It wasn’t a great day offensively for most of the lineup, but the Cincinnati Reds rallied late with a Will Benson pinch-hit game-tying home run in the ninth and a walk-off single by Blake Dunn in the tenth to beat the Kansas City Royals 4-3 at Great American Ball Park Tuesday night.
| Final/10 | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kansas City Royals (23-38) |
3 | 5 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (31-29) | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| W: Brock Burke (2-2) L: John Schreiber (0-3) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Tonight’s game started with a battle between left-handers, and Andrew Abbott and Noah Cameron went toe-to-toe through the first three innings. Abbott worked around a walk to Bobby Witt Jr. in the first inning, and seemed to be cruising. Then the fourth inning happened. It started with a Salvador Perez single and a Starling Marte bunt single. One out later, Nick Loftin singled and the bases were loaded with one out. It looked like the Reds might get out of the inning when Abbott forced Jac Caglianone to ground out, but the ball took an unfortunate bounce off Abbott and Edwin Arroyo could only get the out at first. Perez scored from third and the inning continued. Tyler Tolbert extended the inning with a walk and Michael Massey hit a seeing eye single just past Arroyo’s glove to score two more and extend the Royals lead to 3-0.
Both at-bats from Tolbert and Massey started with 0-2 counts, but Abbott just couldn’t put either of them away. Abbott finished the fourth with 77 pitches and for a moment, you were thinking the bullpen was going to be used heavily in back-to-back nights. However, Abbott ended up making it through six innings, allowing five hits on three runs with five strikeouts. He did walk four batters, but it still counts as a quality start.
Meanwhile, Noah Cameron was dealing on the mound for Kansas City. He ended the first inning by making Sal Stewart look silly on a nasty curveball, and right then, it just felt like it would not be a good night for Reds hitters. He didn’t throw particularly hard, but he mixed his pitches well, throwing five of his six pitches more than 12% of the time. Cameron used his curveball mostly against right-handers and have four of five swing and misses on it. He was throwing strikes with a 70% strike rate, and got Reds batters to chase 37% of the time. He allowed only two hard hit balls out of 14 batted ball events.
Spencer Steer was the lone bright spot in the Reds lineup for most of the game. Cameron had a perfect game going through four innings, but Steer put a stop to that in the fifth. He capitalized on Cameron’s one mistake when he blasted an 81.4 mph changeup that hung over the top of the plate 420 feet over the left field fence for the Reds’ first run of the game. It was the top exit velocity of the game at 106.3 mph. Steer would also hit an opposite field home run off Matt Strahm in the eighth to make it 3-2.
Tejay Antone, Sam Moll, and Zach Maxwell combined for three scoreless innings in the 7th, 8th, and 9th. This would prove to be vital, as Will Benson, pinch hitting for Matt McLain, led off the bottom of the ninth with a game-tying home run off Lucas Erceg and gave the crowd of 25,824 some life. The Reds would put two more on base with two outs to try and win the game, but Steer struck out to send the game to extra innings.
In the tenth inning, Brock Burke allowed a walk, but escaped the inning unscathed, including striking out Kyle Isbel to end the half inning and give the GABP crowd free pizza. The Reds would walk it off in the bottom of the 10th when Blake Dunn singled to right field to drive in Steer from second
Key Moment of the Game
Will Benson’s pinch hit game-tying home run in the bottom of the 9th inning. It energized the crowd and gave the team some life after the Reds’ bats were silenced for most of the game.
Notes Worth Noting
-Steer just keeps hitting consistently. He went 2-for-4 with two home runs and three runs scored. It was Steer’s fourth career multi-home run game. Before tonight, his last multi-home run game came on September 19, 2025 against the Cubs.
-The bullpen combined for four scoreless innings tonight, striking out six batters while walking four.
-The Reds now have five extra inning wins in 2026. They had three in all of 2025.
-The 3-2-1 promotion continues to be one of the best things the organization does. Another large Tuesday night crowd of 25,824 filled GABP and it was so loud at the end of the game that Tommy Thrall said the ballpark was shaking after Blake Dunn hit the walk-off single in the 10th.
Up Next for the Reds
Kansas City Royals vs. Cincinnati Reds
Wednesday, June 3, 2026, 7:10 PM EDT
Stephen Kolek (3-1, 3.48 ERA) vs. Chase Burns (7-1, 1.96 ERA)