D-backs Stun Reds with Seventh-Inning Explosion in Chase Field Thriller

The Cincinnati Reds came to Chase Field on Sunday looking to steal a game in the desert, and for six innings, Andrew Abbott gave them every chance to do it. The crafty left-hander spun six strong innings of one-run ball, holding Arizona at arm’s length while his offense built what looked like a comfortable 3-1 cushion. But baseball is a nine-inning game, and the Diamondbacks reminded everyone why you never, ever count Arizona out of a fight.

The Reds struck first and struck hard in the third inning. Sal Stewart lined a single to right, scoring Elly De La Cruz, and then Eugenio Suárez followed with another line drive into left field that brought home Stewart and Dane Myers. Just like that, Cincinnati had three runs and looked like they were going to coast. Abbott was pitching beautifully, keeping the D-backs’ bats mostly silent while surrendering just four hits through six innings. This should have been a Reds victory.

But then came the seventh inning, where Arizona completely unraveled Cincinnati’s game plan. The Diamondbacks scored four runs in that inning alone, and suddenly the script had flipped entirely. It started innocently enough, with Tim Tawa scoring on a Lars Nootbaar groundout, making it 3-2. Then Ildemaro Vargas stepped up and absolutely crushed a ground ball through the middle that became a triple, plating both Jordan Lawlar and James McCann to give Arizona the lead 4-3. Corbin Carroll finished the onslaught with a sacrifice fly that scored Vargas and made it 5-3.

What’s remarkable about this collapse isn’t that Abbott gave up the runs, but that Cincinnati’s bullpen couldn’t slam the door. Luis Mey came in to pitch the seventh and immediately found himself in deep trouble. The Reds’ relief corps, which had been decent all season, simply couldn’t execute when it mattered most. By the time Kevin Ginkel came on to close it out with 0.1 innings of shutout ball, the damage was done.

The Diamondbacks’ Unlikely Heroes

Jonathan Loáisiga deserves credit for being available when Arizona needed him most, even if he only threw one inning. But this win belongs to the position players who refused to accept defeat. Vargas’s triple was the dagger, a line drive into the gap that proved the difference between a Reds victory and a D-backs celebration. Carroll, forever the sparkplug of this lineup, contributed the final run with that sacrifice fly.

A Wasted Pitching Performance

Abbott’s six innings of stellar pitching deserved a better fate. He struck out six batters and walked only two while giving up just seven hits. On most nights, that’s a winning performance. But Sunday wasn’t most nights. The Reds’ inability to add an insurance run or two in the middle innings, combined with their bullpen’s complete meltdown in the seventh, cost them a game they should have won.

Arizona moves forward with yet another improbable victory, proving once again why this team finds ways to win games that look lost. For Cincinnati, this is the kind of Sunday afternoon they’ll want to forget quickly.