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07/02 21:10 CDT Encarnacion-Strand hits his 1st career grand slam to power
Reds' rally to beat Red Sox 8-4
Encarnacion-Strand hits his 1st career grand slam to power Reds' rally to beat
Red Sox 8-4
By KYLE HIGHTOWER
AP Sports Writer
BOSTON (AP) --- Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit his first career grand slam
during a five-run seventh inning and the Cincinnati Reds rallied to beat the
Boston Red Sox 8-4 on Wednesday night.
Elly De La Cruz, TJ Friedl and Santiago Espinal added RBIs for the Reds.
Nick Martinez (6-8) pitched 6 2/3 innings, yielding four runs off nine hits to
help Cincinnati avoid being swept in the three-game interleague series.
Wilyer Abreu hit a two-run home run for the Red Sox. Romy Gonzalez drove in two
runs, including an RBI double in the seventh to pull Boston within 5-4.
Brennan Bernardino opened for Boston, pitching 1 1/3 innings before handing off
to Jorge Alcala and then Chris Murphy. That trio held Cincinnati to three hits
and no runs over 5 2/3 innings before Greg Weissert took over.
Weissert (2-3) got the final out of the sixth. But things fell apart in the
seventh when Stephenson led off with a single, followed by Rece Hinds reaching
on a fielder's choice and Gavin Lux walking to load the bases for
Encarnacion-Strand. Weissert was pulled after surrendering five runs off four
hits.
Earlier Wednesday, Abreu hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth to help
Boston earn a 5-3 win in the completion of a game suspended by rain on Tuesday.
Key moment Abreu jumped on Martinez's changeup in the sixth, driving it over the right-field wall and into the Reds' bullpen beyond the reach of Hinds. It came after Hinds had made a catch against the same wall in the fifth, robbing Jarren Duran of an extra-base hit. Key stat Encarnacion-Strand's grand slam was Cincinnati's sixth of the season. Up next LHP Andrew Abbott (7-1, 1.79 ERA) will start for Cincinnati when it opens its three-game series at Philadelphia on Friday. RHP Lucas Giolito (4-1, 3.99) is scheduled to start for Boston at Washington. ___ AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb |
