San Francisco Giants pitcher Camilo Doval (left) shares congratulations with first baseman Wilmer Flores after their victory over the Cincinnati Reds in a make up suspended game (first game) at Citizens Bank Ballpark in Cincinnati on Tue Jul 18, 2023 (AP News photo)

San Francisco Takes Two From Reds 4-2 and 11-10 in Marathon Night Cap

By Barbara Mason

Monday night the San Francisco Giants (54-41) were tied with the Cincinnati Reds (50-46) 2-2 going into the eighth inning at Citizen’s Bank Ballpark. They had two runners on second and third with one out. The Giants have been having some amazing late inning success and this eighth inning had all the makings of yet another one. Mother Nature had other plans. The skies opened up complete with lightning and thunder and after nearly a two-hour delay, the game was suspended.

Front game: Tuesday afternoon both teams took the field to complete this game picking up where they left off with the score tied 2-2. San Francisco was unable to bring the two runners on base home and this game went into extra innings.

The Giants went to work in the tenth inning scoring twice. Joc Pederson doubled bringing Brett Wisely home and taking the lead 3-2. Next up Michael Conforto grounded into a field’s choice and Pederson scored for a 4-2 lead which would be the final and San Francisco had won game one of this series.

The two teams would take a breather before they headed back on the field for game two. Anthony DeSclafani was on the mound for the Giants. Luke Weaver got the nod for the Reds.

Night cap: In the first inning of game two Wilmer Flores got the Giants on the board with a home run taking the early 1-0 lead.

The Reds took the lead in the bottom of the first inning 2-1. Jake Fraley homered with Matt McLain on base. The Reds extended their lead in the second inning with another long ball from Will Benson with Spencer Steer on base and Cincinnati had a 4-1 lead.

San Francisco tied up the game in the third inning. Wilmer Flores hit his second home run of the game, a three-run shot and the Giants were right back in this game tied 4-4.

This game would see-saw all night with the two teams trading the lead. Going into the ninth inning San Francisco was clinging to an 11-10 lead. Six home runs left the park between the two teams in this slug fest.

The Giants were unable to put any runs on the board in the ninth and the Reds had the bottom of the ninth to tie up this game or pull off a win. The Giants defense held on and despite the Reds having two runners on base, San Francisco had won game two of this series 11-10 for their seventh win in a row.

The third game of four games of this series will be played on Wednesday with first pitch at 4:10 PM. Ross Stripling (0-2 ERA 6.11) will take the mound for the Giants. Cincinnati will be going with Graham Ashcraft (4-7 ERA 5.95) on the hill.