Iglesias bests Shields, lifts Reds in SD
SAN DIEGO -- The Reds rewarded a strong start from Raisel Iglesias by taking a 7-3 victory over the Padres on Wednesday afternoon, salvaging the finale of the three-game series at Petco Park.
The go-ahead run crossed for Cincinnati in the third inning on a balk by San Diego starter James Shields. Jay Bruce was batting with runners on second and third and one out, when Shields faked a pickoff throw to third base. That became a balk move once the rulebook was changed before the 2013 season, which meant Joey Votto scored on the play to make it a 4-3 game. Insurance crossed in the seventh on Todd Frazier's sacrifice fly and Votto added a two-run homer in the ninth for a three-hit, three-RBI day.
Video: CIN@SD: Votto crosses home after Shields balks in 3rd
"The way the game is played, you give up a bunch of hits and that's just the way the game is played, and that happens," Shields said. "Errors happen, but mental mistakes, that just can't happen. We've got to clean that up. Those are things that we can control on our side, and we definitely have to clean that up."
Iglesias allowed three earned runs and three hits over six innings with one walk and eight strikeouts. Iglesias blew a 3-0 first inning lead when his first two batters reached ahead of Matt Kemp's three-run homer to left field. But Iglesias did not allow another baserunner the rest of the day as he retired his final 16 batters in a row.
Video: CIN@SD: Murphy on Shields in Padres 7-3 loss to Reds
"All of a sudden instead of a three-run lead, it's 3-3. [Iglesias] needed to settle in," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "And the other part is, we needed -- and we did -- stay steadfast in our efforts to go out there and beat Shields and the Padres and we did because a lot of times you lose an early lead and the wind comes out of your sails a little bit, and we didn't let that happen today and got back into that game and brought it home."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Reds strike first: Both teams got a quick jump on the starters with three-run first innings. Against Shields, the Reds used a Votto RBI single and Bruce's two-run triple to take a 3-0 lead. It gave Bruce four triples this season and 64 RBIs, which is second on the club.
Video: CIN@SD: Bruce triples in Suarez and Votto in the 1st
Kemp's blast: Kemp's home run was his 12th of the season and first since July 24. The three-run shot to left-center field was off a 1-2 count and tied the game at 3 in the first.
Video: CIN@SD: Kemp launches three-run homer off Iglesias
K corner: With eight strikeouts, Iglesias tied a career high that he's reached three times during his rookie season. In the second and third innings, he struck out six of seven batters and four in a row. It was the third straight quality start for the right-hander, who was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh after he threw 96 pitches.
Video: CIN@SD: Iglesias fans eight over six solid innings
"After the first inning, I came back and sat down on the bench and started thinking about what I've been doing the last few games," Iglesias said via translator Tomas Vera. "What have I been doing to get the guys out? What have I been using in all the games? It kind of built my confidence concentrating a little bit better and then I went back to the game. You saw I started pitching how I wanted to pitch." More >
Shields' shaky start: Shields did not have his best outing, but shinned in some moments after his shaky start. After a balk with runners on second and third gave the Reds a 4-3 lead in the third, he retired 10 in a row before exiting in the seventh. He allowed six hits and five runs, while walking four and striking out seven in 6 1/3 innings. More >
Video: CIN@SD: Shields fans seven over 6 1/3 innings
WHAT'S NEXT
Reds: The three-city road trip continues at 10:10 p.m. ET on Thursday when the Reds face the Dodgers in Los Angeles. Keyvius Sampson, who allowed one run and four hits over six innings Friday at Arizona for his first big league win, will make his third start. Starting for L.A. shall be Mat Latos, who will be facing his old team for the first time since making controversial comments about Cincinnati's medical staff during Spring Training while with the Marlins.
Padres: The Padres have an off-day Thursday before traveling to Denver to play the Rockies for a three-game series starting on Friday at 5:40 p.m. PT. Tyson Ross (8-9, 3.39 ERA) will face Colorado for the third time this season.
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