By HAL McCOY
Aroldis Chapman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for a save, Todd Frazier had a single, a walk and scored a run and Didi Gregorius hit a home run and drove in two.
A few years ago that might have described what three members of the Cincinnati Reds did Tuesday night in Yankee Stadium, but those three ex-Reds now play for the New York Yankees.
And they all helped the Yankees pin a 4-2 defeat on the Reds, Cincinnati’s 10th loss in 12 games.
Frazier even hit it into a triple play — and a run scored on the play. Only the Reds.
THE REDS MANAGED TO SCORE two runs on only three hits and they even had a chance to take the lead in the eighth inning.
They trailed, 3-2, and had runners on second and third with two outs. But Eugenio Suarez struck out.
Yankee rookie starter Jordan Montgomery held the Reds to one run and six hits over 6 2/3 innings with one walk and six strikeouts.
Reds rookie Luis Castillo dropped to 1-and-4, giving up three runs and seven hits over five innings.
THE YANKEES TOOK A 1-0 lead in the second inning — on a triple play, the first turned by the Reds since 1995. But how many times does a run score on a triple play.
Three straight singles by Matt Holliday, Didi Gregorius and Chase Headley loaded the bases with no outs.
That brought up Todd Frazier, his first at bat in Yankee Stadium wearing pin-stripes.
He hit a one-hopper to shortstop Jose Peraza, who stepped on second and threw to first for a double play as Holliday scored from third. Gregorius was then caught between second and third and was rundown for the third out and a triple play.
But since Holliday scored before the third out was recorded, the run counted.
THE SECOND YANKEES RUN scored on the aid of a Castillo balk. Aaron Judge singled, took second on a ground ball and moved to third on Castillo’s balk. That enabled him to score on a sacrifice fly by Gregorious to make it 2-0.
The Yankees pushed it to 3-0 in the fifth on Todd Frazier’s single and a double by Austin Romine.
The Reds didn’t have a hit for five innings, but Scott Schebler doubled off the right field wall to open the sixth. He moved to third on Jose Peraza’s fly ball and scored on Arismendy Alcantara’s ground ball.
DELLIN BETANCES TOOK OVER in the eighth for the Yankees and he walked two of the first three batters he faced and the second was Peraza, his first walk in 158 at bats. Billy Hamilton doubled for a run to make it 3-2. But with runners on third and second, Eugenio Suarez struck out on a full count.
During the inning, Zack Cozart pinch-hit and hit into a force play. Cozart can’t run hard due to a nagging leg injury, but manager Bryan Price elected not to pinch-run for him.
So when Hamilton doubled, a pinch-runner might have scored from first to tie it, but Cozart only reached third. Price then put pitcher Robert Stephenson in to pinch-run but Suarez struck out.
“The ball was hit hard and they got the ball back in quickly so I don’t know if we could have scored,” Price told FoxSportsOhio after the game. “I’ll have to check the video.”
Cozart came out after he reached third when third base coach Billy Hatcher signaled the dugout that Cozart was in pain.
Gregorius homered for the third time in two games when he connected off Michael Lorenzen in the eighth, then Aroldis Chapman wiped away the Reds 1-2-3 in the ninth on only eight pitches, six for strikes.