KANSAS CITY – There was plenty of blame to pass around after the Cincinnati Reds coughed up a five-run lead in their 7-6, walk-off loss to the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday.
The bullpen, which hadn't allowed an earned run in its last 16 innings, wasn't sharp. Cionel Pérez surrendered a two-run homer in the eighth inning. Brad Brach issued a walk and hit a batter to open the ninth.
Eugenio Suárez had a hard-hit ball shoot between his legs and under his glove for an error in the ninth inning, which led to a run. If Suárez fielded it cleanly at third base, it had a high likelihood of turning into a double play.
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Heath Hembree failed to back up home when Nicky Lopez hit a game-tying, two-run bloop single to left field. Aristides Aquino, the left fielder, had a chance of throwing out a runner at the plate, but his throw was too high for 6-foot-4 catcher Tyler Stephenson. Lopez advanced to third on the play.
Royals catcher Salvador Perez was the walk-off hero with a hit to the left-field wall off Amir Garrett, completing the stunning comeback. The Reds held a 6-1 lead after seven innings, but it was an abrupt end to their five-game winning streak.
"It's disappointing going into the ninth with a three-run lead and to give that up, it's tough," Stephenson said. "It's a tough one to swallow."
Everything just kept snowballing for the Reds in the final two innings. Cionel Pérez struck out the first batter he faced, Hanser Alberto, but Alberto reached base on a passed ball. It became costly when Andrew Benintendi homered with two outs in the eighth.
There were two errors in the ninth. The ground ball that shot past Suárez changed the entire inning.
"They don't call it the hot corner for nothing," shortstop Kyle Farmer said. "It was a tough play. That ball was hit really hard. Took kind of a weird hop on him. Geno's had some pretty weird, funky hops the past couple of games hit his way."
Following Lopez's game-tying hit, Hembree walked leadoff hitter Whit Merrifield on four pitches. Garrett replaced Hembree and struck out Benintendi as the Reds employed a five-man infield.
The Reds chose to pitch to Salvador Perez, an All-Star starter, with a base open in the ninth inning with switch hitter Carlos Santana on deck. Santana is better against lefties this season and he has one of the highest walk rates in the Majors.
It was Salvador Perez's seventh career walk-off hit and his third this season. Teammates poured water over his head as Reds players walked off the field.
"It’s a tough call," Reds manager David Bell said. "I know he’s a great hitter. But Santana, right-handed with the bases loaded, I didn’t see the advantage there. It’s a tough spot either way. I just wanted Amir to have the room of having the empty base. I thought that would give him a little bit more room to work and make pitches."
For seven innings, everything went the Reds' way. Luis Castillo had a stellar start, permitting three hits and one run across seven innings. Joey Votto hit a two-run triple in the third inning. No, that's not a typo. It was his first triple since May 11, 2019.
The Reds were already fortunate in the third inning when Jonathan India drilled a fly ball to the center-field wall and Royals center fielder Michael A. Taylor mistimed his jump. It was ruled an RBI double, scoring Shogo Akiyama from first base.
In the fourth inning, the Reds took a 5-0 lead when Farmer hammered a two-run homer to left field. Farmer needed only a triple for the cycle, which teammates made sure to point out.
"Everyone was saying that," Farmer said of his bid for the cycle. "Three guys would've had to dive and I would've had to have some help from the angels in the outfield, I think."
Castillo continues to look more like the ace he was expected to be when the season began. He's posted a 2.00 ERA over his last seven starts, and he's pitched at least six innings in six of them.
His lone blemish Tuesday was a solo homer from Taylor in the fifth inning, a slider that didn’t move out of the middle of the plate. It was the first home run against Castillo since June 4, ending a 37-inning homerless streak.
"Everything is working perfectly for me," Castillo said, according to team interpreter Jorge Merlos. "I really just have to continue that."
Said Farmer: "He's not throwing it to the catcher's mitt. It almost looks like he's throwing it through the catcher's mitt. He's staying through it really well. His changeup looks great. His slider looks amazing. It looks a lot better than when it started this year, so that was really good to see."
Castillo received help from his defense, which included himself when he caught a line-drive comebacker to the mound from his second batter. Akiyama made a running catch on the warning track in center field to end the first inning and Castillo waited in front of the dugout to congratulate him. Tyler Naquin made a sliding grab in the seventh inning.
Suárez gave the Reds a 6-1 lead in the seventh inning with a broken-bat RBI single. They were on the verge of a six-game winning streak, which would've matched a season-high.
"That was a tough one," Farmer said. "It was hard. It didn't really roll our way that (ninth) inning. I think a walk and a hit batter then they just found holes. Credit to them for taking advantage of the opportunity that was given to them. We've got to come out (Wednesday) and win the series."
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