The Cincinnati Reds were staring at a sweep in San Francisco, then flipped the game on its head with one of the wildest ninth innings they’ll ever play. Down 9-3 entering the final frame, Cincinnati scored seven runs in the top of the ninth and survived the bottom half for a 10-9 win over the Giants.
The chaos started early, even before the scoreboard got busy. In the top of the first inning, Giants manager Tony Vitello was ejected after yelling at the umpires from the dugout following a checked swing appeal. The broadcast picked up some very colorful language in the process.
San Francisco threatened right away in the bottom of the first, loading the bases on a single, a hit batter and a walk. Nick Lodolo worked out of it with a strikeout, and the Reds answered in the next inning. Dane Myers walked, moved up on a sacrifice bunt and scored on a Jose Trevino single.
That lead didn’t last long. The Giants came back with a two-out double from Shay Whitcomb and a two-run homer from Jonah Cox to move ahead, but Cincinnati tied it in the third when Hector Rodriguez led off with a home run.
Lodolo ran into trouble again in the fifth. After walking Jonah Cox to start the inning, he left a breaking ball up in the zone and Rafael Devers launched it into McCovey Cove for a two-run homer.
The Giants kept building from there. In the sixth, JJ Bleday and Elly De La Cruz got crossed up on a play in deep outfield territory when Bleday didn’t call De La Cruz off, and the ball glanced off De La Cruz’s glove for a double.
Cincinnati escaped that mess on the next play when Christian Koss singled to left, Bleday’s throw went to De La Cruz, and De La Cruz fired a strike to the plate to nail Andrew Knizner. Two pitches later, though, Julian Aguiar hung a breaking ball and Whitcomb crushed a two-run homer to make it 6-2.
The Reds tried to chip away in the seventh against the San Francisco bullpen. Ke’Bryan Hayes, Hector Rodriguez and De La Cruz all singled with one out to load the bases for Sal Stewart.
Before Stewart could even step in, the Giants made a pitching change and brought in Ryan Walker for Jason Foley. Stewart still produced, lifting a sacrifice fly to make it 6-3.
Bleday then walked to load the bases again, but Eugenio Suarez popped out and the inning ended with Cincinnati still trailing.
Tony Santillan took over in the eighth, and his second outing back from the injured list went badly. The Giants scored three runs against him, all on a bases-loaded double by Drew Gilbert with two outs, stretching the lead to 9-3.
Then came the inning that changed everything.
Rodriguez got one back for Cincinnati with a 423-foot shot into McCovey Cove after falling behind 1-0. De La Cruz singled, back-to-back walks forced in more pressure, and Suarez greeted Dylan Smith with a grand slam to make it 9-8.
The Reds were still far from finished. Dane Myers reached on an infield single and moved to second when the throw got away from the first baseman.
Matt McLain bunted him to third, but also beat the play for a single, then stole second. Trevino tied it with a sacrifice fly, and McLain took third.
With Ke’Bryan Hayes due up, Terry Francona went to the bench for Tyler Stephenson, and Stephenson delivered the go-ahead RBI single. Emilio Pagan then handled the ninth for Cincinnati. He got a pop up to start the inning, allowed a single to Turner Hill, and then struck out the next two batters to finish off the 10-9 win and keep the Reds from being swept.
Rodriguez was a central figure all night, homering twice for career home run numbers two and three. After going 3-for-31 in his first 11 big league games, he’s 8-for-19 over his last five and has hit safely in all five.
He’s also picked up four extra-base hits in that stretch. Between Louisville and Cincinnati, he’s now at 30 home runs on the season.
Rodriguez, De La Cruz and Myers each finished with three hits.
The Giants had never lost when leading by six or more runs in the ninth inning until this game. According to the Reds broadcast, San Francisco had been 2161-0 in that situation. It was also the first time in 68 years that Cincinnati had come back from down six or more in the ninth to win.
One other note from the game: the Reds.tv broadcast and John Sadak said Stewart’s sacrifice fly gave him 100 RBI on the season, tying him for the all-time Reds rookie record for RBI in a season. The source notes that’s not correct, pointing to Frank McCormick’s 106 RBI in 1938 as the franchise rookie record, while Baseball Reference and Fangraphs both list Bug Holliday with 104 RBI in 1889. Either way, Stewart is within reach, needing seven more RBI to pass McCormick’s 106 with a month left in the season.
In Other News...
Matt McLain Just Put Reds Fans On Notice About MLB's Fight
The labor tension around baseballs next Collective Bargaining Agreement is already spilling into the player conversation, and Reds infielder Matt McLain has made it clear he expects a real fight ahead. With the current deal set to expire on Dec. 1 and negotiations still ongoing between MLB and the Players Association, McLain said on a podcast that he believes a lockout is likely, while also signaling that players are prepared to absorb missed games if it comes to that.
For Cincinnati, it is another reminder that the offseason could be shaped by more than roster moves and spring training planning. MLB owners have floated a salary cap and floor system that players strongly oppose, even as commissioner Rob Manfred has continued to sound optimistic about getting through to next season without major disruption. The gap between those positions remains wide, and McLains comments underscore how seriously players are taking the possibility that the standoff could carry into the games themselves. [Read more 🡒]
Francona Calls Out Reds Leak As Two Roster Decisions Turn Awkward
The Reds spent a tense day trying to manage two roster decisions that were supposed to stay quiet, only to have the news spill out before the club could control the message. Eugenio Suarez and TJ Friedl both landed on waivers, and Terry Francona did not hide his frustration over the leak of confidential information as Cincinnati tried to move through a delicate stretch with the deadline of a game against the Chicago Cubs still hanging over the clubhouse.
Suarez was still in the lineup against Chicago, while Friedl was absent, giving the situation a strangely normal look on the surface even as the backdrop remained awkward. Hector Rodriguez also returned to the lineup after a recent two-homer game, adding another layer to a day that felt more like roster management under a microscope than a typical game day in Cincinnati. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Were Caught In An Umpire Strike Zone Disaster At Wrigley
The Reds found themselves in the middle of a bizarre afternoon at Wrigley Field, where home plate umpire Bill Miller had a day that quickly became the talk of the game. Every one of his Automated Ball-Strike challenges went against him, with all eight calls overturned, a stunning run of misses that stood out even in a season where the challenge system has already added a new layer of scrutiny to the strike zone.
For Cincinnati, it only deepened the frustration around an umpire whose history with Reds players already carries some baggage. Millers showing was being measured against the broader backdrop of how other umpires have fared under ABS, but the headline was impossible to ignore: the strike zone had become a source of chaos, and the Reds were left to sort through the fallout while the rest of the league had another example of just how unforgiving the system can be when everything breaks the wrong way. [Read more 🡒]