CINCINNATI — Aristides Aquino drove in TJ Friedl from second base with a game-ending single off the glove of second baseman Luis Garcia, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Nationals 8-7 in 11 innings Friday night.
Aquino’s sharp one-hopper off Mason Thompson (1-2) trickled into short right field.
Despite the victory, the Reds fell further behind St. Louis for the second NL wild card because the streaking Cardinals swept a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs. Cincinnati is six games back of the Redbirds with eight to play – and Philadelphia in between.
Art Warren (3-0) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 11th with help from an alert defensive play by Joey Votto. The first baseman narrowly beat Garcia to the bag to end the inning after making a backhand grab of his sharp one-hopper.
Garcia hit a two-run single to cap Washington’s three-run ninth. That tied the game after Mychal Givens gave up consecutive doubles to Lane Thomas and Alcides Escobar and walked National League batting leader Juan Soto and Josh Bell to load the bases.
All three of Washington’s ninth-inning hits came with two outs and two strikes.
Nick Castellanos went deep in the sixth to tie it and Eugenio Suárez smacked a go-ahead, two-run homer, helping the Reds rally from a four-run deficit to take a 7-4 lead into the ninth.
Suárez was hitting .183 overall but a team-best .333 in September going into the game.
Max Schrock delivered a two-run homer and pinch-hitter Delino DeShields also went deep for the Reds.
Escobar and Keibert Ruiz each homered to help Washington build a 4-0 lead after three innings.
Ruiz led off the second with his second homer of the season and first since being acquired from the Dodgers as part of the trade-deadline package for pitcher Max Scherzer and infielder Trea Turner.
Washington starter Paolo Espino lasted five innings, giving up five hits and three runs with two strikeouts.
Reds starter Sonny Gray walked four in four innings. He also gave up five hits and four runs with three strikeouts.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds pinch-hitter Jose Barrero was hit in the left elbow by a pitch in the 10th inning. After a brief visit from an athletic trainer, Barrero stayed in the game to run.
UP NEXT
Nationals: RHP Erick Fedde (7-9) has allowed 12 hits in 10 innings over two previous relief appearances against Cincinnati.
Reds: RHP Vladimir Gutierrez has a 7.50 ERA (12 innings, 10 earned runs) over his last three starts, all no-decisions.
