Reds recover to win 5-3 after blown save
Published 1:38 am Friday, May 17, 2013
MIAMI (AP) — On the verge of a second successive series sweep, the Cincinnati Reds encountered a ninth-inning blip.
First Mat Latos gave up a triple, ending his bid for a complete game. Then closer Aroldis Chapman gave up another triple, sending the game into extra innings.
But the Reds bounced back in the 10th, scoring three times to complete their second three-game sweep in a row by beating the Miami Marlins 5-3 Thursday night.
NL RBI leader Brandon Phillips homered in the sixth inning and drove in the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the 10th.
“We wanted to win the game in nine,” Phillips said. “We could have just put our heads down, but we went with the flow.”
Latos and two relievers combined on a six-hitter. After Chapman (3-1) blew a save for the first time in nine chances, J.J. Hoover gave up a run in the 10th but earned his third save.
Pinch-hitter Donald Lutz led off the 10th with a single against Steve Cishek (1-4). Following a walk, a bunt and an intentional walk, Phillips lifted a flyball for his second RBI of the night and 36th of the season.
Jay Bruce followed with a two-run double and finished with three RBIs.
The Marlins trailed 2-1 when Adeiny Hechavarria tripled with one out in the ninth, ending Latos’ night.
“I really wanted to finish it,” Latos said. “But we got a W, and that’s all that matters.”
Chapman came on to strike out pinch-hitter Placido Polanco on a 100 mph fastball, but rookie Marcell Ozuna connected with a 98 mph fastball for an RBI triple.
Chapman then struck out pinch-hitter Justin Ruggiano to send the game into extra innings.
“We thought we were out of it. Then they tied the game up,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “You’ve got to come back and keep fighting. You have no choice.”
Juan Pierre led off Miami’s first with his first homer since June 23. Latos dominated after that, throwing only 91 pitches in 8 1-3 innings.
The right-hander’s streak of wins in four consecutive starts ended even though he allowed just four hits and two runs.
“Latos was dealing,” Baker said. “That’s as pitch-efficient as I’ve seen anybody.”
The young Marlins, who have the NL’s worst record, lost their fifth consecutive game and were swept for the fourth time this year. They rank last in the majors in runs and totaled five in the series.
“I was trying to throw the ball right down the middle,” Latos said. “It’s a big ballpark, and I tried to let those guys get themselves out. A lot of them swing early and often.”
Miami rookie Jose Fernandez allowed two runs in seven innings and threw a career-high 99 pitches. The Marlins have scored 23 runs in his eight starts.
The Reds swept a series in Miami for the first time since 2004. They’ve won a season-best six in a row to climb nine games above .500 for the first time.
Latos preserved a 2-1 lead when he pitched out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the seventh. Jeff Mathis, playing in his first game this year after coming off the disabled list, bounced into a 5-2-3 double play.
“I’m happy with the way we battled,” manager Mike Redmond said. “We used almost all our guys, we bunted, we tried everything to score some runs and still we came up short.”
The game was the finale this season between the two teams. Cincinnati went 6-1 against the Marlins, outscoring them 40-16.
The Marlins fell to 0-11 with the retractable roof open in their ballpark. They’re 5-3 with the roof closed.
Pierre began the game with a slugging percentage of .278, but he needed only one swing in the first to put Miami ahead. He let out a whoop when his homer barely cleared the fence just inside the right field foul pole.
“Juan Pierre hit a home run off me — just my luck,” Latos said. “I looked at him when he was running the bases and said, ‘What the heck happened?”’
Pierre also robbed the Reds of two extra-base hits in left field. He made a diving catch of Joey Votto’s drive to the warning track in the first, and made a diving, backhanded grab of Todd Frazier’s fly in the sixth.
Cincinnati made it 1-all in the fourth when Bruce’s two-out single scored Votto, who had doubled. Phillips sent a 95-mph fastball over the fence with two out in the sixth to put the Reds up 2-1.
NOTES: Reds C Ryan Hanigan has thrown out five of eight runners attempting to steal, including Hechavarria in the fourth inning. … Votto is hitting .391 on the road. … The first pitch for the Reds’ game on Sunday, June 9 against the St. Louis Cardinals has been changed to 8:05 p.m.