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Napoli's two-run blast powers Red Sox to 5-4 win over Reds

Wednesday's Red Sox-Reds visual recap

By Dakota Gardner

Despite initial plans for Wednesday's Red Sox-Reds game to feature a pitching matchup of Brandon Workman and Homer Bailey, neither team's scheduled starter took the hill on a beautiful day at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

The Red Sox opted to go with Anthony Ranaudo following Workman's recent struggles, while Bailey's sore neck and elbow begat a Mike Leake start.

Unfortunately, Leake's outing began with a few bumps, as Boston outfielder Brock Holt led the game off with a walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored from second on a ground-ball single up the middle from Daniel Nava:

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First baseman Mike Napoli later brought Nava home, giving the Red Sox an early 2-0 lead:

In the bottom of the inning, Ranaudo got his second career start underway and earned some support from Boston's biggest Bob Marley fan:

With one out and one on, Ranaudo faced Reds slugger Todd Frazier, with whom he has something of a history:

But this time, Frazier just flew out to center, and Ranaudo managed to get out of the inning without any damage.

The second frame, however, was a bit more challenging for Ranaudo, but not in the way you'd think. In the top-half, the right-hander had to step into the batter's box and, well, it had been a while:

Sadly, it didn't really work -- Ranaudo's bunt dropped in front of the plate and Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco was able to get the out at second base.

With one out in the bottom of the third, Frazier again returned to the plate, this time with a runner on board. Ranaudo left a fastball just a bit too high, and The Toddfather did his thing:

Mesoraco followed Frazier with a sacrifice fly to center, and the Reds managed to snag a run back, bringing the score to 2-1.

Despite each team having just four hits through three innings, the game's first strikeout didn't come until the top of the fourth, when Leake caught Red Sox catcher Dan Butler looking with this 89 mph cutter to end the inning:

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That strikeout clearly got the Reds fired up. In the bottom half, Skip Schumaker came to the plate with one out and, generous man that he is, decided to give the Cincinnati fans a souvenir:

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One out later, Leake came to the plate with the score tied 2-2. Well, it was briefly tied 2-2:

For more video from this game, click here.

That's Leake's fourth career home run -- and this one put his team on top 3-2.

Boston first baseman Mike Napoli was not as enthused as the Cincy faithful:

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For more photos from this game, click here.

Ranaudo, while understandably frustrated, had to tip his cap, saying:

"I know he went to Arizona State and he hit all three years there," Ranaudo said of Leake. "I knew he swung the bat really well. He took some pretty good swings off me his first at-bat, too. I tried to get ahead with a fastball, and he did a good job connecting with it, obviously."

While the strikeout to end the top of the fourth seemed to get the Reds going, Leake's home run did the same thing for the Red Sox. Brock Holt took a one-out sinker to left field for a double, and Yoenis Cespedes brought him home to tie the game at three runs each.

The next batter, Napoli, launched a two-run shot to right, giving the Red Sox a 5-3 lead.

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Win Probability Added is an advanced statistic that measures each play's effect on a team's odds of winning the game. Napoli's home run increased the chance of a Red Sox victory by 28 percent -- which was the largest swing in the game, according to Fangraphs. 

Red Sox manager John Farrell was impressed, but not too surprised, adding, "He hits a fastball down and away from Leake that with his power the opposite way, and in this ballpark, was a pretty good combination."

Farrell went on to mention that this was Napoli's second decisive home run of the road trip, referring to this dinger from the August 8 matchup with the Angels:

Boston's two-run lead wouldn't last long. Negron led off the Reds' half of the inning with a triple, which is traditionally a pretty good way to score runs:

And, sure enough, Frazier followed up by bringing him home on a sacrifice fly, cutting the margin to just one run.

Reds speedster Billy Hamilton went hitless on the day, but that doesn't mean his motor wasn't put to good use. In the sixth, Dan Butler launched a J.J. Hoover fastball to deep center field. Hamilton gave chase and, after running a perfect post route, hauled in the ball with a Willie Mays-esque over-the-shoulder grab:

The Red Sox decided to switch some things up in the seventh, pinch hitting Dustin Pedroia and Will Middlebrooks for Daniel Nava and Yoenis Cespedes, respectively.

Cespedes' removal, particularly, raised some eyebrows about a possible injury:

And, it turned out those eyebrows were raised correctly:

But once the bullpens took over, the scoring settled down quite a bit. Reds reliever Manny Parra came on to pitch the seventh, and didn't give up a single hit, extending his current scoreless-streak to 20 appearances:

Napoli flashed the leather at first base to rob Brayan Pena of extra bases:

And Aroldis Champman entered the game in the ninth, carrying a historic strikeout streak along with him:

Chapman started the inning with an unfortunate hit-batsman, catching Jackie Bradley Jr. in the shoulder with a 100 mph fastball:

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But, he settled in fast, striking out the next three Red Sox batters: Dan Butler, Corey Brown and Brock Holt:

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Not only did Chapman help keep the Reds in the game with his dominant outing, but he also did a favor for the fans at Great American Ball Park:

Nothing gets an offense going like free pizza, and sure enough, the Reds began the bottom of the ninth with back-to-back hits from Schumaker and Cozart:

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But the Reds were unable to move them over, with Ramon Santiago striking out on a bunt foul and Billy Hamilton flying out to center.

Santiago's decision to attempt a bunt with two strikes drew the ire of some fans in Great American Ball Park, but Reds manager Bryan Price defended the decision, arguing, "in that situation, force them to make a decision whether they wanted to play ultra-aggressive and have runners at second and third and play in. Or potentially concede that ground ball and be willing to go into extra innings."

Ultimately, it didn't work, and with two outs, Negron came to the plate and knocked a ground ball toward the pitcher's mound. Mujica deftly blocked the ball with his feet and managed to make the throw to first to record the final out, giving the Red Sox the 5-4 victory:

It's been a tough stretch for the Reds, who've lost four of their last five matchups -- all by just one run. Going 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position certainly didn't help, but that bad one-run luck has been with the team ever since the All-Star Game. They're just 9-16 since the break, and 10 of those defeats have come by just one run.

Over time, that should even out a bit, but for now, just heed the words of Billy Hamilton: