Opening a new month with a chance to start playing spoiler against some of the best teams in baseball, the Cincinnati Redsscratched across enough offense to back up a strong collective pitching effort for a 4-3 win over the San Diego Padres in front of 19,376 fans at Great American Ball Park Tuesday, Sept. 1.
The Reds never led until the bottom of the eighth inning, when its heavy hitters set the table on a walk by Elly De La Cruz and a Sal Stewart single. With the bases loaded and one out, Jose Trevino put the Reds in front with a full-count single to center field.
The Padres momentarily fall into a tie with the Diamondbacks for the final National League Wild Card spot.
A Reds offense that was without slugger Eugenio Suarez got enough timely hitting
Tuesday from the younger guys trying to carve out a role in 2027.
One night after leaving double-digit men on base and going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position, the Reds cashed in on Tuesday with a pair of big two-out hits.
In the first inning, JJ Bleday ripped an RBI single to right field to score Hector Rodriguez, who opened the frame by legging out a double that was cut off in the gap.
In the bottom of the fifth, Rodriguez laced an RBI single to right field with two outs to score Edwin Arroyo, who had just recorded his first extra-base hit since a triple against the Phillies July 8.
After Trevino’s go-ahead single in the eighth, Juan Brito (in his Reds debut) followed with a sacrifice fly for a key insurance run.
The Reds got a much-needed bounce-back effort from starting pitcher Nick Lodolo, who recorded his first quality start since July 5 (vs. Baltimore). Lodolo posted a 7.71 ERA over four August outings.
The left-hander gave up a triple in the first inning to Samad Taylor, who scored on Manny Machado’s sacrifice fly. Lodolo later worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third, but gave up a go-ahead solo homer to Fernando Tatis Jr. with one out in the fifth inning.
Lodolo came back out for an efficient 1-2-3 sixth inning, getting Xander Bogaerts to fly out to center field on his 100th pitch of the night. That tied a season-high for Lodolo, who also hit triple digits in a home win over Atlanta on May 31.
Out of the bullpen, Luis Mey put the first two men aboard in the seventh but struck out back-to-back hitters (including Tatis) before Taylor grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat. One inning later, Brock Burke put two batters on with two outs but struck out pinch-hitter Dustin Harris.
Tatis hit his second homer of the night with San Diego down to its final out in the ninth, but Emilio Pagán recovered to strike out Taylor for the save.
Cincinnati Reds go for series win over San Diego Padres Sept. 2
The Reds will send left-hander Brandon Williamson to the mound in the series finale against the Padres on Wednesday, Sept. 2, looking to avoid a sweep.
Williamson was activated from the 60-day injured list (shoulder fatigue) on Tuesday. His last big-league appearance was a three-inning outing in a loss to the Rockies at GABP April 29. He is 2-3 with a 6.11 ERA over six starts this season.
He’s opposed by former No. 1 overall pick Casey Mize, who was traded from the Tigers to the Padres at the trade deadline last month. He is 1-2 with a 6.26 ERA over five appearances (three starts) for San Diego.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds score late to beat San Diego Padres
