Venezuelan Eugenio Suárez leads the Reds' historic comeback against the Giants
The victory also had a historic significance. It was only the third time in Reds history that they had come back from a six-run or greater deficit entering the ninth inning. The previous one had occurred on May 8, 1958, against the Chicago Cubs, while the first took place on May 8, 1918, in St. Louis.
Image of Eugenio Suárez
The Cincinnati Reds staged a comeback on Wednesday, defeating the San Francisco Giants 10-9, after entering the ninth inning trailing by six runs. Venezuelan Eugenio Suárez was one of the stars of the comeback, hitting a grand slam that brought Cincinnati within one run of a tie.
Faced with Cincinnati's offensive struggles, manager Terry Francona decided to shake up the lineup and moved Dominican rookie Héctor Rodríguez to the leadoff spot, ahead of Elly De La Cruz. The Reds, as noted by MLB, had scored one run or fewer in nine of their previous 17 games.
Francona's gamble paid off. Cincinnati trailed 9-3 heading into the ninth inning and sent 11 batters to the plate to score seven runs and turn the game around.
Rodríguez kicked off the comeback with his second home run of the game. The shot, which traveled at 115.2 mph and covered an estimated distance of 423 feet, cleared the right-field stands and landed in the waters of McCovey Cove.
It was only the third "splash hit" by a Reds player at Oracle Park and the first since Joey Votto and Mike Moustakas hit home runs on consecutive days, April 12 and 13, 2021.
Rodríguez, 22, had also hit a home run to tie the game in the third inning and ended up reaching base three times.
The comeback continued after reliever Spencer Bivens loaded the bases with no outs. That's when Suárez stepped up, hitting a grand slam to left-center field off Dylan Smith to make the score 9-8.
The Cincinnati manager also highlighted his players' ability to keep the pressure on after Suárez's hit.
Dane Myers reached on a bunt single to third base and advanced on a throwing error. Then, Matt McLain hit another bunt single to leave runners on the corners, still with no outs.
McLain stole second base and advanced to third when José Trevino tied the game with a sacrifice fly to right field.
A historic day
The Giants, for their part, had entered the game with a record of 2,208–0 when leading by six runs or more heading into the ninth inning.
The night also marked a turnaround for Rodríguez, who had struggled since his Major League debut on August 4. In his last five games, however, he is batting 8-for-18.
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