And the newest member of the roster was The Man of Two Days, first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand, playing his first game off the injured list.
He ripped a run-scoring double in the bottom of the 10th to give the Reds a 4-3 walk-off victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks.
It wiped away a bunch of negatives. The Reds were 0-and-5 in extra inning games, hadn’t had a walk-off win all year and were 5-and-10 in one-run games.
It also was CES who made certain the Reds didn’t lose Friday night. His home run in the sixth tied the game, 3-3.
Had he not homered and play was stopped, the Reds would have lost, 3-2.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Amazingly, it was CES’s fourth walk-off hit of his brief career.
“I like the pressure,” he said. “I’m a big fan of pressure.”
And it was retribution. Arizona pitcher Jalen Beeks walked the bases loaded in the seventh. He threw 16 pitches and 12 were balls.
So the Reds had the bases loaded with one out, but CES struck out on a pitch out of the strike zone and Jose Trevino grounded out.
But CES, who also singled to go 3 for 5 with two RBI, more than made up for it.
As he did an on field post-game interview, teammates emptied a large container of Gatorade over his head and he said, “Man, that’s cold, but it feels good on a day like today.
“I geared up for what I am good at,” he said of the pitch he hit for the game-winner. “I just waited for it. It’s amazing. Being able to just be on the field, hands down, the best feeling.”
Said manager Terry Francona, “Confidence is a huge factor in what our guys do and he should be feeling good about himself.
“He had good at bats at Triple-A (on rehab) and it is nice to see him have it carryover,” he added. “That would give us a big boost.”
Seeing the chance to seize a victory, Francona went to his Big Three bullpenners and they came through.
Graham Ashcraft pitched two innings and gave up one hit, but struck out four. Tony Santillan pitched the ninth and issued a walk, but struck out three.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
And even though the game was tied and was not a save situation, he used closer Emilio Pagan in the 10th and he issued a walk but struck out two.
“When you get that invested in a game and we’re the home team and tied...that’s why,” said Francona, explaining his bullpen usage. “It certainly helps to win.”
During the sixth inning of Friday’s portion of the game, rain was falling hard enough to make any rain forest proud and lightning danced across the sky and thunder rumbled.
The infield was Cincinnati’s version of the Venice canals.
Umpire crew chief Ron Kulpa should have been wearing one of those black Reds City Connect caps because he did everything he could to permit the Reds to win it.
With two outs and Reds runners on third and first, a grounds crew ran out to Kulpa, probably to ask, “Do you know it is raining hard enough that maybe we should build an ark?”
Kulpa said, “We need one more out.”
Most likely he hoped pinch-hitter Gavin Lux would get a hit and drive in Jose Trevino from third.
That would have given the Reds a 4-3 lead and if the next batter made an out to complete the sixth, Kulpa could then call for the tarp, wait 30 minutes, call the game, and the Reds would be 4-3 winners.
Instead, Lux grounded out and is now 1-for-31 as a pinch-hitter for his career.
So it remained 3-3 and Kulpa called for the tarp, waited 47 minutes and declared it a suspended game. Because it was tied, the game was resumed Saturday afternoon.
With Elly De La Cruz on his way back from the Dominican Republic after the death of an older sister, Francona’s lineup resembled something off a Scrabble board.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Without De La Cruz and injured Austin Hays, the lineup had no snap, crackle and pop and was sprinkled with guys hitting .158, .162, .175, .220 and .222.
Francona moved Matt McLain from second base to shortstop and moved Spencer Steer from first base to left field.
Steer’s move was necessitated because first baseman Encarnacion-Strand returned from the injured list. And he was the guy hitting .158.
But that was before he went on the injured list and he scorched the baseball during his rehab at Louisville.
And he carried it back to Cincinnati with a single in the fourth and a game-tying home run in the sixth. Then his game-winner.
Reds starter Nick Lodolo gave up back-to-back home runs in the third as the Diamondbacks jumped to a 3-0 lead.
Tim Tawa started it with a one out infield single. But with two outs, Arizona leadoff hitter Ketel Marte drove an 81 miles an hour curveball into the left field seats.
Lodolo’s next pitch, an 88 miles an hour fastball, also crash landed into the left field seats and it was 3-0.
The Reds were facing Eduardo Rodriguez, fresh off the injured list with a 1-and-3 record and a 7.05 earned run average.
McLain led the third with a single and TJ Friedl drove on into the right field seats, cutting Arizona’s margin to 3-2.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Cristian Mena replaced Rodriguez in the sixth and with one out Encarnacion-Strand cleared the center field wall with a 418-foot game-tying home run. Christian showed Cristian that he needs an ‘h’ in his first name.
And that’s where the game was resumed Saturday afternoon, a pre-show to the regularly scheduled Saturday game.
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