The Evening Leader

Reds rally to top Guardians in extras

- By TOM WITHERS

CLEVELAND — The Cincinnati Reds made unwanted history two days ago by not allowing a hit and losing. On Tuesday night, they hit into five double plays, blew the lead in the ninth inning and scored the winning run without making contact.

“That’s baseball, man,” said rookie starter Connor Overton. “That was a fun game. It was wild.”

Mike Moustakas drew the third straight walk in the 10th by Cleveland reliever Nick Sandlin to force in a run, and Reds rookie reliever Alexis Díaz struck out Guardians star José Ramírez for the final out with the bases loaded as the Reds held on for a 5-4 win.

Moustakas was down to his last strike before taking three straight pitches from Sandlin (3-2) to bring in Matt Reynolds, who started the inning at second base.

Art Warren (2-1) got the win for Cincinnati despite giving up Owen Miller’s tying, two-run homer in the ninth.

And Díaz, a 25-yearold who pitched in Double-A last season, survived a nerve-wracking 10th — he walked two and threw a wild pitch that nearly let the tying run score — before handcuffin­g Ramírez for strike three and his first career save.

“His stuff is unbelievab­le,” Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson said as his teammates could be heard celebratin­g with Díaz in the showers. “He got better with Ramírez, when the moment was bigger for him. He did a great job.”

Díaz has not given up a run in 15 of his 16 appearance­s.

“He’s not fazed,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Obviously, he had a lot of adrenaline tonight, but he channeled that really well and he went after some really good hitters in a tough spot. Great stuff, but the thing that was really impressive is that he walked a couple of guys and then one of the best hitters in the game, got behind and then just made incredible pitches.”

Tyler Naquin homered for the Reds (1026), who became the last team in the majors to reach double-digit wins — after blowing a 4-2 lead in the ninth and hitting into double plays in four straight innings.

“This game is an example of you just have to keep playing,” Bell said.

Miller’s towering two-run homer into the left-field bleachers off Warren tied it 4-4.

The Guardians had managed just four singles over the first eight innings against rookie Connor Overton and reliever Tony Santillan before Miller followed a leadoff walk to Ramírez with his fourth homer.

Miller’s heroics snatched a win from

Overton.

The right-hander allowed just three singles over 7 2/3 innings in Cincinnati’s second straight stellar start. Overton allowed backto-back hits in the third, retired 15 straight and then gave up a leadoff infield single in the eighth.

Overton got two outs but walked pinch-hitter Franmil Reyes and was pulled by Bell after a career-high 98 pitches.

“I want to go nine (innings) every time,” Overton said. “Obviously, I’m happy but there’s a lot I could have done better.”

His performanc­e came two days after Cincinnati rookie starter Hunter Greene and Warren combined to work eight no-hit innings in a 1-0 loss at Pittsburgh.

The Reds were just the sixth team in the modern era to lose despite not allowing a hit.

The Guardians played their fourth straight game without manager Terry Francona, who tested positive for COVID-19 last week in Chicago and also missed the three-game weekend series in Minnesota.

Acting manager and pitching coach Carl Willis said the 63-year-old Francona is feeling better and nearing a return.

Cleveland first baseman Josh Naylor also remains out.

Naquin, who spent

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five seasons with Cleveland, gave the Reds a 1-0 lead with his third homer — a shot into the right-field seats off Zach Plesac.

HELP WANTED

Plesac, who gave up two runs in six innings, hasn’t gotten much run support.

The Guardians have scored 11 runs in his seven starts, a huge departure from the past three seasons when Cleveland averaged 5.28 runs per nine innings for him.

RARE AIR

Guardians reliever Bryan Shaw made his 475th career appearance, moving him into third place in club history behind Mel Harder (582 games) and Bob Feller (570).

TRAINER’S ROOM

Reds: 1B Joey Votto (COVID-19 injured list) had his rehab assignment switched from Louisville (Triple-A) to Dayton (Class A). He has been out since May 3.

Guardians: Reyes was not in the starting lineup after dealing with a “family matter.” ... Hitting coach Chris Valaika was back on duty after being one of five Cleveland coaches to test positive for COVID-19.

UP NEXT

Reds RHP Tyler Mahle (2-4, 5.89 ERA) won for the first time since opening day last week in Pittsburgh. He faces Guardians RHP Cal Quantrill (1-2, 3.93) in the series finale.

Astros 13, Red Sox 4

BOSTON (AP) — Five Houston players homered off Boston’s Nathan Eovaldi in the second inning, tying a major league record as the Astros beat the Red Sox 13-4 on Tuesday night.

Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Tucker, Jeremy Peña, Michael Brantley and Yuli Gurriel all went deep for the Astros, who set a franchise mark for home runs in an inning. It has happened seven other times in the majors.

Tucker added his second homer of the night and seventh of the season in the fourth inning — a grand slam off Tyler Danish — as Houston won for the 13th time in 15 games.

José Urquidy (3-1) allowed 12 hits and four runs, including home runs to Rafael Devers and J.D. Martinez, but lasted five innings.

Eovaldi (1-2) became the third pitcher in major league history to surrender five homers in an inning. His line: 1 2/3 innings, eight hits, nine runs (six earned) and five home runs over 39 pitches.

Yankees 5, Orioles 4

BALTIMORE (AP) — Aaron Judge homered twice after his firstinnin­g drive bounced off the new left-field wall at Camden Yards, and New York held off Baltimore for its 20th win in 23 games.

Judge came within a few feet of a three-homer game. His bid in the first hit high off the wall — which was moved back and made taller before this season. He settled for an RBI double, then hit solo shots in the third and fifth to increase his major league-leading home run total to 14.

Judge added a single in the eighth for his third four-hit game and first since 2019.

Ramón Urías went deep for the Orioles, who have lost five straight and matched their season high.

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