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Diamondbacks 10 Reds 8
Well, we've got trouble. After reeling off three consecutive wins to start the road trip, the Reds have lost back-to-back games and the dominoes are falling in the wrong direction.
Hunter Greene imploded in a headache inducing 4th inning as the Diamondbacks scored five times and never trailed again in a 10-8 win over the Reds Friday night in Phoenix. Greene didn't make it out of the 4th inning, forcing David Bell to scrap plans to start Brett Kennedy on Saturday and instead plug him into the breaking damn. Kennedy pitched 4.2 bullpen saving innings, allowing four more runs.
So, now who starts Saturday? Great question. The Reds announced after the game that Fernando Cruz will be used as an opener. That likely leads to Ben Lively coming off the IL list to pick up the slack. He flew to Phoenix on Friday as an insurance policy. But he hasn't pitched since Aug. 1 due to a a right pectoral strain. He hasn't made a rehab start.
The Reds are now five games back of the Brewers in the NL Central. They are tied with the Giants in trailing the Cubs by a game for the 3rd Wild Card.
They still need one win in the series to secure a potential playoff tiebreaker over the Diamondbacks, who moved into the 2nd Wild Card spot.
The Reds trailed 10-4 in the 9th before Will Benson's first career grand slam provided the final scoring of the night.
Recently promoted 31-year old journeyman Nick Martini clobbered two home runs and drove in four runs. He entered the game with two career homers in 115 ML games. His 2nd inning solo homer gave the Reds their only lead of the game.
Greene: 3.2 IN, 5 H, 5 R, 4 K, 5 BB, 90 pitches. He retired 7 of the first 8 batters faced and had allowed just one hit through three innings. But he melted down in a 4th inning that saw the Diamondbacks bat around, scoring five runs on four hits and three walks. He just could not find a way to stop the bleeding.
Kennedy: 4. 0 IN, 5 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 2 K, HBP, 74 pitches.
Messy: The defense was atrocious. Greene was late getting over to 1B on a grounder and could not handle the flip by CES. Spencer Steer had a fielding error for his 10th error. TJ Friedl made an awful throw back in on a single that allowed the runner to go to 2nd. Later, Steer and Elly collided and both fell to the ground on a fly ball. The ball was ruled an infield fly out, but a runner on 3rd scored after Cruz got up and threw home late and off the mark for an error. Kennedy was late getting over a chopper. Benson misplayed a ball in right. I love Benson, but he's an adventure in the outfield. He consistently seems to take odd routes and rarely hits the cutoff man. Noelvi Marte did make a really, really nice barehand charge and throw.
Elly ball: De La Cruz laid down his first bunt hit of his MLB career.
Robbed: Former Reds OF Tommy Pham hit a 7th inning homer. Then it was and out. Spencer Steer made a leap catch above the yellow line. But at the same exact moment, a kid wearing a glove reached into Steer's glove and pulled the ball from his mitt. Replay review ruled fan interference and Pham was out. You will have to see it to believe it. I've never seen that before.