SAN DIEGO -- It’s an iconic attraction near Petco Park, the Giant Dipper Roller Coaster that has thrilled generations of locals.
But compared to the Reds’ white-knuckle ride in their bid for a National League Wild Card spot, the Dipper has nothing on the dudes from Cincinnati.
The resurgent Reds beat the Padres, 2-1, behind a stellar outing from starter Andrew Abbott. It was a triumph that had implications from coast to coast.
“If there is a dent or something along the way, what happens doesn’t matter,’’ Reds manager Terry Francona said of the decisive eighth-inning rally. “But because of the way he pitched, we clawed, we dumped a couple in there. But that was a big win for us.”
Buckle up, because there are 16 games left of this September madness. And yes, this is the same Reds team that was left for dead and all but toe-tagged when it absorbed a crushing loss to the Mets on Friday night.
Since then, Cincinnati has won four of five, and who says one can’t rise from the grave?
The Reds move into a tie with the Giants and trail the Mets by two games for the final playoff spot.
Strangely, for the second straight night, the Reds did their damage late against the Padres’ lights-out bullpen.
In the fateful eighth, Elly De La Cruz slapped a run-scoring single to right, with TJ Friedl’s headfirst slide arriving just before Fernardo Tatis Jr.’s strong throw. Pinch-hitter Miguel Andujar, who hadn’t played in five games, followed with another RBI single and presto, the Reds led, 2-1.
“Elly has, like, survival skills,’’ Francona said. “We know he doesn’t feel good at the plate but he fought it off -- golly, man, he fought it off -- and it makes them make some decisions. And Andujar dunked one in there.”
Kudos, too, to a nifty slide by Friedl on a bang-bang play. There was scant room for his skin to touch the plate, but he found it.
“I’m not stopping and I knew it was going to be close,’’ Friedl said. “That back corner was all I had. So I just came around at the right angle, stuck it in there and hoped for the best.”
Abbott, after a clunker his last time out, was spectacular. He worked eight innings and allowed a run, five hits and two walks. The All-Star southpaw struck out six after he rinsed-and-spit his previous start.
“My job is to try and go out and do the best that I can all the time,’’ Abbott said. “And when you don’t do that, you sulk. You go back and say, ‘I didn’t do my job,’ which is the one thing I have. And you just want to step up any way you can.
“So coming from that one to this one, I needed that. My mindset was, ‘I’m going to go handle my business and I’m going to try to get back to who I was in the first half.’”
It appeared Cincinnati would erase its bagel when Ke’Bryan Hayes found the barrel and sent Nick Pivetta’s offering toward the left-field fence in the seventh.
But before it kissed the seats, Ramón Laureano retrieved it, robbing Hayes and the Reds.
It was the second time in two games that the Reds had a big fly hijacked, one night after Tatis turned the trick on Tyler Stephenson in right field.
The Reds had other chances but failed to convert.
After Hayes and Matt McLain notched singles with one out in the third, Friedl and Noelvi Marte failed to deliver.
In the sixth, the Reds had traffic thanks to a walk by Friedl and a two-out single by Austin Hays. They were stranded when Gavin Lux popped up.
Abbott held the Padres scoreless through the first four innings, but he couldn’t solve Tatis with one out in the fifth. Tatis slammed his 21st home run of the season, a shot over the left-field fence, for the home team’s lone run.
And guess what? The Reds, who some predicted should look ahead to Spring Training in Goodyear, are on a good year-end run.
Hold on tight as the Reds sprint toward the tape.
“We got some interesting baseball coming up,” Francona said.