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Homer
Bailey throws a pitch during the game against the San Francisco
Giants at Great American
Ball Park Wednesday. The Reds lost to the
Giants 6-5. Photo courtesy of Yahoo Sports
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Reds blow ninth
inning lead
reds.com
CINCINNATI -- Sean Marshall blew his first save opportunity of the year
when Angel Pagan slugged a three-run home run in the top of the ninth
inning Thursday for a 6-5 Reds loss to the Giants.
Cincinnati, which missed a chance at taking a three-game sweep of the
series, had a 5-3 lead heading into the ninth. Marshall began by
walking leadoff batter Joaquin Arias and giving up Ryan Theriot’s
single into left field.
Brett Pill struck out and Marshall had Pagan down in a 1-2 count but
couldn’t finish him. Instead, Pagan sent the pitch into the left-field
seats. Marshall’s streak of four saves in his last four appearances
came to an abrupt end.
It was a 2-2 game in the bottom of the sixth when Brandon Phillips
legged out an infield single to the shortstop. On the next pitch from
Giants starter Ryan Vogelsong, Jay Bruce lifted a high drive to
right-center field. It looked catchable for center fielder Angel Pagan
until the ball landed in the first row of seats for Bruce’s fourth
homer of the season.
Reds starter Homer Bailey pitched 6 1/3 innings with three runs (two
earned) allowed on seven hits with two walks and five strikeouts. It
was Bailey’s third straight quality start.
The Giants crept closer to Bailey in the seventh with two hits that led
to pinch-hitter Gregor Blanco’s sacrifice fly to right field. Following
a Pagan one-out single that kept two men on, Logan Ondrusek preserved
the lead by notching the final two outs. Ondrusek returned for a 1-2-3
eighth that included two strikeouts.
Leading off the Reds’ seventh, Scott Rolen crushed an 0-1 Guillermo
Mota pitch 429 feet to left field for a home run. For Rolen, who
entered in the top of the seventh in a double-switch, it meant homers
in back-to-back plate appearances. His homer in the seventh inning of
Wednesday’s game sparked a four-run rally for a win.
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