By Hal McCoy
Las Vegas oddsmakers said the Cincinnati Reds had no chance, not a prayer, don’t even think about it.
Las Vegas was wrong. Dead wrong.
When the Reds came to bat in the top of the ninth Wednesday afternoon, they trailed the San Francisco Giants by six runs.
The odds were 300 to 1 that the Reds would pull off a bigger miracle than the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge.
After all, the Reds were 9-3 in arrears. Then came a script that only the writer of a ‘B’ movie would foist upon the world.
Beyond incredible, the Reds scored seven runs in the top of the ninth to pull off the most implausible win imaginable, 10-9.
The inning featured the second home run of the game by Hector Rodgriguez, a grand slam home run by Eugenio Suarez, bunt hits by Dane Myers and Matt Mclain, a game-tying sacrifice fly by Jose Trevino and a pinch-hit go-ahead single by Tyler Stephenson.
The Giants are MLB’s only team without a sweep this season and they were six runs ahead and three outs away from sweeping the Reds.
In an attempt to mix things up, Reds manager Tito Francona installed Rodriguez in the leadoff spot. He responded with a 3 for 6 day that included a leadoff home run in the third, a single in the seventh and the igniter in the ninth.
He began the 7.0 baseball earthquake by crushing a 1-and-0 90 miles an hour cutter 423 feet that splashed down in McCovey Cove.
That only made it 9-4, but the Reds’ dugout came alive.
“That ball woke up everybody,” said Suarez. “It was something to see from the dugout. He hit that ball really hard, he just killed it. Everybody was impressed.”
After the home run, Elly De La Cruz singled, Sal Stewart walked and JJ Bleday walked.
Suddenly the bases were loaded for Suarez, owner of nine career grand slams when he swung at Dylan Smith’s second pitch and made it 10 grand slams.
“There was the big hit by me, but when you have people in front of you, you just want to put the ball in play and do your job,” he said. “Not try to do too much and that’s what happened today. Little things pay off.:”
But that only made it 9-8 with nobody on base.
Then came small ball and the Reds proved that, yes, little things mean a lot.
Myers put down a bunt and third baseman Buddy Kennedy threw it away — a hit and an error that put Myers on second.
It worked once, try it again. McLain dropped a bunt at Kennedy and beat it for a hit, putting runners on third and first.
Then came one of the game’s smallest but biggest plays. McLain stole second.
Myers scored the tying run on Trevino’s sacrifice fly. And because he stole second, McLain was able to take third on Trevino’s sacrifice fly.
So when Stephenson poked a single to left McLain easily scored the go-ahead and winning run.
The Reds grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second on a single by Myers, McLain’s sacrifice bunt and Jose Trevino’s single. Johan Cobb rippped a two-run homer in the second and Rodriguez’s first home in the third tied it, 2-2.
Reds starter Nick Lodolo gave up another two-run homer in the fifth, another home run by Rafael Devers, his third of the series.
Reds relief pitcher Julian Garcia yielded a two-run homer to No. 9 hitter Shay Whitcome in the sixth and it was 6-2, Giants, on three two-run homers.
The Reds scored a run in the seventh on Sal Stewart’s sacrifice fly, his 100th RBI and it was 6-3.
But Reds relief pitcher Tony Santillan was hit with a three-run double in the eighth to give the Giants what seemed like an insurmountable 9-3 lead, a lead that melted like ice cream on a hot August sidewalk.
Asked about his elevation to the leadoff spot, Rodriguez talked through translator Tomas Vera.
“I put it in my mind that this was an opportunity and I had to take advantage of that,” he said. “Thank God I did it, took the opportunity to do something leading off today.”
Francona was appreciative of the young Dominican’s contribution, but knows there is more in there. But he agreed that his ninth-inning homer energized the bench.
“I think so,” he said. “I think it energized him, too. He has such good hitter’s hands and if he can just relax and swing at strikes he’ll do some damage. There are some things in his game that we love. We just have to let him settle in.”
Then came Suarez’s grand slam.
“Geno hits the home run and I’m thinking, ‘Why can’t that be the tying run?’” said Francona, knowing that only made it 9-8 with the bases empty. “You hate to come that far back and lose.
“To our guys’ credit, they kept going” he added. “But they made some mistakes (on the bunts) and we capitalized. McLain steals a base so he can move up on the sacrifice fly.
“We made some mistakes to get where we were (down six runs), but we kept playing and it will make for a heckuva better flight,” he said.
The Reds flew to Chicago for a day off before opening a three-game series in Wrigley Field Friday.
Suarez was nearly at a loss for words, but found the right ones.
“Crazy. I don’t know what I can say abou this game,” he said. “It was crazy. We were down the whole game but we never got down, we put good at bats together late in the game and that paid off.
“The key to this game was doing the little things, putting down those bunts, those things that help out to win a game.”
Even a game that Las Vegas said was well-nigh impossible to win.