Abbott had the talent-laden Padres swinging at everything inside the GABP zip code en route to the longest outing this season by a Reds starting pitcher.
Unfortunately for him, he did not receive the win. It took an eighth-inning pinch-hit first-pitch two-run homer by Tyler Stephenson inside the right field foul pole to provide the win, enabling the Reds to win their seventh series in their last eight.
Leading 2-0 in the eighth, Abbott gave up a two-out home run to Ha-Seong Kim. The Reds still led, 2-1, and Abbott was replaced by Lucas Sims. And he gave up a long-distance home run to Fernando Tatis Jr., tying it, 2-2, and wiping away Abbott’s win.
But he remains 4-0 with a 1.21 earned run average and the Reds have won all six of his starts
Manager David Bell continues to carry a magic button in his back pocket. With two outs and nobody on in the eighth, he sent Stuart Fairchild up to pinch-hit for Jake Fraley against Tom Cosgrove. Fairchild, just summoned back from Class AAA Louisville, fell behind 0-and-2, then drew a walk.
San Diego manager Bob Melvin replaced Cosgrove with Nick Martinez and Bell sent Stephenson up to pinch-hit for Votto.
One pitch. Two runs. As the ball disappeared over the right field wall, Stephenson tossed away the smoking bat, blew a bubble, and embarked on his triumphant tour.
“Any situation, when you come off the bench, it is not like early in the game, when you have time to get loose,” said Stephenson during an interview with Bally Sports Ohio. “Really, from the get-go, if you get a good pitch, you gotta be ready because that could be your only good pitch.
“It was a cutter that just happened to stay flat out over the plate, and it just happened to get out, which was sweet.,” he added
All the runs Abbott seemed to need were provided in the fifth inning by much-underrated rookie Spencer Steer.
With two outs and nobody on, Padres pitcher Tim Hill did the Reds a mammoth favor by hitting Joey Votto with a pitch when Votto was 0 for 19 with 10 strikeouts.
When a pitcher has two strikes on Steer, the pitcher is in a danger zone. Steer does his best work with two strikes. And so it was on this at bat.
Steer hit one in the direction of Greater Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport. His home run covered 441 feet and made a safe landing deep into the upper deck.
It was Steer’s 14th homer, 50th RBI and gave the Reds a 2-0 lead.
As it is with many effective pitchers, if a team doesn’t get to him early, they don’t get to him. And so it was with Abbott.
With one out in the first, superstars Tatis Jr. and Juan Soto singled. Non-plussed, Abbott struck out Manny Machado and Xander Bogaerts.
Those two strikeouts launched Abbott on a perfect stretch of 15 straight Padres retired.
It ended in the sixth when he issued his only walk, a one-out pass to Kim. Then Cincinnati’s illustrious defense came to his aid.
Tatis hit one headed toward center field. Shortstop Matt McLain made a diving stop and flipped the ball out of his glove at second base. Second baseman Jonathan India made a lunging bare-handed catch. Then he enacted some Fred Astaire footwork to find the bag for a force out.
Soto singled to put two on with two outs and right fielder Jake Fraley sprinted to the side wall and snatched the foul ball out of the front row.
After the Padres tied it and Stephenson’s big bash, a seemingly tired closer Alexis Diaz came on to pitch the ninth.
He got the first two outs, then gave up a single to Gary Sanchez and a run-scoring double to Jake Cronenworth to cut the lead to 4-3. Pinch-hitter Rougned Odor lined hard to India at second base and another chapter in this storybook season was in the books.
“The past few years it has been a grind,” said Stephenson after the Reds won the series two games to one against a team that had beaten them 14 of the last 17 games. “With this group, it is pretty special what we’ve got. It is a lot of fun, everybody pulls for each other, nobody is selfish.”
There were 37,714 mostly Reds’ supporters in the stands and Stephenson said, “It’s everything. Obviously, it is the complete opposite from last year. Other than Joey (Votto) me and everybody else has never seen the stadium like this. This is insane. We love it.
The Reds continue to roll despite two members of the lineup encased in slumps. In addition to Votto’s 0 for 19 with 10 strikeouts, since hitting for the cycle nine days ago, Elly De La Cruz is 5 for 35 (.143) with 13 strikeouts and one extra base hit.
But Steer, McLain, Will Benson and Stephenson are picking up the slack.
MONDAY’S GAME
Reds at Nationals, 6:05 p.m., Bally Sports Ohio, 700, 1410
About the Author