With the series victory on the line, the game on Sunday was dominated by pitching until the final inning. San Diego led 2-1 entering the bottom of the 9th, but Cincinnati put together a rally with the Reds scoring twice to win on a walk-off hit by Will Benson.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| San Diego Padres (45-38) | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (44-40) | 3 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Pagan (1-2) L: Suarez (2-4) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Nick Lodolo was able to work out of jams in both the 2nd and 3rd innings after giving up doubles. He wasn’t able to do the same in the 4th inning as Xander Bogaerts hit a home run that landed five rows deep into the seats in left field to put the Padres up 1-0.
On the other side of the mound was Stephen Kolek, who had been cruising through the Reds lineup for the first three innings as he allowed just one hit and threw just 35 pitches. He kept that going until the bottom of the 6th inning when Will Benson led off with a single and then Matt McLain added a 2-out single – just the Reds second and third hits of the game.
With Elly De La Cruz due up, San Diego went to the bullpen to bring in Adrian Morejon to turn Cincinnati’s shortstop around and have him hit from the right side. The move didn’t pay off as De La Cruz singled into left field and Will Benson scored the tying run without a throw to the plate. The next pitch resulted in a pop up to end the inning and send the game to the 7th.
The game didn’t remain tied for very long. Lyon Richardson took over to start the inning and got a shallow fly ball out to start the inning. But he followed that up by walking Fernando Tatis Jr. to put the go-ahead run on base. Xander Bogaerts then came through with a double on a grounder off of the glove of a sliding Christian Encarnacion-Strand to put runners at second and third with one out. An intentional walk to Gavin Sheets followed and then the Reds called on Tony Santillan to replace Richardson and face former Red Jose Iglesias. The Padres got what they needed when Iglesias hit a chopper to second base and the Reds could only get a force out at second, bringing in the go-ahead run in the process.
Will Benson would lead off the bottom of the 8th inning with a double, but the Cincinnati offense couldn’t come through with enough to push him across as they stranded him at third base to send the game to the final inning down by a run.
Emilio Pagan was able to keep the score 2-1 in his half of the 9th inning. The Reds had the middle of their lineup due up for the bottom of the 9th. Padres closer Robert Suarez battled Elly De La Cruz for 10 pitches before a soft liner against the shift resulted in third baseman Tyler Wade having to make a half-hearted diving attempt on the ball for it to clank off of his glove for what was ruled an error that put De La Cruz at first base. Gavin Lux would walk with one out, moving the tying run into scoring position.
Spencer Steer came up and lined a single into center. Jackson Merrill came up firing to the plate and his throw was on line, but it was high and catcher Elias Diaz had to jump to catch the throw which allowed Elly De La Cruz to slide in just ahead of the tag to tie the game up. Jose Trevino then singled into right field to load the bases with one out. That brought Will Benson to the plate and he got ahead 2-1 in the count before getting a 92 MPH change up that caught too much of the plate and Benson lined it into the right field corner for a walk-off single to give the Reds a 3-2 win and a series victory.
Key Moment of the Game
Will Benson’s walk-off hit.
Notes Worth Noting
The walk-off hit by Will Benson was his third hit of the day.
Spencer Steer had two hits and a walk in the game. That extended his hitting streak to eight games. Over his last 11 games he’s gone 19-43 (.442) with an OPS of 1.281.
Every batter in the Reds lineup had exactly one strikeout except for Christian Encarnacion-Strand who did not strike out at all in the game.
The Reds ran out five relievers in the game and they combined for four walks and no strikeouts, but somehow managed to give up just one run in 3.2 innings pitched and just one hit.
Noelvi Marte has gone 3-6 with a walk and a triple so far today in a doubleheader while rehabbing this afternoon with Double-A Chattanooga.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Boston Red Sox
Monday June 30th, 7:10pm ET
Chase Burns (0-0, 5.40 ERA) vs Garrett Crochet (7-4, 2.06 ERA)
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