Reds Stun Marlins With Incredible Extra-Inning Comeback for 5th Straight Win

It was only the 11th game of the season Tuesday night in Miami, but it felt like this game was much later in the regular-season. A battle of aces starting with both living up to their reputations, minimal offense on both sides, and then a cresendo in the ninth inning followed by a hammer down in the 10th inning.

Trailing 2-0 entering the top of the ninth, the Reds rallied to tie the game 2-2 and send the game to extra innings. Then in the 10th, they put the hammer down with four runs to take a 6-2 lead, ultimately winning 6-3.

With the win, the Reds are now 8-3 and have won five-straight games. All five have come on the road, and the Reds are 5-0 on the road for the first time since 1990. We all know what happened that year.

This team is finding ways to win, and they're doing so in tough, gritty, and resilient fashion.

Let's look at the key takeaways from Tuesday night's 6-3 win over the Marlins in Miami:

Ninth Inning Rally

In typical fashion as we have seen early this season, the Reds struggled to score runs Tuesday night in Miami. So much so, that when the Reds rallied for two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game, they didn't even get an RBI hit to score either of the two runs. The two runs came on a sacrifice fly and a wild pitch from Marlins relief pitcher Anthony Bender. Elly De La Cruz sprinted home to tie the game with two outs.

Matt McLain got the rally started with one-out double. De La Cruz walked to put men on first and second, prompting Marlins' manager Clayton McCullough to take out ace Sandy Alcantara after 8 1/3 dominant innings. The move backfired. McLain and De La Cruz unleashed a double steal to put runners on second and third, which Stewart capitalized with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1. De La Cruz went to third on the sacrifice fly, which was crucial. That allowed him to score when Bednar uncorked a wild pitch two batters later.

The Reds may not be scoring a lot of runs, but they's scoring runs when it counts. They did that twice in the top of the ninth Tuesday, once Sunday in Texas when De La Cruz gave the Reds the lead on an eighth inning RBI single, Friday in Texas when Tyler Stephenson won the game with a two-run home run in the ninth, and in the third game of the season when Eugenio Suárez clubbed a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth.

10th Inning Hammer Down

After the Reds got the game to extra innings, they made sure the Marlins would have a huge deficit to overcome in the bottom of the 10th. The Reds scored four runs in the top of the 10th, two of them on a Matt McLain double with the bases loaded.

This is the Reds' second win in extra innings this season, a huge development early on this year. The Reds found a way to score four runs in an inning where they got a head start with a runner on second base, due to the magic runner rule. They deserve credit for taking full advantage and essentially putting the game away.

Andrew Abbott Battles For Another Solid Start

Once again, the Reds left-handed ace didn't get a lot of run support, but he still battled for another solid outing in his third start of the season. I mean, he didn't even give up an RBI hit on his two runs allowed. That's how good he was Tuesday night in Miami. He's gotten a lot of tough luck through his first three starts, but he's looked like the NL All-Star he was last season so far this season.

Abbott battled to pitch 5 1/3 innings while throwing 91 pitches, allowing two runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. While only 51 of his 91 pitches were for strikes, Abbott still kept his team close to mount the ninth inning comeback and tenth inning hammer down.

Tip of the Cap to the Bullpen

Pierce Johnson, Jose Franco, Emilio Pagán, and Graham Ashcraft combied for 4 2/3 innings of no earned runs, one hit, and five strikeouts. Pagán left runners on second and third with one out in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra innings.

Scoring Summary

Bottom 4th
MIA: Otto Lopez RBI groundout (Marlins lead 1-0)
MIA: Heriberto Hernández RBI groundout (Marlins lead 2-0)

Top 9th
CIN: Sal Stewart RBI sacrafice fly (Reds trail 2-1)
CIN: Elly De La Cruz scores on wild pitch (Tied 2-2)

Top 10th
CIN: Nathaniel Lowe RBI single (Reds lead 3-2)
CIN: Matt McLain two-run double (Reds lead 5-2)
CIN: Elly De La Cruz RBI groundout (Reds lead 6-2)

Bottom 10th
MIA: Graham Pauley RBI groundout (Reds lead 6-3)

On Deck

The series continues Wednesday night in Miami with the Reds and Marlins. Right-hander Brady Singer (0-0, 5.00 ERA) will start for the Reds, and Marlins right-hander Eury Pérez (0-1, 5.73 ERA) will oppose him.

First pitch is at 6:40 E.T. on Reds.TV and 700WLW.

Around The National Leage Central

Pittsburgh Pirates 7 -- San Diego Padres 1
Paul Skenes took a no-hitter into the top of the sixth and only yielded two hits in 6 1/3 innings.

Chicago Cubs 9 -- Tampa Bay Rays 2
The Cubs banged out 16 hits in a pounding of the Rays in Tampa.

Boston Red Sox 3 -- Milwaukee Brewers 2
Garrett Crochet pitched 6 1/3 innings and threw 107 pitches, 65 for strikes, as the Red Sox edged the Brewers.

The St. Louis Cardinals and Washington Nationals were tied 5-5 in the top of the 10th at the time this story was published.