By Hal McCoy
At this late stage of the season and where the last place Cincinnati Reds reside, wins and losses are meaningless, immaterial.
Nevertheless, there are positive and even heart-warming stories to be told.
And a big one surfaced Friday afternoon involving outfielder TJ Friedl during the Reds wild, wild 10-8 victory over the Chicago Cubs.
The Reds led, 9-3, after seven innings, but the Cubs did what they do best. . .come from behind to win games. They’ve done it 40 times this season.
And of their 38 home win, they’ve walked-it-off an incredibly 14 times.
So when the Cubs scored a run in the seventh and four in the eighth, they were within a run, 9-8, and most of the 39,036 fans could sniff another Cubs rescue.
Cubs relief pitcher Daniel Palencio struck out the first two in the ninth.
That brought up TJ Friedl, who entered the game late for defense.
Friedl was still with the Reds only because none of the other 29 teams wanted him. The Reds placed Friedl and Eugenio Suarez on waivers Thursday.
Teams had 48 hours to claim one or both. None did so Friedl and Suarez remained with the Reds.
So there was Friedl, 1 for 34 since the All-Star break, standing in the batter’s box.
He turned on a 99 miles an hour fastball and blasted it down the right field line. It was six feet to the right of the fair pole, a foul ball.
Palencio threw a pitch outside the strike zone for a ball, then offered another fastball, this one 97.6 miles an hour. With the same pretty swing, Friedl blasted it down the right field line again and this one stayed fair, a home run.
How big is that? Instead of a one-run lead in the bottom of the ninth, closer Emilio Pagan had a two-run 10-9 lead and he went 1-2-3 to secure his 18th save and the win.
Tyler Stephenson crushed a three-run home run during a five-run sixth inning that pushed the Reds from a 3-2 deficit to a 7-3 lead, marveled at what Friedl did.
“To do it twice? We were talking in the dugout, usually when there is a foul home run, nothing good usually comes out of it,” he said. “But to hit the foul homer and the fair one after it was great. He was rewarded for his great swing.”
Reds manager Tito Francona addressed the waivers issue
“There was more drama on the outside than there was in here,” he said. “I think Nick (Krall) and Brad (Meadows) handled things so well that it was not as much drama as people thought.
“Saying that, I’m thrilled for us. . .it’s contagious,” he said of Friedl’s homer. “But I still feel for him.”
Another feel good story? Sal Stewart hit one of Cincinnati’s four homers, a solo shot, and singled in another run — 29 homers and a club rookie record of 102 RBI.
When he entered the post-game clubhhouse, teammates were shouting, “ROY, ROY,” meaning Rookie of the Year.
It embarrassed Stewart then and he didn’t like it when asked about it.
“I’ve already talkes about it. I don’t want to keep talking about it,” he said. “There are a lot of good contending players and I’ll continue to say it.
“They’re all having a good season and I’m happy for them. Do I want to win it? Yes,” he added emphatically. “But I don’t want to keep bringing it back up. I want to focus on winning games.”
He was more inclined to talk about the 102 RBI.
“Yeah, RBIs win games,” he said. “Kudos for my teammates for being there (on base).”
Asked about everybody singing the praises of Stewart, Francona said, “As we should. We’re not even to September. That’s pretty impressive.”
And the wildness of the game?
The Cubs took a 3-0 lead against Reds starter Rhett Lowder, but the Reds began chipping away, eventually hitting four home runs among their 13 hits.
Both catchers homered during the five-run fifth inning, Stephenson as the DH and Trevino as the catcher.
“If you look at the stats since Trevino has been back (from the injured list), Stephenson has been better, too, because he doesn’t have to catch as much,” said Francona.
After taking the 7-3 lead in the sixth, the Reds added two runs in the seventh on a two-run single by Elly De La Cruz, part of his three-hit day.
That made it 9-3 and every run was needed.
The Cubs scored a run in the bottom of the seven and TJ Antone started the bottom of eighth and gave up two quick singles and a three-run home run to rookie Pedro Ramirez and it wa 9-7.
Sam Moll replaced Antone and he gave up a pair of doubles to pinch-hitter Matt Shaw and Seiya Suzuki. That drew the Cubs within one with the tying run on second base.
Moll finally ended the long inning. He retired Michael Busch, who had hit a two-run homer to build that early 3-0 Cubs lead.
Then came Friedl’s heart-bending home run for insurance and Pagan finished it.
Of where his team is and what he thinks about it, Francona said, “I don’t know how many times I’ve said it, but I really do like this group, I wish we had more wins. I know they do, too.
“But they’ll keep playing and that’s a good trait, a good characteristic,” he added.