The Cincinnati Reds never trailed on Monday afternoon until the 9th inning when Toronto took the lead. But Cincinnati’s offense came through as they scored three runs in the bottom of the 9th against two Blue Jays relievers to pick up a much needed walk-off win to start the final month of the year.
Final
R
H
E
Toronto Blue Jays (79-59)
4
8
1
Cincinnati Reds (70-68)
5
11
0
W: Zulueta (1-0) L: Little (4-2)
Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread
Sometimes the Reds defense giveth, but sometimes it taketh. After George Springer led off the game with a single he stole second base. But Addison Barger hit a liner up the middle and Elly De La Cruz leaped and caught it, then when he landed he dove to tag the bag to double off Springer.
The Reds offense came out swinging in the 2nd inning. Gavin Lux doubled to get things started. That brought Sal Stewart to the plate for his first big league plate appearance and he hit a soft liner over the shortstop for a single to put runners on the corners for Ke’Bryan Hayes. The Reds third baseman doubled to the wall in left-center. Lux scored easily, and Stewart made a good read on the ball and took off and scored from first base as Cincinnati took a 2-0 lead.
Hunter Greene was cruising with a lead. He had kept Toronto off of the board through the top of the 6th inning. That was important because like the Blue Jays, the Reds only had three hits to that point.
In the bottom of the 6th, though, Elly De La Cruz tripled to lead off the inning and put the Reds in a good spot to add to their lead. But a pop up and two groundouts followed and De La Cruz was stranded at third base as Cincinnati failed to add to their 2-run lead.
Toronto was able to break through against Greene in the top of the 7th. He would get a fly out to begin the inning, but Bo Bichette followed with a double and then Greene walked Daulton Varsho. Closing in on 100 pitches he was left in the game to face Alejandro Kirk and Kirk came through with a blooper RBI single into left field to cut the Reds lead to 2-1. That hit ended the day for Greene as Scott Barlow came in out of the bullpen with runners on 1st and 2nd and just one out. The move worked out as Barlow would get a fly out and a ground out to get out of the jam.
Cincinnati would get the leadoff batter on in the bottom of the 7th, but a poorly executed sacrifice bunt attempt by Jose Trevino led to a force out at second. TJ Friedl would pick up a 2-out single, but a strikeout by Noelvi Marte would end the frame as another opportunity went by.
After a shutout 8th from Tony Santillan, the Reds sent Emilio Pagan to the mound to try and hold onto the 2-1 lead in the 9th. A chopper on the infield turned into an infield hit for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto sent a pinch runner out there for him, but it wouldn’t matter because Bo Bichette hit a 2-run home run to put the Blue Jays in front. Six pitches later Daulton Varsho made it back-to-back home runs to push the lead to two runs. After getting a ground out, Pagan was replaced by Yosver Zulueta who threw seven pitches to get two outs and send the game to the bottom of the 9th.
Cincinnati wasn’t going to just roll over without a fight. Ke’Bryan Hayes led off with a single, and then Matt McLain came through with a 1-out single of his own. The Blue Jays then went to their bullpen to bring in lefty Brandon Little to face TJ Friedl. Little fell behind 2-0 to Friedl and came in with a fastball, but Friedl turned on it and doubled into the right field corner. Hayes scored easily, and McLain followed as he sprinted around the bases. Toronto challenged the play as the ball was lodged between the padding in the wall and they won the challenge, sending McLain back to third base and taking a run off of the board for the time being.
That set up Noelvi Marte for a chance to be a hero. And a hero he was as he battled for five pitches before hitting a hard grounder into left field that saw McLain score easily and Friedl sprint around third and slide to the infield side of the plate just ahead of the throw as the Reds walked it off for a 5-4 win.
Key Moment of the Game
Noelvi Marte’s walk-off 2-run single.
Notes Worth Noting
Hunter Greene lowered his ERA to 2.70 on the season. He now has 101 strikeouts in his 83.1 innings pitched over his 15 starts.
Ke’Bryan Hayes had three hits on the afternoon. In his 29 games with the Reds he’s now hitting .274/.343/.453 with 10 extra-base hits. He only had 14 extra-base hits in 100 games this season with Pittsburgh and only 13 with the Pirates in 96 games in 2024.
Both starting pitchers threw over 100 pitches in this game. No stats or data to back this up, but that feels like a rarity in today’s game.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Toronto Blue Jays vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday September 2nd, 6:50pm ET
Jose Berrios (9-5, 3.95 ERA) vs Nick Lodolo (8-7, 3.22 ERA)
