The Cincinnati Reds snapped a three-game skid with a 5-1 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks, using six innings of one-hit pitching from Singer and a five-run eruption in the eighth inning against Arizona’s bullpen to pull away.
The victory pulled Cincinnati out of the losing column for the moment, stopped the slide, and nudged the Reds closer in the wild-card race, narrowing the gap on the New York Mets to 1 1/2 games.
Singer dominated after allowing a first-inning run on Geraldo Perdomo’s leadoff triple. He retired the final nine Diamondbacks he faced, struck out nine, and worked around three walks and a couple of Reds errors earlier in the game. He relied heavily on a sinker and a sweeping curve, mixed with a hard-breaking sweeper, to keep Arizona off balance and even got Perdomo with a punchout after the early trouble.
The rookie catcher Will Banfield, making his MLB starting debut behind the plate after catching one inning on Saturday, helped guide Singer through the game. “I trusted what Will put down back there,” Singer said after earning his fifth win in his last six starts. “He was tremendous. He did a lot of homework all week. I told him a couple of days ago, ‘You’re catching me Sunday,’ and he went to work and was phenomenal.”
Offensively, the Reds barely produced early on against Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen, who held Cincinnati to two hits through five innings. The D’backs took a 1-0 lead in the sixth when Noelvi Marte lined a two-out triple and came home on a wild throw by shortstop Perdomo.
Cincinnati finally broke through in the seventh, loading the bases with one out, but TJ Friedl hit into a game-ending double play to keep the score at 1-1. The decisive burst came in the eighth, sparked by Marte’s hustle on the bases. Marte led off with a single, then De La Cruz flied out. Marte tagged up at first on a fly to right and slid into second, before scoring on a single by Austin Hays to put the Reds ahead 2-1.
From there, Gavin Lux followed with a single, and Spencer Steer, who had been 0-for-16 on the series, delivered a swing that changed the game—a three-run homer off Juan Burgos that pushed the lead to 5-1. Steer called the moment a team-wide response, saying, “We came out today and finally won one. It started with Marte’s earlier hustle and that feeling carried over.”
Hays added that the Reds finally capitalized on opportunities after a string of line drives, noting, “We were swinging the bats really well in the later innings and finally started getting into their bullpen.”
Manager Tito Francona praised the energy and resilience he saw from his club, even as the runs were not pouring in early. “We’re not scoring a lot of runs, but they’re playing hard, getting on base, running, and getting dirty,” he said.
The win sets up a road trip opener with the Los Angeles Dodgers, with Cincinnati visiting Dodger Stadium for a three-game series beginning Monday night at 10:10 p.m. local time. The Reds will look to carry this momentum into a tough test against one of the best teams in the league as they chase a playoff spot.
Summary: The Reds leaned on a six-inning gem from Singer and a pivotal eighth-inning outburst to beat the Diamondbacks 5-1, snapping a three-game skid, moving within 1 1/2 games of the Mets in the wild-card race, and set up a high-profile showdown with the Dodgers in Los Angeles. A credit to timely hitting, aggressive baserunning, and a catcher’s steady guiding hand behind the plate. Potentially a turning point moment for Cincinnati as they head into a daunting road trip.