and Reds’ park, come up empty

The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3 and 6-3, Monday to sweep a doubleheader that drew the two smallest crowds in Great American Ball Park’s history.

The Reds sold only 9,087 tickets for the second game, the smallest gate in the ballpark’s seven-year history. The opener, a makeup of an April 10 rainout, drew a much smaller actual crowd -- fewer than 2,000 fans.

When the afternoon game began, 11 fans were scattered in the upper-deck bleachers in left field. After the fourth inning, the video board showed one fan surrounded by empty seats as Eric Carmen’s “All By Myself” played over the speaker system, drawing a smattering of applause and laughs from the other fans who knew the feeling.