TJ Friedl, Matt McLain and Jake Fraley connected on back-to-back-to-back homers in the sixth inning to power the Cincinnati Reds to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday.
Brandon Williamson tossed six innings of one-run ball to help Cincinnati win its fourth straight game. Williamson (2-2) struck out five and allowed just three hits and one walk.
Friedl and Spencer Steer each had two hits for the Reds. Fraley had two RBIs. Alexis Diaz recorded his 29th save despite allowing a run in the ninth.
Arizona’s Brandon Pfaadt (0-4) allowed the three homers while pitching six innings. He gave up three runs, four hits and fanned six.
Corbin Carroll hit his 20th homer of the season for the Diamondbacks. Ketel Marte also had an RBI for Arizona, which lost its third straight game and 11th in its past 15.
It was a scoreless game until the sixth.
Arizona’s Jake McCarthy doubled into left field to lead off and Marte followed by sending a single into right to bring McCarthy. The Diamondbacks followed with two hard hit balls, but a pair of nice plays, including a diving catch from Christian Encarnacion-Strand, would thwart them. Marte was then caught stealing to end the inning.
The Reds responded in the bottom of the sixth with the trio of homers. Friedl pulled a two-strike heater over the wall in the right field corner for his seventh homer of the season before McLain crushed a sinker over the left field wall for his 10th. Fraley then stepped up and launched a four-seamer into the stands with his 14th of the season to complete the trifecta.
Cincinnati tacked on in the bottom of the eighth to extend its lead to 4-1. Steer lined a single and Friedl followed with a double to put runners on second and third with nobody out. Elly De La Cruz pinch run for Steer at third and he came home on a Fraley groundout to first.
In the top of the ninth, Carroll hit a one-out homer off Diaz.
–Field Level Media
