The Cincinnati Reds took a 5-0 lead with a big 3rd inning on Wednesday afternoon, but they couldn’t hold onto that lead. San Francisco battled back and was able to send the game to extra innings where the Giants hit a walk-off home run to avoid being swept in the 3-game series.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (5-8) | 6 | 6 | 1 |
| San Francisco Giants (9-3) |
8 | 12 | 1 |
| W: Miller (1-0) L: Pagan (0-1) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Neither team was able to do anything at the plate in the first two innings. But Cincinnati got things moving in the top of the 3rd against future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander. Jake Fraley got a rally started with a 1-out walk and moved up a bag on a single by Austin Wynns. TJ Friedl then doubled to the wall in right field to drive in a run. An infield single followed to load the bases. Elly De La Cruz then doubled on a ball just out of the reach of a leaping first baseman to drive in two runs and make it 3-0. Gavin Lux then singled and brought around two more runs as the Reds grabbed a 5-0 lead.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning the Giants got their first hit when Tyler Fitzgerald doubled with two outs, but Nick Martinez was able to strand him there. The next inning he wasn’t able to work his way entirely out of a jam he got himself into when he walked the leadoff batter. Jung Hoo Lee followed that walk with an RBI triple to cut into the lead. Martinez helped himself out in a big way two batters later when Heliot Ramos hit a chopper to the first base side of the mound and Martinez fielded the ball, spun and fired a strike to the plate where Austin Wynns was able to tag out the runner at the plate and save a run. Elly De La Cruz then got the final out of the inning on a leaping grab up the middle to rob Mike Yastrzemski of a hit.
San Francisco got back to threatening in the bottom of the 5th. Wilmer Flores singled and then moved to third when Patrick Bailey followed up with a double. Tyler Fitzgerald then hit a grounder directly to Elly De La Cruz and for some reason Wilmer Flores broke for the plate. The Giants first baseman is one of the slowest players in baseball. De La Cruz has one of the strongest arms in baseball and he didn’t have to move to field the ball. The Reds shortstop fielded the ball and threw home where Austin Wynns caught the ball while Flores was still 10+ feet from the plate and had to wait for him to get closer before applying the tag. Nick Martinez then picked up a strikeout and got a lazy fly out to left field to end the inning and hold onto a 4-run lead.
Cincinnati caught a break in the top of the 6th when Willy Adames made an errant toss to second base on an attempted force out play, leaving runners on first and second base. Back-to-back walks followed to bring in a run and extend the Reds lead to 6-1.
That run turned out to be important at the time because things fell apart in the bottom of the inning. Nick Martinez gave up a leadoff single, but then struck out the next two batters. That’s when things went south as a double, wild pitch, and a single followed to bring in two runs and make it a 6-3 game. That also ended the day for Martinez and Cincinnati called Taylor Rogers in from the bullpen. He gave up an RBI triple and an RBI single that each brought in a run to make it a 1-run ballgame before he would get out of the inning with the Reds clinging to a 6-5 lead.
San Francisco got a leadoff double from Jung Hoo Lee in the bottom of the 7th, but Tony Santillan came on to record the final two outs of the inning and was able to strand him at third base to keep Cincinnati in front by a run. Santillan wasn’t able to repeat that success in the 8th inning as Wilmer Flores hit the first pitch of the 8th over the wall down the left-field line to tie the game up.
After the Reds went down in order in the top of the 9th, Ian Gibaut took the mound for Cincinnati in the bottom of the inning. He got some help from Will Benson, who made a sliding catch in the gap in left-center for the second out of the inning before getting a grounder to send the game to extras.
In the top of the 10th inning the Reds were unable to cash in on their runner at second base to begin the inning. San Francisco came to the plate in the bottom of the inning and got to square off against Emilio Pagan. A fly ball into right field moved the Giants runner to begin the inning up to third base. It didn’t matter. The next pitch saw Mike Yastrzemski hit the ball into McCovey Cove for a walk-off 2-run home run.
Key Moment of the Game
Mike Yastrzemski’s walk-off home run.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz was the only Reds player with more than one hit. The Giants had five players with a multi-hit game.
Five of the hits for Cincinnati came in the 3rd inning. In the other nine innings they had one hit – a single by De La Cruz in the 7th.
The Reds hitters struck out 16 times and every single player who came to the plate for Cincinnati had at least one strikeout. San Francisco hitters struck out just eight times.
Cincinnati had just two extra-base hits in the game. The Giants had eight of them.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds
Friday, April 11, 6:40pm ET
Bailey Falter (0-1, 8.10 ERA) vs Brady Singer (2-0, 2.25 ERA)
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