INSTANT REACTION: Will Benson Walks It Off, Reds Rally to Beat Padres 3-2

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Trailing 2-1 in the bottom of the ninth, Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz battled against San Diego Padres closer Robert Suarez. The lengthy at-bat ended with De La Cruz reaching on an error by third baseman Tyler Wade. De La Cruz made Suarez make pitches, and he made Wade make a play at third base. Neither worked for the Padres. It did for De La Cruz and the Reds.

For the second time this week, it was De La Cruz igniting a rally with the Reds down a run that resulted in them scoring two runs to walk off the field winners.

The Rally Reds that we got so used to in 2023 appear to maybe be back in 2025, as Cincinnati walked off the Padres 3-2 Sunday to get back to four games over .500 at 44-40 and win the homestand 4-2.

Let's look at the key takeaways from Sunday afternoon's 3-2 Reds win over the Padres.

Ninth Inning Rally Beginning And Ending With The Stars

When the Reds beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Elly De La Cruz's second career game in 2023, the highlights of the game were De La Cruz's first career home run and Will Benson's walk-off home run, which was also Benson's first career home run.

On Sunday, those two started and punctuated the Reds ninth-inning rally to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 3-2 Reds win.

De La Cruz fouled off some tough pitches and worked the count full before reaching on a fielding error. After Gavin Lux walked with one out to put runners on first and second, Spencer Steer, just as he did on Tuesday against the New York Yankees, singled to center to drive home De La Cruz and tie the game.

Two batters later, with the bases loaded, Benson lined a single down the right field line that scored Lux and gave the Reds a thrilling 3-2 win.

Nick Lodolo Battled To Keep The Game Close

The Reds left-hander didn't have his best stuff Sunday afternoon, but he still kept the Reds within 1-0 into the top of the sixth inning.

Lodolo only threw 57 of his 95 pitches for strikes, but he struck out five Padres hitters to only two walks. He did allow seven hits but only one run on a solo home run by Padres shortstop Xander Bogaerts.

In the top of the third, the Padres had runners on first and second with one out and their heart of the order due up. But Lodolo dug deep and struck out Jackson Merrill swinging and Fernando Tatis Jr. looking to keep the Padres off the board and the game scoreless.

Lodolo struggled in the month of June, but Sunday was a better start at pitching somewhat deep into the game and keeping the opposing team's scoring to a minimum.

Reds reliever Scott Barlow came in and managed to escape a bases loaded jam to prevent the Padres from extending the lead, which allowed Elly De La Cruz to tie the game in the bottom of the sixth with a two-out RBI single.

Give The Reds Bullpen Credit

After a letdown Saturday, the Reds bullpen came up huge on Sunday with 3 2/3 innings pitched allowing just one earned run on one hit and four walks.

Scott Barlow. escaped the bases loaded jam in the sixth. Lyon Richardson, Tony Santillan, Taylor Rogers and Emilio Pagan all combined to keep the Reds within one run and pave the way for the ninth-inning rally.

Notes And Observations

• The Reds were 4-8 with runners in scoring position and left seven runners on base.
• Will Benson's walk-off hit was his third of the afternoon.
• San Diego's top four hitters were just 2-14 on Monday.
• Padres starter Stephen Kolek pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing three hits and an earned run on a walk and five strikeouts. He threw 71 pitches, 44 for strikes, and left before De La Cruz tied the game with his RBI single in the 6th.

On Deck

The Reds hit the road this upcoming week to take on the Boston Red Sox (Monday-Wednesday) and the Philadelphia Phillies (Friday-Sunday).

All three games in Boston are at 7:10 E.T. on FanDuel Sports Network Cincinnati and 700WLW.

Chase Burns follows his electric debut from this week and starts Monday night against Red Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet (7-4, 2.06 ERA). Burns will be followed by Brady Singer (7-6, 4.31 ERA) on Tuesday, while the Reds have not named a starter for Wednesday night.