Miami Marlins vs Cincinnati Reds Match Player Stats On Aug 07, 2023

Brandon Williamson allowed one run on three hits over 6 2/3 innings as the host Cincinnati Reds earned a 5-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Monday night in the opener of a three-game series.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Joey Votto homered for the Reds, who snapped a six-game losing streak.

TJ Friedl added two hits, including a two-run triple, for Cincinnati. Williamson (4-2) didn't walk a batter and finished with a career-high nine strikeouts. Alexis Diaz pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 33rd save.

Jorge Soler and Jazz Chisholm Jr. each went deep for Miami, which lost its fifth straight game and also fell for the 14th time in its last 15 road contests.

Twenty-year-old right-hander Eury Perez (5-4), making his first major league start since July 6 after being sent down to the minors to rest, took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits over 4 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out seven.

Miami took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Soler lined his 27th home run of the season into the right-center-field bleachers.

Cincinnati rebounded to take a 2-1 lead in the third on Friedl's triple into the right field corner that drove in Will Benson and Elly De La Cruz, who had both walked.

The Reds extended their lead to 4-1 in the fourth when Encarnacion-Strand and Votto homered on back-to-back pitches to start the inning. It was Encarnacion-Strand's second homer of the season and Votto's 13th.

Cincinnati made it 5-1 in the seventh against reliever Steven Okert. Friedl singled with one out, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Nick Fortes. Spencer Steer then drove in Friedl with a sacrifice fly.

Miami cut it to 5-2 in the eighth when Chisholm pinch-hit and led off with his 11th homer.

The Marlins brought the tying run to the plate with no outs in the ninth after Diaz issued back-to-back walks to Bryan De La Cruz and Jake Burger.

But Diaz rebounded to strike out Jesus Sanchez and then got pinch hitter Luis Arraez, who entered the game with a major-league-leading .458 average with runners in scoring position, to ground into a game-ending double play.

--Field Level Media