On Saturday he showed how a 37-year old can still have impact on a young team that has been hotter than the weather.
Rolen singled in two runs with two out in the first inning off James McDonald, who came into the game with a 5-1 record against Cincinnati.
With the score tied 4-4 in the eighth, Rolen hit a drive to deep center. Andrew McCutchen, one of the fastest centerfielders, sprinted to run it down.
Rolen was apprehensive. He hit three balls on the button on Friday night but all were caught. This time it was his turn.
"I was hoping he wouldn't catch it," Rolen said. "I haven't had too much luck with that side of the field. I was running hard and saw it hit off the wall. I took a little gamble, trying for third with no out but it worked out."
On the next play, Todd Frazier hit a chopper over the pitchers head. Rolen gambled again and won. He scored what proved to be the winning run.
"I thought I was dead. I read the ball and decided to go. It was a miserable 90 feet. I just knew it would end in a slide or a collision. It was a bit of a gamble," Rolen said.
Losing pitcher Jared Hughes wanted to come home with the throw but couldn't.
"At the moment I looked up, I didn't have a grip on the ball. I didn't want to throw it over his (catcher Michael McKenry's) head. I took the out," Hughes said.
Manager Dusty Baker had no problem with Rolen's decisions.
"He's one of the best baserunners in the game," Baker said. "He's always alert, always trying to take that extra base."
The Reds have won 15 of 16 and opened a 5½-game lead over Pittsburgh in the NL Central.
"This is a playoff atmosphere every day - close games every day," Baker said.
Jonathan Broxton (1-0), acquired on Tuesday from Kansas City, pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Aroldis Chapman worked the ninth for his 25th save.
Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle was ejected in the top of the second after both benches were warned following the second Pirates' batter to be hit by a pitch in two nights.
"That was a topic of discussion," Hurdle said. "There was no warning before the game. I just wanted the game to go on."
Mike Leake plunked Josh Harrison with two outs, no one on base and the Reds leading 2-1. Harrison and Leake briefly exchange words, prompting plate umpire Brian Gorman to issue the warnings against further trouble.
Hurdle came out to discuss the decision and was ejected - for the third time this season - when the talk grew more heated.
"That was a topic of discussion," Hurdle said. "That was our (No. 8) batter that got hit. There was no warning before the game. I just wanted the game to go on."
On Friday night, Chapman hit McCutchen with two outs in the ninth.
The Reds capitalized on an error to take a 2-0 lead in the first. Zack Cozart led off with a single, Drew Stubbs bunted up the third-base line for a hit and both runners advanced on third baseman Pedro Alvarez's throwing error, setting up Rolen's two-out, two-run single.
Michael McKenry led off Pittsburgh's second with his 11th homer of the season. The Pirates tied the game in the third on Alex Presley's leadoff triple and Neil Walker's sacrifice fly.
The Reds regained their two-run lead in the fourth on one-out singles by Stubbs and Jay Bruce, Ryan Ludwick's RBI line-drive double off the wall down the left-field line and Frazier's infield single.
Josh Harrison cut Cincinnati' lead to 4-3 with his third homer of the season in the fourth.
Pittsburgh got its own break to tie it in the sixth. Garrett Jones moved from second to third on Leake's wild pitch while striking out Alvarez, and Travis Snider hit a sacrifice fly.
Both starting pitchers lasted six innings and had seven strikeouts and a walk. Leake allowed six hits and four runs while James McDonald gave up seven hits and three earned runs.
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