Hosmer HR in 9th lifts Padres over Reds to cap soggy series

CINCINNATI (AP) — The San Diego Padres didn’t exactly enjoy their soggy stay in Cincinnati. Eric Hosmer got a nice parting gift from the Reds’ cozy riverside ballpark, though.

Hosmer led off the ninth inning with a home run to lift the Padres over the Reds 7-6 on Sunday night after a lengthy rain delay in the middle of the eighth inning.

Hosmer took Raisel Iglesias (2-4) deep for his third homer in three days — the first time he’s strung three together in his career. It ended a rainsoaked four-game series that featured 5 hours, 22 minutes of delays.

“It was great to get it quickly,” San Diego manager Andy Green said. “It couldn’t have happened any quicker. He’s swinging the bat well. It was a big series for him.”

Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman considered Iglesias a victim of his home park. “We don’t make too many excuses for the home runs,” Rigggleman said. “We give up a lot of homers, but that was a Great American Ball Park homer. Hosmer’s a good hitter, but this might be the only ballpark it goes out of.”

Austin Hedges and Luis Urias each hit a two-run homer to help San Diego overcome a three-run blast from Joey Votto and salvage a split.

Rain caused a delay of 1 hour, 32 minutes in the eighth, even after Sunday’s first pitch was pushed back three hours from the scheduled 1:10 p.m. start time in hopes of avoiding bad weather. Saturday’s game started an hour earlier than scheduled and was cancelled after 6 ½ innings, resulting in the Reds’ rain-shortened 7-2 win.

“It seemed like it was a week long, and we were in this clubhouse the entire time,” Hosmer said of the lengthy series. “We were happy to get out of a day like this with a win. Basically, we just wanted to get the heck out of here. That’s what everybody was thinking.”

Craig Stammen (7-2) pitched the eighth and Kirby Yates the ninth for his seventh save.

After going 36 games without a home run, Votto tied the score with his second in two games, an opposite-field, three-run shot to left-center field that capped Cincinnati’s five-run fifth inning and tied it 6-6.