CLEVELAND -- Maybe it was the Tito speedo (or maybe not) that caused the Reds to win again on Friday. But, what definitely helped was Matt McLain's spectacular diving stop that saved the club's night when the second baseman secured the final out to hang on to a 7-6 victory over the Guardians.
“Holy crap. That better be on the SportsCenter Top 10," said reliever Tejay Antone, who notched his first save since May 30, 2021. "He was full-send, full-tilt out there too.”
Cleveland's last batter, Travis Bazzana, hit a sharp grounder to the right side. On the grass in short-right field, McLain fully extended to his left to stop it and made an on-time throw to first base in a very close play.
“I don’t know how well he hit it, but it bounced up a little higher than I thought and he was getting down the line,” McLain said. “It was good to get a win."
The Reds were doing just about everything right until the late innings. Starter Andrew Abbott worked another solid performance, throwing five-plus innings and giving up one run on four hits and three walks with two strikeouts. A 3-0 lead was built for Abbott through five innings.
Abbott's career-high scoreless streak ended at 21 2/3 innings when Rhys Hoskins led off the Cleveland sixth inning with a home run to left field that cut the Reds' lead to 3-1.
“They’re just a scrappy team," Abbott said of Cleveland after moving to 3-0 with a 1.19 ERA over his last four starts. "They don’t cave much. They have a lot of walks. A lot of guys know the zone really well. The key going into tonight was getting ahead of them and then trying to make them swing at my stuff.”
The Reds added runs in the eighth inning -- including McLain's two-run home run to the first row of left-field seats for a 6-1 lead. Those runs proved to be crucial.
“That’s why you never relax but you feel pretty good about it. I’m glad we won because that would’ve been a sleepless night," manager Terry Francona said.
In a near-disaster of their own making that included five walks, the Reds bullpen nearly gave it up with four runs surrendered during the bottom of the eighth. Graham Ashcraft walked the bases loaded on his first 12 pitches before giving up Bazzana's RBI single. Lefty Brock Burke took over and got a strikeout, but then issued back-to-back walks to force home two more runs before José Ramírez’s sacrifice fly made it a one-run game.
Reds relievers lead the Majors with 17 bases-loaded walks this season, and with 114 walks overall, they moved into a tie for the MLB lead with the Astros. The pitching staff's 210 walks trail only Houston.
In the top of the ninth inning, JJ Bleday's hustle on a grounder to second base enabled him to beat out what would've been an inning-ending double play as Dane Myers scored for a two-run Reds lead.
Francona handed the ball to Antone for his first save chance since returning from a third Tommy John surgery on his right elbow last week. Antone gave up a one-out triple that led to a run, but successfully closed it for back-to-back Reds wins -- both coming after assistant bench coach Mike Napoli began wearing a swimsuit with pictures of Francona's face -- and only their fourth in 14 games in May.
“The bullpen is a team as well and you hate to see your guys skate a little bit -- a couple of walks here and there and it hurt us -- but it’s next guy up," Antone said. "I think it’s very important that we’re out there together and trying to win this game as a ball club.”
Only when McLain's throw to first base was secured in Sal Stewart's glove could Francona truly relax.
“That was not how we drew it up," Francona said. "I think we did one more good thing than we did not good. And fortunately, that was enough. We did so many good things and then it just started going in the wrong direction and we couldn’t stop it. I was really glad we got that insurance run in the ninth. That was huge.”