This one changed hands three times before Cincinnati finally made it stick. The Reds beat the Athletics 6-5 in a game that swung from a first-inning homer to a four-run fourth to a ninth-inning threat that nearly erased it all.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| OAK | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 9 | 0 |
| CIN | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 6 | 8 | 1 |
JJ Bleday was at the center of it. He went 2-for-3 with a home run, an RBI and a walk, and his solo shot to right center in the seventh extended Cincinnati's lead to 3-6. It was part of a night where the Reds got the long ball from four different hitters — Elly De La Cruz, Sal Stewart, Tyler Stephenson and Bleday all went deep.
De La Cruz opened the scoring with a homer to left center in the first, giving Cincinnati an early lead. Oakland answered in the fourth when Soderstrom singled to center to bring home Bolte and White, and Butler later grounded into a double play that was overturned on a Reds challenge, scoring Heim to make it 3-1 Athletics. Cincinnati responded right back in the same inning as Stewart and Stephenson both homered to center, the latter tying the game at 3-3. The decisive swing came in the fifth: Suárez walked with the bases loaded to force in McLain and put the Reds ahead 3-4 for good, and Myers followed with another bases-loaded walk that brought in Stewart to make it 3-5.
Mason Barnett took the loss for Oakland, allowing 5 runs on 5 hits over 4.1 innings with 3 walks and 7 strikeouts. Andrew Abbott worked 6.2 innings for Cincinnati, allowing 3 runs on 7 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. The Athletics didn't go quietly, as Serven's two-run homer to left center in the ninth, scoring Butler, pulled Oakland within 5-6, but the Reds bullpen closed it out.
Cincinnati improved to 56-58, extending its winning streak to four games. Oakland fell to 45-70, losing its eighth straight. Abbott sits 18 strikeouts shy of 500 for his career after Wednesday's outing.