Jose Barrero hit a grand slam and Ben Lively pitched 5 2/3 scoreless innings to help the Cincinnati Reds pick up a 9-8 road victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.
Barrero’s home run came against Red Sox reliever Joely Rodriguez and made it 8-0 in the seventh. Barrero wasn’t in Cincinnati’s starting lineup but was inserted in center field when TJ Friedl left the game with hamstring tightness.
Lively (3-2) allowed four hits, walked two and struck out six.
Boston made it a game with five runs in the ninth. After RBI singles by Raimel Tapia, Rafael Devers and Justin Turner made it 9-6, Masataka Yoshida doubled in a run and Turner scored on a fielder’s choice to pull the Red Sox within a run. But with the would-be tying run on third, Reds closer Alexis Diaz struck out Triston Casas to end the game and collect his 13th save.
Will Benson had three hits and scored three runs for the Reds, who have won five of their last six games.
Before giving up the grand slam to Barrero, Rodriguez walked Stuart Fairchild with the bases loaded in the seventh. That forced home Spencer Steer with Cincinnati’s fourth run.
Boston starting pitcher Brayan Bello (3-3) left the game after throwing 97 pitches in four innings. He gave up a run on five hits, walked two and struck out four.
Cincinnati opened the scoring in the second. Benson scored on Friedl’s fielder’s choice when the Red Sox were unable to turn a double play.
The Reds increased their lead to 2-0 in the fifth when Jonathan India singled and scored on Jake Fraley’s double. A throwing error by shortstop Enrique Hernandez — his second error of the game — allowed Benson to score from second and extended Cincinnati’s lead to 3-0 in the sixth.
After Barrero’s grand slam, Boston pushed across three runs with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Reese McGuire’s RBI double scored Enmanuel Valdez, Tapia’s triple scored McGuire, and Devers’ single drove in Tapia to make it 8-3.
Tyler Stephenson tripled and raced home on Steer’s sacrifice fly to make it a 9-3 game in the eighth and give the Reds a critical final insurance run.
–Field Level Media
