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Reds 5 Red Sox 4
Spencer Steer clubbed a 7th inning two-strike, two-out moon shot 382 feet and over the Green Monster to break a 3-3 tie and send the Reds past the Red Sox 5-4 Wednesday night at Fenway Park
Make it five straight wins, a series win and book it as a winning month of May (14-13). The Reds move to 26-29 overall.
Rally time: Trailing 3-2 in the 7th, the Reds scored three times to take the lead. They loaded the bases with nobody out when Luke Maile reached on an error, leadoff hitter Kevin Newman singled and Matt McLain singled. Jonathan India bounced into a DP but plated the tying run. Steer then followed with the game deciding homer.
The 9th: Buck Farmer got the save chance with Alex Diaz having pitched in 3 of the last 4 games. He retired the side in order for his first save of the season.
Rafael Devers flew out to Nick Senzel who has his back up against the ball wall in CF to make the catch.
Jam session Part 1: Leading 5-3 in the 7th, Alex Young came in with a man on and two outs. Young could not get either LH he faced, allowing a single to Alex Verdugo and walking Devers to load the bases. But he got RHB Justin Turner to bounce out to end the thread.
Jam session Part 2: Leading 5-3 in the 8th, Lucas Sims found trouble, allowing a run and putting the tying run on 2B before slamming the door with a K.
Luke Weaver: 5.2 IN, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 5 K, 2 HR, 97 pitches/65 strikes. He served up a Pesky Pole HR to Masataka Yoshida in the 2nd inning and an Enmanuel Valdez popup homer barely over the Green Monster in the 5th inning. Weaver has allowed 11 HR in 43.2 IN.
James Paxton: 5 IN, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K, 100 pitches/68 strikes. The former UK Wildcat LHP entered the game with a 5.14 ERA. He was dealing a shutout two outs into the 5th inning. He struck out four straight in one stretch.
On the board: Trailing 2-0 in the 5th inning, Maile banged a two-out RBI double off the Green Monster to score Jose Barrero (BB).
The candidate: Steer, a Rookie of the Year candidate, leads the Reds with 8 HR and is 2nd among NL rookies with 28 RBI.
Nine is fine: McLain slapped a single the other way in the 1st inning to extend his hit streak to nine games. He had two singles.
Back in action: Nick Senzel was back in the lineup after being a late scratch Tuesday night with a sore right knee. He collected two singles and drove in a run.
He entered the night hitting .461 vs LHP (19 for 41).
Leading man: Newman hit in the leadoff spot for the 122nd game in his career. He added two more hits. He came into the game hitting .348 over his previous 17 games. He has multiple hit games in 5 of his last 6 games.
D: McLain made three slick plays at SS. Amazing how much better the infield defense has become.
Bullpen: Ian Gibaut 1.0 IN, 0 R...Alex Young 0.1 IN, 0 R.....Lucas Sims 1.0 IN, 1 R.....
How the Reds scored:
5th: Maile 2-out RBI 2B scored Barrero, 2-1 Red Sox
6th: Senzel 2-out RBI 1B scored India, 3-2 Red Sox
7th: India DP scored pinch-runner Will Benson, 3-3
7th: Steer 2-out, 2-run HR, 5-3 Reds