The Cincinnati Reds never followed on Monday afternoon until the 9th inning when Toronto took the lead. But the attack by Cincinnati came through when they scored three points in the bottom of the 9th against two Blue Jays-relievers to pick up a much-needed Walk-off victory to start the last month of the year.
| Final | R | H | One |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toronto Blue Jays (79-59) | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (70-68) | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| W: Zulueta (1-0) L: Little (4-2) | |||
| Status | Box score | Game thread | |||
Sometimes the Reds defense, but sometimes it assumes. After George Springer had distracted the game with a single, he stole second base. But Addison Barger hit a lining in the middle and Elly de la Cruz jumped and, when he landed, he dived to tag the bag to double the Springer.
The Reds attack came out to swing in the 2nd inning. Gavin Lux doubled to start things. That brought Sal Stewart on the board for his first performance of the big league plate and he hit a soft lining over the short stop for a single to put runners on the corners for Ke’bryan Hayes. The third third Honkman doubled to the wall in the left. Lux scored easily, and Stewart reads well on the ball and left and scored from the first base when Cincinnati took a 2-0 lead.
Hunter Greene cruised with a lead. He had loved Toronto off the board via the top of the 6th inning. That was important because, just like the Blue Jays, the Reds only had three hits to that point.
In the bottom of the 6th, however, Elly de la Cruz tripled to divert the inning and put the Reds in a good place to add to their lead. But a pop-up and two groundouts followed and De la Cruz was stranded at third base when Cincinnati was not added to their 2-run lead.
Toronto was able to break through against Greene in the top of the 7th. He would come out a fly to start the inning, but Bo Bichette followed with a two -squeeze and then Greene Dulton Varsho ran. Close to 100 throws, he was left in the game to face Alejandro Kirk and Kirk came through with a Blooper RBI single in the left field to cut the Reds lead on 2-1. That hit ended the day before Greene when Scott Barlow came out of the bullpen with runners at 1 and 2nd and only one out. The move worked out when Barlow would get a fly and go a ground to get out of the jam.
Cincinnati would get the leadoff attachment on the bottom of the 7th, but a poorly executed sacrifice attempt by Jose Trevino led to a force in second place. TJ Friedl would pick up a 2-out single, but a strikeout from Noelvi Marte would end the frame as another chance passed.
After a shutout 8th from Tony Santillan, the Reds Emilio Pagan sent to the hill to try to hold the 2-1 lead in the 9th. A helicopter on the Infield turned into an infield hit for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Toronto sent a Pinchloper for him, but it wouldn’t matter because Bo Bichette hit a 2-run home run to place the Blue Jays in front. Six throws later, Dulton Varsho made it back-to-back home runs to push the lead to two runs. After he had received a land, Pagan was replaced by Yosver Zulueta who threw seven thrips to get two and send the game to the bottom of the 9th.
Cincinnati didn’t just roll over without a fight. Ke’bryan Hayes led away with a single and then Matt McLain came on with his own single from his own. The Blue Jays then went to their bullpen to get Lefty Brandon Little to face TJ Friedl. Little fell behind 2-0 to Friedl and came in with a fastball, but Friedl turned it and doubled in the right field corner. Hayes scored easily and McLain followed as he sprinted around the bases. Toronto challenged the piece when the ball was housed between the filling in the wall and they won the challenge, sent McLain back to third base and for the time being took a run of the board.
Noelvi Marte set up that for a chance to be a hero. And he was a hero while he fought five fields before he hit a hard grounder in the left field that McLain saw easily scoring and Friedl around the third sprint and slid to the infield side of the plate just before the pitch while the Reds ran off for a 5-4 victory.
Important moment of the game
Noelvi Marte’s Walk-Off 2-run single.
Notes worth mentioning
Hunter Greenee lowered his era to 2.70 during the season. He now has 101 strikeouts in his 83.1 Innings about his 15 starts.
Ke’bryan Hayes had three hits in the afternoon. In his 29 games with the Reds, he now hits .274/.343/.453 with 10 extra basehits. This season he only had 14 extra hits in 100 games with Pittsburgh and only 13 with the Pirates in 96 games in 2024.
Both starting pitchers threw more than 100 throws in this competition. No statistics or data to support this, but that feels like a rarity in today’s game.
Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Toronto Blue Jays vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday 2 September, 6:50 PM et
Jose Berrios (9-5, 3.95 ERA) vs Nick Lodolo (8-7, 3.22 ERA)
#Noelvi #Marte #plays #hero #walk #win #Reds #Toronto #Redleg #Nation