Cincinnati trailed early on, but battled back to tie the game and then take a lead. The Tigers fought back and tied things up in the 5th inning before both bullpens shut things down until extra-innings. The Reds first hit since that 5th inning came off of the bat of Tyler Stephenson in the 10th, driving in what turned out to be the inning run as the Reds picked up a win in the opening game of their 3-game series in Detroit.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (75-71) |
6 | 9 | 0 |
| Detroit Tigers (66-78) |
5 | 9 | 2 |
| W: Diaz (9-4) L: Lange (6-4) SV: Farmer (3) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Detroit wasted little time taking a lead. Andy Ibanez homered with one out in the bottom of the 1st inning. Four straight singles then followed as the Tigers tagged on two more runs to take a 3-0 lead. Brandon Williamson was able to get out of the inning from there.
In the top of the 2nd inning the Reds offense got to work, but also got a little help to start things off as Tyler Stephenson got on to leadoff the inning thanks to a throwing error. Elly De La Cruz would walk with one out and move up to third on a TJ Friedl RBI single. Jonathan India then drove both De La Cruz and Friedl in with a single into left to tie the game up at 3-3.
The Tigers were threatening again in the bottom of the inning after a 1-out double by Matt Vierling was followed up by a walk to put two runners on. But three pitches later Spencer Torkelson grounded into an inning-ending double play.
Cincinnati’s 3rd inning saw the first two batters make outs, but Joey Votto got a 2-out rally started with a walk and Elly De La Cruz followed up with a single. That set things up for Harrison Bader, who blooped a double into shallow right center that wound up scoring both Votto and De La Cruz and gave the Reds a 5-3 lead. Back-to-back walks followed to load the bases, but new reliever Beau Brieske struck out Nick Senzel to end the inning.
Matt Vierling led off the bottom of the 5th inning with a walk and as the old saying goes…. it haunted. Viewling would come around to score when Andy Ibanez doubled to make it 5-4. That was the final hitter that Brandon Williamson would see as the Reds turned to the bullpen to bring in Fernando Cruz. He’d retire the first two batters he’d see, but a 2-out hit by Kerry Carpenter tied the game up.
The Reds offense went in order in the 6th, 7th, 8th, and 9th innings. Fortunately for them their bullpen kept the Tigers off of the board as well, leading to Alexis Diaz entering the game for the bottom of the 9th inning. After striking out Javier Baez to start the inning, Diaz hit Parker Meadows with a pitch and then he stole second base to put the winning run in scoring position. Matt Vierling would pop up to second, keeping Meadows at second base. A ground out would end the inning and send the game into extras.
Cincinnati pinch ran Noelvi Marte for Nick Martini as the free runner to begin the inning on second base. Tyler Stephenson led off the inning with a single into right field and Marte raced around to score the go-ahead run. Joey Votto then followed up by reaching base on a fielding error that moved Stephenson over to second base. Elly De La Cruz hit a chopper to second, and the throw went to first base to get one out, but the throw down to second seemed to show on replay that Votto got to the bag before he was tagged. David Bell had a prolonged discussion with the home plate umpire before heading back to the dugout. Jake Fraley then struck out to end the inning.
Buck Farmer entered the game to begin the 10th, Noelvi Marte took over at third base, TJ Friedl moved from left to center, and Spencer Steer slid from third to left. Andy Ibanez started at second base as the Tigers free runner and he moved up to third base when Spencer Torkelson flew out to center to begin the inning. Detroit called on Akil Baddoo to pinch hit and the Reds brought the infield in, and it worked to perfection for Cincinnati as Baddoo hit a grounder to Jonathan India who came up firing home where Tyler Stephenson made the catch and was waiting to make the tag at the plate for the second out of the inning. Akil Baddoo reached first on the play and he stole second base, but he’d be stranded there as Farmer struck out Kerry Carpenter to end the game and seal the Reds 6-5 win.
Key Moment of the Game
Jonathan India’s throw to the plate in the bottom of the 10th to cut down what would have been the tying run.
Notes worth noting
The Reds bullpen threw 6.0 innings and allowed just two hits and hit one batter. They didn’t walk anyone and struck out seven batters.
Arizona, Miami, and Philadelphia have all lost games today. That moved the Reds ahead of Miami by a half-game. They are now one game behind Arizona for the final spot – tied with San Francisco, who is currently still playing.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Detroit Tigers
Wednesday September 13th, 6:40pm ET
Connor Phillips (0-0, 9.64 ERA) vs Eduardo Rodriguez (11-7, 3.18 ERA)
