Winning a series at Citizens Bank Park isn’t something the Reds would take for granted. After all, it hadn’t happened since 2006. They were one inning from finally ending that streak before a crushing turn of events on Sunday afternoon.
Back-to-back home runs by Erik Kratz and Freddy Galvis in the ninth inning off of Aroldis Chapman sent the Reds to a 3-2 loss, which joined a growing list of recent infamous endings for Cincinnati in the City of Brotherly Love.
“It is an unfortunate way for it to end,” said Reds manager Dusty Baker, who had talked before the game about how badly he wanted a series win in Philadelphia.
After going 8-for-8 in saves to start his season, Chapman blew his second consecutive save on Sunday. The first happened on Thursday in Miami, when Chapman blew a 2-1 lead before the Reds won it in the 10th inning. He also struggled in a non-save situation in Chicago on May 3, needing to be bailed out after he allowed four hits and three runs in the ninth vs. the Cubs.
The Reds had a 2-1 lead in this one when Chapman began the ninth by walking pinch-hitter Delmon Young on four pitches. With Cliff Lee pinch-running as Kratz batted, Chapman sent a pickoff throw to first base and got Lee in a rundown before he was caught.
Chapman did not capitalize on the break, though, as Kratz tattooed a 3-2 pitch into the left-field seats for the game-tying homer. On a 1-1 pitch, Galvis hit his homer just inside the left-field foul pole to end it.
“Rarely do you see back-to-back homers [to end a game],” Baker said. “We were thinking Galvis has power from the left side. We were thinking Kratz was really the only guy that could hurt you at the bottom of the order. I guess it shows that anybody with a bat is dangerous. That’s a tough one to lose.”
It was the first walk-off homer of Galvis’ career.
“As soon as I hit it, I knew I hit it good,” Galvis said. “I didn’t think it was to the wall, but thank God it was a homer. “[Chapman is] really tough. Here’s a guy who throws 99-100 [mph], sometimes throws a 96 cutter. What I did when I went to home plate, I was like, ‘OK, follow it right there and try to hit it.'”
Entering the day, Chapman had only allowed seven home runs in a big league career that started in 2010. Never before had he surrendered two long balls in an appearance.
Afterwards, Chapman remained confident that he would be fine.
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