Key challenge proves huge as resilient Reds rally at Wrigley

CHICAGO – Wrigley Field was practically shaking on Monday night.

Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson appeared to have just singled home the game-tying run in the seventh, sending the crowd into a deafening uproar and erasing a comeback attempt from a Reds team beaten down by the weekend’s grueling travel schedule.

So, color manager Terry Francona surprised when the call instantly came to his dugout telling him to challenge the play.

“Where we’re standing, it looked like he beat it,” Francona said. “And the call came right away. Then they put it up on the board, and it’s like, ‘Man, that’s not a very good look.’”

Soon he and the Reds saw what would eventually turn those Wrigley cheers into a boisterous groan of disappointment.

Swanson missed the bag and was called out at first, ending the inning and keeping Cincinnati’s lead intact. On a night when a beleaguered bullpen picked up an injured starter, when the Reds’ offense relied almost exclusively on seeing-eye hits, it was the final break for a team that badly needed its 3-2 victory.

“I was so into the whole game,” Francona said. “In fact, if we’d have lost, I probably would’ve talked to them. ... We’ve had a lot thrown at us.”

The Reds arrived in Chicago road-weary after rain suspended their Speedway Classic bout with the Braves Saturday and forced them into a bullpen game the following day. Adversity was certainly something they’d have preferred to avoid Monday night.

Yet, it arrived just 1 2/3 innings in when starter Nick Lodolo had to exit with a blister on his left index finger. Suddenly, a Cincinnati team that burned five relievers on Sunday had to lean on another bullpen game.

Luckily, nobody in the Reds’ relief corps was afraid of the challenge.

“When [Lodolo exited], we said it: ‘Our game now.’” closer Emilio Pagán said. “We talked about it; we’re not going to have any excuses moving forward.”

Nick Martinez – who moved to Cincinnati's bullpen after the acquisition of right-hander Zack Littell on July 30 – threw 2 1/3 frames one day after warming up twice during the Speedway Classic. Scott Barlow, who had thrown in five of Cincinnati’s past six games and logged 17 pitches on Sunday, K’d four in two scoreless innings. Those two, along with Pagán, Tony Santillan and Graham Ashcraft, helped hold Chicago to just two runs over 7 1/3 frames.

“It’s one of those things where we just have that attitude of ‘bring it on.’” Barlow said. “Each guy down there loved the challenge.”

While the bullpen held its own, the Reds’ offense erased a 2-1 hole thanks to a trio of hits that will hardly make any Statcast replays.

Matt McLain got things going with a check-swing single in the top of the sixth that rolled along the third-base line before coming to a dead stop on the fair side. Elly De La Cruz then followed with a half-swing RBI double that, thanks to an error from three-time Gold Glove Award winner Ian Happ, allowed McLain to sprint from first to home in 10.76 seconds while De La Cruz hustled to third.

“Sometimes you need a little good fortune,” Francona said. “But what happened after that is not good fortune. McLain running with his head up, Elly literally right behind him. I don’t think you’re going to see too many players in the game that end up on third base on that.”

One frame later, Ke'Bryan Hayes kept the top of the seventh alive by moving Jake Fraley from second to third with a two-out single boasting an exit velocity of 38.6 mph and a distance of exactly one foot. TJ Friedl then singled home the go-ahead run.

Toss in a replay review that had the entire Cincinnati dugout swing from disappointment to elation, and you have a victory that pushed the Reds to within three games of the final NL Wild Card spot and lifted the spirits of a club that could barely stand coming into the night.

“In real time, it’s impossible to see,” Barlow said. “On the replay, you thought, ‘OK where are they going with this?’ To see the foot miss the bag, it was just like ‘Yes!’ A sigh of relief, for sure.”

Added Francona: “Sometimes your margin for error is less. OK, then let’s not make errors. Let’s just play the game we know how to. This can be our time to shine.”