{"id":286449,"date":"2025-09-02T01:53:14","date_gmt":"2025-09-02T01:53:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/286449\/"},"modified":"2025-09-02T01:53:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-02T01:53:14","slug":"reds-mount-epic-comeback-beat-blue-jays-5-4-on-martes-walk-off-single","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/286449\/","title":{"rendered":"Reds mount epic comeback, beat Blue Jays 5-4 on Marte\u2019s walk-off single"},"content":{"rendered":"

ExploreReds: Hunter Greene\u2019s mindset heading into the stretch run<\/a><\/p>\n

It was a walk-off two-run single in the bottom of the ninth by Noelvi Marte that provided the Reds with a 5-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.<\/p>\n

That is the short version, but so, so much happened for the Reds to get into the situation.<\/p>\n

The Reds led, 2-1, entering the ninth after a gutty, gritty pitching performance by Hunter Greene.<\/p>\n

\"Cincinnati<\/p>\n

Credit: AP<\/p>\n

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Credit: AP<\/p>\n

But closer Emilio Pagan gave up a two-run home run to Bo Bichette and a follow-up home run by Daulton Varsho and the Reds were dead and almost buried, trailing 4-2 entering the bottom of the ninth.<\/p>\n

Many of the 21,773 in GABP vacated the premises, most likely grumbling to themselves about another excruciating loss by the Reds.<\/p>\n

They now wish they hadn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes was obtained from the Pittsburgh Pirates for his glove, but fortunately for the Reds he brought his bats with him.<\/p>\n

First, it was his two-run double in the second inning that provided the Reds with their only runs through eight innings.<\/p>\n

Rookie Sal Stewart, just called up and playing first base for only the third time in his professional career, was in the middle of that two-run rally with a single in his first MLB at bat.<\/p>\n

Hayes reached leading off the fifth, but didn\u2019t score. He led the seventh with a single, but didn\u2019t score. Until the ninth, the Reds put their leadoff batter on base five times and that runner scored only once.<\/p>\n

\"Cincinnati<\/p>\n

Credit: AP<\/p>\n

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Credit: AP<\/p>\n

Once again Hayes singled to open the ninth. With one out, Matt McLain poked a single to right. TJ Friedl appeared to tie the game with a line drive to the right field fence.<\/p>\n

But the ball dislodged under a tarp on the right field fence, so McLain had to go back to third and instead of 4-4 it was 4-3.<\/p>\n

That brought up Marte, 0 for 11 with four strikeouts. Toronto relief pitcher Brendan Little went to 3-and-2. With the infield drawn in, Marte poked his two-run game-winning single between third and short.<\/p>\n

It was, indeed, an improbale win against the American League East\u2019s first-place team.<\/p>\n

The Blue Jays had blown only 24 leads all season to Cincinnati\u2019s 35. They were 23-15 in one-run games to Cincinnati\u2019s 16-19.<\/p>\n

Marte\u2019s game-closer came with runners on third and second and the count 3-and-2.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew when it got to 3-and-2 nothing was going to be easy,\u201d Marte told reporters through translator Tomas Vera. \u201cFirst base was open and I knew they weren\u2019t going to pitch to me because they probably were supposed to get the bases loaded to play for a double play on Elly (De La Cruz).<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I was going to swing, swing at whatever pitch they pitched to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

And Marte revealed how happy he is that the Reds took him off third base mid-season and planted him in right field.<\/p>\n

\"Cincinnati<\/p>\n

Credit: AP<\/p>\n

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Credit: AP<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the best thing to happen in my career,\u201d he said. \u201cGetting me to right field got me more relaxed playing there. I don\u2019t have to think too much and I enjoy the game more.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marte reaped the accolades but Hayes wears the hero\u2019s crown for a full game of contributions.<\/p>\n

And none was bigger than his single to lead the ninth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s what it\u2019s all about, guys don\u2019t give up until the last out,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Hayes revealed that prior to Sunday\u2019s win over the St. Louis Cardinals that ended a five-game losing streak, there was a players only team meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe felt like we were a little flat, we felt like when the other teams were punching us back, we were staying flat and not trying to punch right back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were down 4-2 in the ninth and I was leading off and my biggest thing was just trying to find a way on and we\u2019d have a chance if we got a man on. We were fortunate to string together a lot of big hits and win that ball game.\u201d<\/p>\n

What a win it was. The New York Mets beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-8, so the Reds were in danger of falling five games behind in the wild card standings. Instead they remain at four back.<\/p>\n

If it weren\u2019t for Bichette, Greene might have pitched a shutout. Bichette entered the game 3 for 6 against Greene. And he was one of five guys to hit home runs off Greene in a 2023 game.<\/p>\n

On Monday he had three more hits off Greene and is now 6 for 9 with two homers, a triple and a double.<\/p>\n

Greene had the Blue Jays shut out until the seventh inning when Bichette doubled and scored on Alejandro Kirk\u2019s single, cutting it to 2-1.<\/p>\n

Greene pitched 6-plus innings and held the Blue Jays to one run, five hits, one walk and seven strikeouts. Three of the five hits came off Bichette\u2019s bat.<\/p>\n

After Kirk\u2019s run-scoring single, Greene was done and Scott Barlow arrived to get the final two outs in the seventh. Tony Santillan pitched a scoreless eighth and turned the 2-1 lead over to closer Emilio Pagan, owner of 26 saves.<\/p>\n

\"Cincinnati<\/p>\n

Credit: AP<\/p>\n

\"icon<\/p>\n

Credit: AP<\/p>\n

But he blew his sixth save in the ninth. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. reached on an infield hit. Bichette, whose father, Dante, played briefly for the Reds hit his go-ahead home run. The next batter, Varsho, whose father, Gary, played briefly for the Reds, followed with his homer.<\/p>\n

Pagan was yanked after getting an out and just-recalled Yosver Zulueta retired the final two.<\/p>\n

When the Reds rescued the game in the bottom of the ninth, Zulueta was the winning pitcher, a pleasing happenstance for him because earlier in his career the Blue Jays released him.<\/p>\n

NEXT GAME<\/p>\n

Who: Toronto at Cincinnati<\/p>\n

When: 6:40 p.m.<\/p>\n

TV: FanDuel Sports<\/p>\n

Radio: 1410-AM, 700-AM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ExploreReds: Hunter Greene\u2019s mindset heading into the stretch run It was a walk-off two-run single in the bottom…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":286450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2400],"tags":[537,5,44046,535,50,4259,6095,4,256,3892,557,536,185],"class_list":{"0":"post-286449","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cincinnati-reds","8":"tag-athletics","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-blue-jays-reds-baseball","11":"tag-cincinnati","12":"tag-cincinnati-reds","13":"tag-cincinnatireds","14":"tag-mens-sports","15":"tag-mlb","16":"tag-mlb-baseball","17":"tag-pro-sports","18":"tag-professional-baseball","19":"tag-reds","20":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=286449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/286449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/286450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=286449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=286449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=286449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}