The Cincinnati Reds bullpen did it again, and not in a good way. They would blow a lead in the 8th and then lose it in the 9th on a walk-off home run as the San Diego Padres came from behind to win the game and grab a series victory on Wednesday evening.
In the bottom of the 1st inning San Diego would get a 1-out single from Jackson Merrill after replay appeared to show that he should have struck out on the previous pitch that was called a ball. That turned out to be a factor as Merrill would come around to score on a Manny Machado double. The inning came to an end when Machado was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a bloop single into shallow left that had JJ Bleday came up firing to the plate with a perfect throw to P.J. Higgins for the out.
Cincinnati would get a leadoff walk in the 4th inning from JJ Bleday. He would come around to score when Spencer Steer took a fastball up the zone and hit it into the second deck in left field for a go-ahead 2-run home run. The next inning they would have runners on the corners with two outs but couldn’t come through with a hit.
San Diego did come through with a hit in the bottom of the inning when they needed it. Rodolfo Duran doubled with one out and then came in to score on a 2-out single by Fernando Tatis Jr. that tied the game up at 2-2. That’s where the score remained until the top of the 7th inning. With two outs JJ Bleday came up to the plate and on the second pitch he saw from Padres starter Michael King he launched a go-ahead solo home run down the right field line.
When the bottom of the 7th inning came around the Reds turned the game over to Zach Maxwell. He had to work for it, throwing 24 pitches in the inning, but he got out of the inning as he worked around a 2-out infield single to hold onto the lead. Cincinnati added to their lead in the next inning when Eugenio Suarez turned on a cutter and hit it seven rows deep into the seats in left field to make it 4-2.
The Padres weren’t going to just foll over. With Caleb Ferguson on the mound for the bottom of the 8th they went to work. Jackson Merrill led off with a double and then came around to score when Gavin Sheets doubled with one out to make it a 1-run game. That ended the day for Ferguson as Terry Francona headed to the mound to bring in Tony Santillan with a right-handed pinch hitter having been announced. He would get a groundout to begin his outing, but a line drive off the bat of Samad Taylor made it’s way into center for the game-tying RBI with two outs.
Matt McLain would lead off the top of the 9th with a single, but one pitch later JJ Bleday grounded into a double play. Sal Stewart would draw a walk but a grounder ended the top of the frame. Chase Petty, just called up from Triple-A earlier in the day, took over for Cincinnati in the bottom of the 9th. After getting two groundouts to start the inning he hung a breaking ball and Fernando Tatis Jr. lined it into the first row of seats in left field for a walk-off home run.
Key Moment of the Game
Fernando Tatis Jr. hitting a walk-off home run.
Notes Worth Noting
Cincinnati homered three times in the game but only scored four runs. They went 1-6 on the day with runners in scoring position. San Diego’s only home run of the game was a solo shot but they went 4-10 with runners in scoring position on the day.
Eugenio Suarez had back-to-back 2-hit days on May 25th and 26th against the Mets. He then went 4-41 in the next 11 games (.098) before picking up two hits in this game.
Brady Singer allowed two runs in 6.0 innings. It was his best start since April 14th against San Francisco when he allowed one run in 6.0 innings.
With the loss the Reds are now 3-10 since their last winning streak. They won three in a row from May 23rd through the 26th and haven’t been able to put together two in a row since.
Cincinnati’s bullpen has an ERA of 5.13, which is only better than the Colorado Rockies. They are the only two teams above the 5.00 mark in MLB.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Arizona Diamondbacks vs Cincinnati Reds
Friday June 12th, 7:15pm ET
TBA vs Nick Lodolo (2-1, 5.51 ERA)