Field Level Media
Sep 9, 2018
Eric Hosmer broke a tie by opening the ninth inning with his third homer in as many games Sunday night, giving the San Diego Padres a 7-6 victory over the host Cincinnati Reds and a split of the teams' weather-impacted, four-game series.
Hosmer's 16th homer of the season was off right-handed reliever Raisel Iglesias (2-4), the sixth Reds pitcher. It marked the first time in his career that Hosmer homered in three consecutive games.
Padres right-hander Craig Stammen (7-2) threw one scoreless inning for the win. Right-hander Kirby Yates tossed a perfect ninth inning his seventh save.
The start of the game was pushed back three hours due to forecasted rain in Cincinnati. There was also a 1-hour, 32-minute rain delay in the middle of the eighth inning, bringing to 5 hours and 22 minutes the total time lost to rain in the four-game series.
Down 6-1 early, the Reds tied the game with a five-run fifth capped by a three-run homer by Joey Votto off Padres starter Jacob Nix. The Padres took a 6-1 lead with three straight two-run innings.
Austin Hedges hit a two-run homer off Reds right-handed starter Tyler Mahle in the third. Rookie Luis Urias reached the top deck in left with a two-run homer off reliever Lucas Sims in the fourth, and Freddy Galvis snapped out of a 2-for-20 slump (that included 13 strikeouts) with a two-run double to the base of the wall in left off Sims in the fifth.
Meanwhile, San Diego rookie right-hander Nix didn't allow a hit until Jose Peraza led off the fourth with a single. Peraza broke up the shutout when he scored on a two-out single by Tucker Barnhart.
Then the game fell apart for Nix in the bottom of the fifth when the Reds opened the inning with five consecutive hits, climaxing with Votto's 11th homer of the season and second in two games after he went 37 games without a home run.
Blake Trahan, Billy Hamilton and Scott Schebler opened the fifth with three straight singles to load the bases. Peraza followed with a two-run double ahead of Votto's game-tying, opposite-field homer.
Both starters were gone early. Mahle gave up two runs on five hits and three walks with five strikeouts in three innings. Reliever Sims allowed four runs on three hits and three walks with two strikeouts in 1 2/3 innings.
Nix allowed six runs on seven hits and two walks with five strikeouts in four innings.
--Field Level Media