National League RBI leader Brandon Phillips drove in two key runs Thursday night to help the Reds win their sixth straight and complete a series sweep of the Marlins.
Phillips, who drove in five runs in the series, brought home the go-ahead run with a 10th-inning sacrifice fly to push Cincinnati past Miami, 5-3, before 16,680 at Marlins Park.
The 32-year-old second baseman, who leads the Majors with eight game-winning RBIs, hit a sixth-inning solo homer to give Cincinnati a 2-1 lead. Reds starter Mat Latos had been dominant to that point, and he surrendered just one run — on a Juan Pierre leadoff homer — through eight innings as he looked to be on the verge of a complete-game win.
Latos entered the ninth having thrown just 84 pitches, but the 25-year-old ran into trouble when Adeiny Hechavarria smacked a one-out triple to right. Reds manager Dusty Baker called for Aroldis Chapman to protect the 2-1 lead and finish off the game.
“I really wanted to finish it, but it seems like there is always something down here in Florida that happens and I can’t finish,” Latos said. “It is what it is. We got the ‘W’ and that’s all that matters.”
Baker wanted to see his starter finish off the second complete game for the Reds in the series after Homer Bailey went the distance Tuesday night. The veteran manager actually expected it heading into the bottom of the ninth.
“Latos was dealing,” Baker said. “His pitch count was low. He had that young man, who got an infield hit off him earlier, at 0-2 before the triple. At that point, we had to go get Chapman and we thought we were out of it.”
Chapman struck out pinch-hitter Placido Polanco, but rookie Marcell Ozuna blasted a triple to the deepest part of Marlins Park that pushed home Hechavarria and tied the game at 2. Latos is still winless in seven career starts against the Marlins.
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