Reds Hook Marlins With Late Power Jose Iglesias And Jesse Winker Come Through

A day after scoring 14 runs to break an eight-game losing streak, the Reds were shutdown by Treveor Richards of the Miami Marlins but late power by Jose Iglesias and Jesse Winker gave the Reds a 2-1 victory.

The Reds home runs off Drew Steckenrider were the sixth and seventh in the series.

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Richard was not drafted out of Drury College and worked as a substitute teacher in 2015 and 2016.  The Marlins signed him while he was applying for a job in law enforcement but a Marlins scout signed him off the roster of the Evansville Otters.

Richard and his mound opponent, the Reds' Tyler Mahle were surrounded by baserunners but pitched their way out of trouble until they both found their release points.

It wasn't late offense that won the game for the Reds.  It was early defense.

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Mahle walked four Marlins but gave up one hit in the first two innings.  Neil Walker hit a home run in the third before Mahle retired the last eight batters he faced before he was taken down for a pinch hitter.  Iglesias bailed out Mahle twice with his glove.

In the first inning, Iglesias made a diving stop of a smash up the middle with two runners on by walks.  Iglesias had to dive to smother a ground ball by Starlin Castro and turn it into an inning ending double play.  In the second inning with the bases loaded and two outs.  The Reds had a shift on that put second baseman Derek Dietrich in short right field.  Granderson hit a weak ground ball right to the second baseman's normal spot.  Iglesias scooped the ball with his glove and shoveled it to first as he ran towards Votto to get the third out.

"I am proud of the way we played defense the whole game," said Iglesias the home run hero,  "That play with the bases loaded won the game.  On the home run I was just looking for a pitch to put a good swing on and it went out."

Manager David Bell noted the importance of Dietrich and Iglesias.  Both signed minor league deals after spring training started.

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"I don't consider them bench players," Bell said.  "They are more important to our team than that. People think of Iglesias as a defensive player but he can hit.  He can really hit a fastball.  He's a line drive hitter with some pop."

Mahle left the game with five innings with one glaring mistake, the home run pitch to Walker.  He was unhappy that his four walks kept him from pitching deeper in the game.

"I'm frustrated that on a night when I had good stuff, I could only pitch five innings," Mahle said.  "I was able to get out of trouble thanks to Iglasias.  I just had to be stubborn about what I was doing."

"Tyler really competed," Bell said.  "He got stronger as the game went on and finished strong.  That's a good trait to have.  He could have gone another inning but we decided we needed to hit for him.

Richard had a similar tale to tell. He walked two and gave up a single to Matt Kemp to load the bases in the first inning.  Scott Schebler flied out to shallow center and Joey Votto failed to beat the throw from Lewis Brinson for an inning endign double play.  Richard walked two again in the second inning.  Mahle bunted the runners over but he started a string of 10 straight retired batters before Winker drew a two-out fifth inning walk.  He was thrown out trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt.  Catcher Jorge Alfaro threw him out.

Richard was taken down for a pinch hitter in the top of the seventh.  He pitched six scoreless innings, allowing one hit and five walks.  He struck out seven.

Jared Hughes pitched 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief.  Amir Garrett got the final out of the seventh frame.  Garrett pitched a clean eighth before the Reds brought out the home run basts against Steckenrider.

Raisell Iglesias came on in the ninth for his first save giving the Reds it's second straight win.  The closer struck out the side to nail it down.