The Reds couldn't hold a 3-1 lead but the loss goes much deeper.
Tyler Mahle turned in his second straight quality outing and Joey Votto's first inning double put the Reds in control for eight innings but a blown save by Tony Santillan doomed the Reds to a 5-4 loss and a series split.
Tyler Stephenson had to leave the game when a foul ball slammed off his right thumb. X-rays proved it to be a fracture which will keep him out of action 4-6 weeks. That loss cut deeper than the game.
"Tyler is our number one catcher. He's probably our best hitter. He's our All-Star. I don't know how that works or how many All-Stars there are but if he's not an All-Star I don't know what it takes," said Mahle who dominated the Diamondbacks with a well placed fastball.
Santillan entered the ninth with a 3-1 lead, seeking his team-leading fifth save. Santillan walked Pavin Smith to set up the inning. A wild pitch put him in scoring position. Alek Thomas singled to bring Arizona within a run. Geraldo Perdomo bunted to move the runners up. Santillan's throw to second to get Thomas pulled Kyle Farmer off the bag. It was close but the safe call held up under video review.
"It was a very, very close play," David Bell said. "If he would have got that out, it would have changed the inning right there. It made it really tough for Tony to get out of that situation.
The situation became worse.
Daulton Varsho, who got a butn single down on Monday for the only hit Arizona had, bunted the runners along. He was the first out of the inning. Josh Rojas singled to put the Diamondbacks ahead. They scored another run when Matt Reynolds in a drawn-in infield couldn't get the ball out of his glove and had to settle for the out at first base.
"We all saw the same game," Santillan lamented. "I fell behind guys. Bad things happen when you do that. The play at second. That's baseball. I just have to get ahead of guys and give myself a chance."
Zach Davies started for the Diamondbacks and struggled in the first inning. TJ Friedl, Brandon Drury and Tommy Pham singled to load the bases with no outs. Votto shot a line drive past Pavin Smith at first base, scoring two runs. Pham scored on a sacrifice fly by Kyle Farmer.
Two batters reached on Mahle in the first but a pair of strikeouts ended the inning.
From there, Mahle and Davies settled in.
Davies retired eight straight Reds' batters through the fourth inning.
ading fiMahle struck out the side around a two-base error by Colin Moran to record nine in five innings. He pitched around a leadoff double and a walk to post a scoreless six, increasing his strikeout total to 10. He finished with six innings, allowing one run on four hits and two walks. The 10 strikeouts were two short of his career high.
Alexis Diaz relieved Mahle to start the seventh. He pitched two scoreless innings.
Davies retired the 14 of the last 15 batters he faced, finishing with six innings, allowing three runs on six hits and a walk. He struck out seven.
Reynolds hit his fourth home run with two outs in the ninth for the final margin.
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