Reds Rally From Down Five, Beat Tigers on Nathaniel Lowe's Walk-Off Home Run

Trailing 5-0 in the bottom of the fifth, following another subpar Andrew Abbott outing, the Reds roared off the mats for a 9-8 win, courtesy of Nathaniel Lowe's two-run walk-off home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

Lowe and Matt McLain both homered twice, and the Reds completed their first comeback win after being down by five or more runs since August of 2024. More importantly, the Reds are still in first place at 17-9.

Let's look at the key takeaways from Friday night's 9-8 win over the Tigers.

Rally Reds Strike Again!

This time it was in the bottom of the seventh, following a rain delay that lasted one hour and 49 minutes. Trailing 5-3, Matt McLain hit his second home run of the night to tie the game 5-5. But the Reds didn't stop there.

Elly De La Cruz would score the go-ahead run in the bottom of the seventh when Nathaniel Lowe reached on a throwing error by Tigers' second baseman Javier Báez. Tyler Stephenson would follow with an RBI double to left to score Lowe and increase the Reds' lead to 7-5.

After the Tigers answered with three runs in the top of the eighth, the Reds delivered the final knockout in the bottom of the ninth. With two outs and down to his final strike, Spencer Steer lined a single to center. Up came Lowe, who golfed a pitch high into the air to right-center field. It cleared the wall by a few rows to give the Reds an improbable 9-8 win.

It's Lowe's third walkoff home run of his career, and it's the Reds' second walk-off win of the season.

Andrew Abbott Struggles... Again

For those who were worried about Andrew Abbott in Spring Training, they had every reason to be. Abbott's struggles in Spring Training have carried over into the first month of the season, and they continued on Friday night against Detroit.

In just four innings, Abbott allowed five earned runs on six hits, walking two and striking out four. Two of those runs came on solo home runs by the Tigers' Riley Greene and Javier Báez. It took 89 pitches for Abbott to get through four innings, with 55 of those pitches thrown for strikes.

Abbott hasn't pitched five innings in each of his last three starts, and he hasn't pitched six innings since Opening Day. Worse, Abbott has allowed four earned runs in three of his five starts this month, including two of his last three overall.

It has not been a good month for Abbott, who has been pitching more like he did in the second half as opposed to his All-Star first half of 2025.

Matt McLain Power Resurgence

McLain was worth not giving up on. Even as he was struggling earlier this month, he was going to eventually find his groove at the plate.

Friday night, McLain hit two two-run home runs, including his second in the seventh that tied the game. This is a game that can boost his confidence and stroke at the plate. When McLain hits, the Reds' lineup is even harder to pitch against.

On Deck

The series between the Reds and Tigers continues Saturday night on a night where the Reds will induct their 2026 Hall of Fame class: Brandon Phillips, Aaron Harang, Reggie Sanders, and Lou Pinella.

Hall of Fame night starts at 6:20 with the Induction Ceremony. The game will follow at 7:10, and it will be nationally televised on FOX. Adam Amin and Adam Wainwright will be on the national call. As usual, the game can also be heard locally on 700WLW.

Brady Singer (1-1, 5.32 ERA) will start for the Reds, while the Tigers will start right-hander Jack Flaherty (0-1, 3.47ERA).

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