CINCINNATI (AP) — Josh VanMeter hit a tying three-run homer in the ninth inning against his former team, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Cincinnati Reds 8-5 in 10 innings for their second win on Wednesday.
In the conclusion of Tuesday’s night’s suspended game, Arizona held on for a 5-4 victory. Stefan Crichton pitched a scoreless ninth inning for his second save.
The Diamondbacks trailed 3-0 heading to the ninth in the regularly scheduled contest. But Amir Garrett issued two walks before VanMeter drove a 2-2 pitch deep to right for his first homer of the season.
VanMeter broke into the majors with Cincinnati in 2019 and was traded to Arizona on Aug. 31.
“I’d be lying if I said that wasn’t a heck of a ride right there,” VanMeter said. “I kind of floated around the bases. That’s a moment I’ll remember for a long, long time.”
The Diamondbacks broke it open with five runs in the 10th. Pavin Smith scored on an error on second baseman Alex Blandino, and Wyatt Mathisen had a key two-run single.
“You pile up eight runs in the final two innings of the game, you’re probably going to come out on the high side of things,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “The way we did that was a patient approach and creating some traffic on the bases.”
The Reds scored two runs in the bottom half of the 10th, but Taylor Clarke (1-0) got Eugenio Suárez to ground out to shortstop and retired Joey Votto on a fly ball to left to end it.
Cincinnati wasted a terrific performance by Tyler Mahle, who struck out nine in 6 2/3 innings. Cionel Pérez (1-2) got the loss.
The Reds had a chance to win the game in the ninth. Mark Payton tried to score from first on a two-out bloop double by Tyler Stephenson, but he was nailed at the plate on a great throw from right fielder Kole Calhoun.
“This is probably our biggest win of the year,” Calhoun said.
Tuesday’s night’s game was halted because of heavy rain, and soon snow, after Reds reliever Lucas Sims walked in a run to give the Diamondbacks the lead in the eighth.
J.B. Bukauskas (1-0) got the third out in the seventh for the win in his major league debut. Garrett (0-1) took the loss.
“It was kind of unconventional, but any time you win a ballgame you just take it how it is,” the 24-year-old Bukauskas said. “It’s a cool story for sure.”
ABOUT THAT SUSPENSION
Sims said Tuesday’s wet and cold game should have been suspended before he plunked Mathisen.
“I thought there was a lot of safety issues. … I don’t know when the last time I’ve hit a right-hander with a slider,” Sims said. “Yeah, I was concerned.”
Sims went into manager David Bell’s office Tuesday night to tell him he wanted to finish the eighth and work out of the jam.
GARRETT’S VOW
Garrett is off to a rough start. The left-hander has allowed nine earned runs and nine hits in five innings over six games.
“I’m staying confident,” Garrett said. “These last two games are on me. My teammates need me to turn around right now. I promise that I will. I’m livid right now. This is not me.”
BUNDLED UP
The restart of the suspended game was delayed 25 minutes because of a band of heavy snow that passed through the Cincinnati area during which the Reds played Christmas music in the stadium.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds third baseman Mike Moustakas is out because of a viral illness that is not COVID-19-related. He was placed on the 10-day injured list retroactive to Saturday.
UP NEXT
Diamondbacks right-hander Taylor Widener (1-0) is scheduled to get the start against Reds right-hander Jeff Hoffman (2-1) on Thursday.
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