Diamondbacks edge Reds 5‑3 behind Perdomo homer, strong bullpen
CINCINNATI (Interstat) — Gabriel Moreno homered in the eighth inning to break a tie and Paul Sewald worked a scoreless ninth for his 17th save as the Arizona Diamondbacks defeated the Cincinnati Reds 5-3 on Sunday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.
The Diamondbacks improved to 36-35 with the win, taking two of three in the series. The Reds fell to 33-37. Arizona’s Juan Morillo (2-3) earned the victory with two scoreless innings of relief, allowing one hit and striking out two. Zach Maxwell (0-1) took the loss after giving up one run on two hits in one inning.
Arizona opened the scoring in the third inning when Tommy Troy led off with his second home run of the season, a solo shot to left field that tied the game 1-1. The Reds had taken a 1-0 lead in the first on a solo homer by JJ Bleday, his 12th.
Cincinnati answered in the bottom of the third. Nathaniel Lowe singled and Eugenio Suárez doubled to right, scoring Lowe and putting the Reds ahead 2-1. But the Diamondbacks responded in the sixth, capitalizing on a fielding error by Reds first baseman Nathaniel Lowe. Ildemaro Vargas reached on the error and Geraldo Perdomo followed with a two-run homer to right, his fourth of the season, giving Arizona a 3-2 lead.
The Reds tied it in the bottom of the sixth when Noelvi Marte hit a solo home run to left-center, his third of the year. The game remained deadlocked until the eighth inning, when Moreno led off with a home run to right, his sixth of the season, to put Arizona ahead 4-3.
Arizona added an insurance run in the ninth. LuJames Groover walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jorge Barrosa, and scored on a single by Ketel Marte. Sewald entered in the bottom of the ninth and allowed a one-out walk to Matt McLain, but then struck out Will Benson on a foul tip, got Edwin Arroyo to pop out, and retired Blake Dunn on a lineout to left to secure the save.
The game featured a total of 15 hits, eight by Cincinnati and seven by Arizona. Reds starter Chris Paddack pitched five innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on four hits with four strikeouts and two walks. Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen also lasted five innings, giving up three runs on five hits with five strikeouts and two walks.
Suárez doubled for Cincinnati and drove in a run. Bleday had the homer and was hit by a pitch. Lowe singled twice. Moreno, Perdomo and Troy each homered for Arizona. Marte added two hits and the go-ahead RBI in the ninth.
The attendance was 22,946 and the game lasted 2 hours, 39 minutes.
Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Arizona 3, Cincinnati 2. Interstat’s ELO system gave Arizona a 51.60 percent probability to win. Arizona was installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -1.5. The total of eight runs went over the over/under line of nine.