The box score read like a S&P 500 company’s catered lunch order.
Six lead changes, 14 pitchers, six home runs, three scoreless innings, 25 hits, and 373 pitches. The Giants, through all the gluttonous chaos, escaped with a victory.
On a night with two final scores, the Giants and Reds played a dizzying 12 total innings. In the full-length game, the Giants (54-41) snuck away with their seventh consecutive win.
It wasn’t just a crazy night in Cincinnati. The Giants-Reds game was one of four in which both teams plated at least 10 runs — a quirk not done since Grover Cleveland was in office.
In San Francisco’s 11-10 victory, Wilmer Flores slugged two home runs and drove in five of the Giants’ 11 runs — their highest total since June 17. Camilo Doval became the first Giant since Robb Nen to secure two saves in a day with his MLB-leading 30th of the season.
If Flores and Doval have been the main characters in this series, rain has been the supporting cast. Monday night’s game got suspended due to inclement weather; the Giants won it in extras when play resumed Tuesday evening. Shortly after Camilo Doval’s 29th save that capped San Francisco’s sixth straight win, torrential downpours drenched Great American Ball Park.
Concourses turned to miniature waterfalls and the warning track resembled a moat. After 80 minutes, the tarp came off and Luke Weaver delivered the first pitch.
Right before the delay, the Giants brought Anthony DeSclafani (shoulder) back from the injured list, optioned Tristan Beck and added Bryce Johnson as the extra 27th player.
With clear skies, Flores made it rain with his bat. In the first game, he drilled two doubles and a home run. In his first at-bat against Weaver, the veteran pulled another solo home run into the left-field seats by jumping on a first-pitch changeup.
That bomb brought Flores to double digits on the season. It was the second time in 2023 he hit a homer in consecutive games.
But the Reds responded immediately, starting a trend. Ominously dark clouds hung over the diamond as DeSclafani allowed a two-run home run to Jake Fraley in the first inning. All of DeSclafani’s pitches registered substantially faster than his season averages, but Fraley drilled a slider nonetheless.
DeSclafani served up a second two-run homer his next time out, as Will Benson wrapped a drive with an 92-mph exit velocity around the right-field foul pole. The starter struck out five, but allowed four runs in two innings.
Several factors were working against DeSclafani. It was his first start since July 1. The delay likely affected his pregame routine. Great American Ball Park is the third friendliest stadium for hitters. Balls flew through the midwest humidity.
Without DeSclafani at his 2021 version, the Giants’ pitching staff is overly dependent on a bullpen that has been terrific, but could inch toward overtaxed territory. DeSclafani, Alex Wood, Ross Stripling, Sean Manaea and others must help accomplish Farhan Zaidi’s stated desire for a more defined rotation.
Manaea replaced DeSclafani in a tie game, though, thanks to Flores. The designated hitter unloaded on a belt-high fastball for his second homer of the game — a game-tying, three-run shot.
Both homers came against Weaver, a righty. When he’s red hot like he is now, the platoon splits become irrelevant.
Flores’ eighth career multi-homer game evened the score for the first time since it was 0-0. He became the first Giant with at least eight bases in back-to-back games since Barry Bonds in 2002, per MLB.com researcher Sarah Langs.
As the Reds retook the lead on an error from Manaea, injuries bit both teams. Weaver left with an arm injury after getting hit by a comebacker. LaMonte Wade Jr. initially stayed in, but eventually left with a left hamstring cramping; he grimaced several times during a third-inning at-bat and headed straight to the clubhouse after striking out.
The see-saw scoring never stopped. Michael Conforto lined a two-strike, two-out single up the middle to score Luis Matos in the fifth to tie the score again. Mike Yastrzemski followed him by driving in two more with a double, giving SF a 7-5 lead.
Like all the previous leads in the game, it didn’t last long. Christian Encarnacion-Strand took Mauricio Llovera deep to the second deck for a three-run homer in the fifth. The Bay Area native’s first MLB hit went 426 feet and put Cincinnati ahead 8-7.
Flores tied it again in the sixth with a sacrifice fly, but the Giants ran into the third out on the same play.
For the biggest swing of the game, San Francisco turned to their rookies. Blake Sabol drove a single up the middle. Casey Schmitt and Brett Wisely worked tough walks. Luis Matos drove in two with a lined single. All four results came with two outs and added up to a three-run burst.
The Reds and Giants entered the day first and second in runs batted in from rookies, and they all impressed.
Notably not a rookie, Joey Votto’s 350th career homer cut the Giants’ lead to 11-10 and represented the sixth round-tripper of the night. It came off Jakob Junis, SF’s fifth pitcher to take the mound.
The Giants threatened to add more, but TJ Friedl made a spectacular crashing grab at the center field wall to rob Patrick Bailey of a massive hit. That left Taylor Rogers to protect a one-run lead on a night in which every pitcher had difficulties.
And then, for the second time in the night, Doval took the mound. He’d thrown 13 pitches to save the resumed game and then needed 14 to end the second. Fittingly for a ridiculous game, a stumbling Wisely and Flores completed the game-ending double play.
When practically no pitcher could plug either offense, Rogers and Doval rose up.
