Anthony DeSclafani worked out of a first-inning jam, regrouped and dealt a blow to his former team’s standing in the National League Wild Card race. The 26-year-old right-hander gave up two runs in six innings, and Tucker Barnhart belted a grand slam in a five-run first inning that lifted the Reds to a 6-3 win over the Marlins on Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park.
Dealt by the Marlins to the Reds at the 2014 Winter Meetings, DeSclafani improved to 7-1 on the season, striking out six. Raisel Iglesias tossed two innings of relief, surrendering a home run in the eighth to Christian Yelich, which was the first extra-base hit allowed by the right-hander in 23 1/3 innings.
The Marlins, 6-3 winners on Monday, fell to one game back of the Cardinals for the second NL Wild Card spot. They grabbed a one-run lead in the first inning on Yelich’s RBI single. But right-hander Jose Urena, called up from Triple-A New Orleans earlier in the day, was tagged for five two-out runs in the first.
“We get out and score a run and kind off get off on a good foot,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “Get the first couple of guys out and they end up getting five on us. But at that point, at this ballpark, you know you have a chance to get back into the game.”
The Reds had five straight batters reach with two outs, with Barnhart’s first career grand slam following Ivan De Jesus Jr.’s bases-loaded walk.
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