With a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the 8th, it looked like the Cincinnati Reds were going to clinch a series win over the Marlins,
but that would not come to be as Miami rallied back to beat the Reds 5-4 on Wednesday.
After falling behind 1-0 in the 1st, the Reds countered with 3 runs in the 4th thanks to Spencer Steer’s solo home run and a 2-run home run by Christian Encarnacion-Strand to take a 3-1 lead.
Cincinnati extended their lead to 3 with an RBI single by Encarnacion-Strand in the bottom of the 6th.
Scoring stalled until the top of the 8th when Josh Bell hit his second home run of the game, a 2-out three-run blast off of Reds reliever Sam Moll to tie the game at 4.
Bryan De La Cruz completed the Marlins’ comeback with a solo home run off of Alexis Diaz in the top of the 9th, giving Miami a 5-4 lead.
With one runner on in the bottom of the inning, Cincinnati had a chance to tie the game or take the lead with Elly De La Cruz at the plate. The rookie unfortunately struck out, giving the Marlins the win in the series finale.
Former Cincinnati Red Johnny Cueto pitched 5 innings for the Marlins, striking out 5 while allowing 3 runs.
Graham Ashcraft struck out 7 and allowed 1 run in a no-decision on the mound for the Reds. Marlins reliever Tanner Scott was credited with the win, while Reds closer Alexis Diaz ended up with the loss.
With the Cubs’ loss on Wednesday, Cincinnati (60-57) and Chicago (59-56) are tied for 2nd in the NL Central. Both teams trail 1st place Milwaukee (62-54) by 2.5 games.
The Reds are off today before starting a 3-game weekend series with the Pittsburgh Pirates. Coverage on WRBI begins at 6:35 pm on Friday.