PHOENIX (AP) — Tucker Barnhart hit a run-scoring single in the 10th inning, Tyler Naquin crushed his big league-best fifth homer, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5 on Friday night.
Eugenio Suárez started the 10th on second base and Barnhart brought him home with a two-out single to left-center off Alex Young (0-2). Cincinnati’s Amir Garrett got out of a bases-loaded jam to earn his second save, retiring Pavin Smith on a slow grounder for the final out.
The Diamondbacks trailed 5-0 before scoring three times in the seventh. Kole Calhoun’s two-out, two-run double was the big hit in the rally.
Eduardo Escobar then tied it with a towering two-run homer in the eighth off Lucas Sims. The second baseman pumped his fist as he rounded first base after belting his second homer of the season.
The Reds came into Friday’s game on an offensive roll, batting .316 with 14 homers during their 5-1 homestand to start the season. The team’s 57 runs through six games were a franchise record.
It didn’t take Cincinnati’s bats to get going on the road in Arizona’s home opener: Jesse Winker smoked a double off the top of the wall near the 413-foot sign in right-center to start the game.
Winker gave the Reds a 1-0 lead in his second at-bat, slicing a single to left field that scored Barnhart. Naquin crushed a solo homer — his fifth in his first 21 at-bats this season — to push Cincinnati ahead 2-0 in the fourth. The Reds added two more runs in the fifth and another in the sixth.
The Diamondbacks fell to 2-6 for the season and have lost three straight.
Tyler Mahle started for the Reds, struck out six and didn’t give up a hit, but he also walked four and needed 92 pitches to get through four innings. Cionel Perez (1-0) got the win, retiring two batters in the…
Leave a Reply