Reds LHP Nick Lodolo return from illness, loss to Padres
Cincinnati Reds LHP Nick Lodolo pitched five scoreless innings vs. Padres before tiring in just his second start since Aug. 4 (blister, flu-like bug).
SAN DIEGO – Robbed of a home run a few inches over the wall in the fourth inning, Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson assured nobody who didn’t have an upper-deck ticket was catching his line drive in the ninth off San Diego Padres All-Star closer Robert Suarez.
As quickly as Stephenson turned on that 2-1 fastball for the go-ahead home run, the Reds’ fading hopes for catching the playoff field got a jolt in a 4-2 win over the Padres that came one night after the Reds blew a 3-0 lead in an extra-inning loss.
The Reds’ third win in four games put them three games behind the New York Mets, who lost again to the Phillies, in the race for the final National League playoff spot, with 17 games to play.
The San Francisco Giants, who beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, moved to two games back of the Mets, just ahead of the Reds.
The battle for the third and final wild-card spot in the National League now looks like this (games remaining in parentheses):
- New York Mets (17) — 76-99 —
- S. Fran. Giants (17) — 74-71 2 gb
- Cincinnati Reds (17) — 73-72 3 gb
- AZ Diamondbacks (18) — 72-74 4.5 gb
- St. Louis Cardinals (18) — 72-74 4.5 gb
The Reds were just 2-for-26 with a walk against the Padres’ top-ranked bullpen in the majors in the first two games of this series until Stephenson’s shot.
Reds starter Zack Littell pitched well in a 94-pitch no-decision, allowing just two hits.
After the first one, with one out in the first inning, he retired 11 straight batters to take a 2-0 lead into the bottom of the fifth.
But he issued his only walk of the start leading off the fifth, to Ramon Laureano, and Jackson Merrill followed with a run-scoring triple. After a hit batter, Jake Cronenworth lined a sacrifice fly to left, and the Reds lead was gone.
Littell retired the final five he faced, but it was just enough damage to turn the game into a battle of bullpens, which the Padres are better equipped to win than anyone in the game.
Solo home runs by rookie Sal Stewart with one out in the first and Will Benson with one out in the second staked the Reds to the early lead.
The Reds looked like they had a third homer the fourth inning until Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. leaped at the wall in right-center and reached over to rob Stephenson and the Reds of a 3-0 lead.
It was the second dramatic catch at the right field wall in the span of three innings Tuesday night. The first involved an injury scare for Benson, who appeared to drive the top of his right shoulder into the framework supporting a video advertising board in the process of robbing Jose Iglesias of an extra-base hit off the wall for the final out of the second inning.
Benson lay on the warning track in pain for a few minutes before leaving the field with a trainer. He remained in the game until being lifted for a pinch-hitter for the platoon advantage in the seventh inning.