He was in the lineup for the second game of the impromptu doubleheader, but his hand was too swollen and manager Tito Francona scratched him just before game time.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand was not in the lineup and he, too, was questionable after fouling a ball off his foot in the first game.
But Francona stuck him in the lineup, one of the most sage decisions during his brief career in Cincinnati.
The Reds were struggling mightily to just find hits through six innings. They had only three hits and trailed, 3-0.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Then they loaded the bases in the seventh and Encarnacion-Strand unloaded a grand slam home run that cleared the Green Monster in center field and left the stadium, probably landing on the USS Constitution in Boston Harbor.
His first career grand slam popped open the vault and runs spilled out, five in the seventh and three in the eighth to provide the Reds with an 8-4 victory.
It salvaged one win in the three-game series and the Reds remain the only MLB team that has not been swept.
The Red Sox used a Bullpen Day for this one and the first three muzzled the Reds. But on Bullpen Days there always seems to be one pitcher who suffers an off day.
That guy was Greg Weissert, the fourth guy. Tyler Stephenson said hello with a single. Rece Hinds hit a double play ground ball, but third baseman Abraham Toro booted it. Gavin Lux walked on a full count to fill the bases.
Weissert blew two fastballs past CES and missed with two sliders. He tried another fastball at 95 miles an hour and CES unstitched the baseball and knocked it lop-sided and quicker than one can say Encarnacion-Strand, the Reds led, 4-3.
“That was an unreal feeling in this ball park, it’s electric,” CES told reporters after the game. “I’m happy I got to play here.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Red Sox aren’t.
Asked about his first career grand slam, he said, “Honestly, I didn’t even know that. I was just happy to put the boys back on top.”
And the fastballs?
“It is always important to see pitches and I don’t get to see that many fastballs, but when I do good things happen.”
After the grand slam, TJ Friedl doubled and scored on a single by Elly De La Cruz to make it 5-3, seemingly an important run at that juncture.
Reds starter Nick Martinez, obviously tired, gave up a leadoff double to Marcelo Mayer to open the bottom of the seventh.
Romy Gonzalez whacked one off the Green Monster in left that scored Mayer to make it 5-4. The ball ricocheted off the wall and rolled toward the infield.
Gonzalez tried for a triple. Matt McLain, playing shortstop (De La Cruz was the designated hitter), sprinted to deep left field, retrieved the ball and threw Gonzalez out at third.
Had he stayed at second, he would have been the potential tying run with no outs. But McLain’s sensational play put the Bosox with one out, nobody on and the score 5-4.
“That was my funnest moment of the whole night,” Francona told reporters. “Austin Hays (the left fielder) tried to get that ball, but you look up and TJ Friedl and Matt are surrounding it.
“To me, that’s baseball. They’re trying,” he added. “You don’t know what might happen. You don’t leave plays out there. Nobody would have thought anything if he wasn’t there. But that’s winning baseball. I was fired up about that.”
The grand slam completely discombobulated the Bosox and they gave the Reds three more runs in the eighth inning by kicking the ball around like the New England Revolution professional soccer team.
And there was another defensive dandy in the fifth. Right fielder Rece Hinds reached over the right field wall to rob Jarron Duran of a home run.
Martinez was most appreciative. After pitching a one-hitter in his previous start when he took a no-hitter into the ninth inning, Martinez gave up two singles in the first inning.
For his 6 2/3 innings, he gave up four runs and nine hits. Down only 1-0 in the sixth, he retired the first two. Then Trevor Story singled and Wilyer Abreu hit his third home of the series, a drive to right that Hinds nearly caught, and it was 3-0.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“CES saved my ass tonight,” said Martinez. “That was an awesome at bat. I was teetering between a great outing and a disastrous one if the guys didn’t play great defense behind me and the big grand slam. For me, it was a bit of a grind.”
It was the kind of grind Francona loves.
“Good things happen to good people and I love watching him pitch,” he said. “He competes, he doesn’t back down. He did a good job.”
And about the team pulling this one out, its 18th come from behind win, Francona said, “To our credit, we took advantage of what we were given. We got aggressive and did some really good things.
“Face it, that’s a long day. When you’re down for most of the day it gets longer,” he added. “That’s gonna make our plane ride (to Philadelphia) a heck of a lot better.”
Thanks mostly to Christian Encarnacion-Slam.
NEXT GAME
Who: Cincinnati at Philadelphia
When: 1:05 p.m., Friday, July 4
TV: FanDuel Sports
Radio: 1410-AM, 700-AM
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