The Reds were only a few pitches away from being shut out in Miami on Tuesday night, but they didn’t roll over in the 9th inning and fueled a rally to tie the game up. Then in the 10th inning Cincinnati put together another rally and put the game away as they beat the Marlins 6-3 to extend their winning streak to five games.
Neither team could do much at the plate over the course of the first three innings. Andrew Abbott and Sandy Alcantara combined to allowed one hit in that span and neither allowed a run. That changed in the 4th inning. Miami began the bottom half of the inning with a double from Agustin Ramirez and he took third when a bunt single from Jakob Marsee followed. Marsee then stole second base. Back-to-back ground outs then resulted in runs scoring on each as the Marlins grabbed a 2-0 lead.
Cincinnati had just one hit entering the 6th inning. They got a second one on a Noelvi Marte infield single. With two outs he stole second base and the throw went into the outfield and Marte took third base to give the visiting club their best run scoring opportunity of the game. They couldn’t come through as a chopper by Matt McLain to third base ended the threat.
The bottom of the inning didn’t go exactly as the Reds would have liked it to, either. A leadoff single by Jakob Marsee saw him steal both second and third base, with the last steal coming on ball four that put runners on the corners. An attempted steal of second base followed and Tyler Stephenson threw out the runner. But then the umpires called interference on Matt McLain, which goes down as an error – the first of the year for the Reds – and it put two men in scoring position. Another walk followed to load the bases and that ended the day for Andrew Abbott. But Pierce Johnson came out of the bullpen and stranded everyone to keep the score 2-0 for Miami.
Jose Franco took over in the 7th and he kept the Marlins off of the board for that inning and then the 8th, too. Cincinnati had the top of the lineup due for the top of the 9th, looking to keep the game going and avoid being shut out. Sandy Alcantara remained in the game for Miami, sitting on just 83 pitches to start the inning as he looked for a complete game. It took two pitches to get the first out of the inning, but Matt McLain saw five pitches and he doubled on the final one of those. Elly De La Cruz also saw five pitches and he walked to bring the go-ahead run to the plate.
But that was not before Alcantara was pulled from the game and replaced on the mound by reliever Anthony Bender to face Sal Stewart. On a 1-0 count the Reds executed a double steal as Stewart took a strike to put both men in scoring position. A few pitches later Stewart hit a sacrifice fly to plate McLain and move De La Cruz to third. That brought Eugenio Suarez to the plate but he didn’t get a chance to do damage as he drew a walk and was immediately pinch run for by Will Benson. The first pitch to Spencer Steer was in the dirt and hit the catcher and bounced in front of the plate, allowing De La Cruz to race in to score the tying run.
With the game tied up the Reds brought Emilio Pagan into the game for the bottom of the 9th. After a strikeout to begin the inning, Pagan walked the next two hitters. They would execute a double steal of their own to put the winning run 90 feet away before Pagan struck out Augstin Ramirez for the second out of the inning. Pagan then got a lazy fly out to left to send the game into extra innings.
Cincinnati had Spencer Steer as their free runner to begin the inning and he moved up to third on a wild pitch. Tyler Stephenson drew a walk to put two men on. With one out Nathaniel Lowe came through with a line drive single into center to put the Reds up 3-2. Dane Myers came on to run for Lowe and then moved up to second base when TJ Friedl walked to load the bases. Matt McLain then came through with a 2-run double to make it 5-2. Elly De La Cruz grounded out, but it produced another run for Cincinnati as they extended their lead.
Holding a 4-run lead it was Graham Ashcraft to the mound to try and shut things down for the Reds as he faced the middle of the lineup. Miami was able to plate their free runner, but after giving up a single Ashcraft got back-to-back grounders that resulted in a force out and a game-ending double play.
Key Moment of the Game
Matt McLain’s 2-run double in the 10th inning that blew the game open.
Notes Worth Noting
The win makes it five in a row for the Reds. That’s the longest winning streak in MLB, though the Dodgers could match them if they win tonight. Combined with the loss by the Brewers on Tuesday, Cincinnati is now tied for 1st place in the division.
Matt McLain had one extra-base hit on the season when the 9th inning started. He doubled twice after that. He was the only hitter for Cincinnati to have more than one hit in the game, though Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart each got on base multiple times.
The Reds had five men reach base in the first 8.1 innings of the game. They had six after that.
The bullpen allowed just one hit in 4.2 innings after Andrew Abbott exited the game in the 6th. That helped lower the team ERA to 2.82 this year through 11 games.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Miami Marlins
Wednesday April 8th, 6:40pm ET
Brady Singer (0-0, 5.00 ERA) vs Eury Perez (0-1, 5.73 ERA)