This game was close for much of the night, but the Cincinnati Reds simply could not get out of their own way late as errors – both mental and physical, cost them late at the Padres scored the final five runs of the game in their last two at-bats to pick up the win in San Diego. The loss was the 5th in a row for the Reds.
Early on both teams couldn’t come through when they had runners on. Cincinnati had two men on in each of the first two innings and a runner on in the 3rd and failed to produce a run. San Diego had a walk in each of their first two at-bats, too, and like the Reds couldn’t do anything with it. But then in the bottom of the 3rd it was Freddy Fermin that got the Padres a lead when he led off with a home run into left center.
Cincinnati would get on the board in the 5th, but it could have been more. Edwin Arroyo led off with a single but he was called out 11 pitches later when Blake Dunn swung through strike three but stepped over the plate as Arroyo was stealing second base and Dunn was called for interference on the throw towards second and Arroyo was called out as a result for a double play. JJ Bleday followed up with a ground-rule double and then he scored on a single by Sal Stewart to tie the game up.
The next inning Noelvi Marte led off with a single and he stole second base to get himself into scoring position. He then tagged up on a fly out to take third base. San Diego brought in left-handed reliever Adrian Morejon and turned Edwin Arroyo around so he’d have to hit from the right side. The rookie came through with a sacrifice fly to plate Marte and give Cincinnati a lead.
With a lead, Andrew Abbott headed back to the mound for the bottom of the 6th and retired the side on 16 pitches. After the Reds hitters went down in order in the 7th it was the lefty heading back to the mound with 93 pitches on the night. With Cincinnati’s bullpen we may not know if that was the right move or not, but the Padres got a ground-rule double from Xander Bogaerts to lead off the inning and then Gavin Sheets, with the crowd chanting “Holy Sheets! Holy Sheets!”, came through with a double into the left field corner to tie the game up and end the day for Abbott.
Tejay Antone entered the game. Jase Bowen laid down a bunt and it turned into a single when Antone and Sal Stewart both attempted to field the ball and neither actually came up with it cleanly. Samad Taylor then laid down a bunt down the first base line and Stewart tried to bare hand it and flip home but came up empty as it turned into an RBI single to give the Padres the lead. Freddy Fermin then laid down a bunt back to Antone and he failed to field it cleanly and was charged with an error that left the bases loaded. The Reds would escape things from there with a shallow fly out and two grounders that resulted in no further runs.
San Diego would pad their lead in the bottom of the 8th against Zach McCambley. The Padres got a 1-out single from Xander Bogaerts and then three straight 2-out singles mixed in with two stolen bases to bring in three more runs to make it 6-2. With the best closer in baseball that was more than enough as Mason Miller struck out all three batters in the top of the 9th to seal the win for the home team and send the Reds to their 5th straight loss.
Key Moment of the Game
Choose your own adventure. Was it leaving in Andrew Abbott for the start of the 7th inning? Or was it the 8th inning when the team couldn’t field three bunts in a row?
Notes Worth Noting
Matt McLain was the only Red with more than one hit. He went 2-3 with a double and a walk.
The Padres went 5-for-9 with runners in scoring position. The Reds went 1-for-7.
Cincinnati is now three games under .500 for the first time in just over a year.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs San Diego Padres
Tuesday June 9th, 9:40pm ET
Chase Burns (7-1, 2.05 ERA) vs Lucas Giolito (2-1, 4.86 ERA)