MIAMI (AP) — Anthony Bender threw a game-tying wild pitch with two outs in the ninth inning after Cincinnati chased Sandy Alcantara and Nathaniel Lowe hit a go-ahead single that sparked a four-run 10th, leading the Reds over the Miami Marlins 6-3 on Tuesday night for a five-game winning streak.
Matt McLain doubled twice and had two RBIs as Cincinnati improved to 5-0 on the road and at 8-3 overall matched its best start since 2011.
Alcantara had a two-hit shutout entering the ninth and had not allowed a run in 24 innings this season. Miami backed him with run-scoring groundouts by Otto Lopez and Heriberto Hernández in the second against Andrew Abbott.
McLain doubled with one out in the ninth, Elly De La Cruz walked and Bender relieved. The Reds pulled off a double steal, Sal Stewart hit a sacrifice fly and Bender’s wild pitch gave him his second blown save.
Lowe singled for a 3-2 lead in the 10th off Calvin Faucher (1-1). McLain hit a two-run double and De La Cruz added an RBI grounder for a 6-2 margin.
Graham Pauley had a run-scoring grounder in the bottom half before Graham Ashcraft got Connor Norby to ground into a game-ending double play.
Emilio Pagán (1-0) walked two in the ninth and escaped a second-and-third, one-out jam by striking out Agustín Ramírez and retiring Jakob Marsee on a flyout.
Cincinnati had been the last team in the major leagues without an error before McLain was called for obstruction at second base in the sixth inning on what had appeared to be a caught stealing.
Up next
Reds RHP Brady Singer (0-0, 5.00) starts opposite Marlins RHP Eury Perez (0-1, 5.73) in the third game of the four-game series.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
The Associated Press
