It took 19 innings before the Cincinnati Reds scored a run against the Chicago White Sox this week, but that was enough for a walk-off win.
After an old-school pitchers' duel between Sonny Gray and Dallas Keuchel on Wednesday, Jesse Winker provided the only offense that the Reds needed when he lined a walk-off single to center for a 1-0 victory in the bottom of the 10th inning.
As soon as Winker saw the ball fly through the infield, he flipped his bat. Nick Senzel, the runner on first base, raised his arms triumphantly in the air. Winker's teammates met him after he ran across first base to celebrate. The crowd of 10,247 roared with approval.
"You want to be up there in that moment, for sure,” Winker said.
It was the first time in 11 years, and just the fourth time in Great American Ball Park history, the Reds played a home game that was scoreless after nine innings. Gray was phenomenal – and he knew he needed to pitch at that level against Keuchel. Both pitchers threw seven scoreless frames.
Gray briefly chatted with Keuchel on Tuesday. The two veteran pitchers faced each other often when Gray was in Oakland and Kuechel was in Houston. From the conversation, Gray could tell Keuchel was "ready to roll."
