Cincinnati Reds blow 3-0 lead as Padres win in 10th, extra-innings woes deepen

Cincinnati Reds blow 3-0 lead as Padres win in 10th, extra-innings woes deepen

That 3-11 record in extra innings keeps telling the same story. Up three runs early in San Diego, the Cincinnati Reds watched a clean start unravel, then got out-executed in the 10th as the Padres walked off 4-3 and handed the Reds their 11th loss in 14 extra-inning games this season.

Nick Lodolo did about everything you could ask in his return to the mound. Coming off an illness and pitching for the first time in nearly two weeks, he fired five shutout innings on just 79 pitches. He kept San Diego quiet, spotted his fastball, mixed the breaking ball, and left with a 3-0 cushion. The decision to pull him after five was conservative, sure, but understandable given the recent downtime. Either way, the game flipped as soon as the bullpen gate swung open.

How the lead slipped

Scott Barlow took the sixth and gave up a leadoff single to Fernando Tatis Jr. He settled in to get two outs, but a two-out double finally dented the Reds, bringing in San Diego’s first run. A walk followed, and that was it for Barlow. Brent Suter entered to put out the fire and immediately ran into Jackson Merrill, who lashed a two-run triple into the gap to tie it 3-3 before Suter punched out the next hitter to stop further damage.

The Reds had chances to reset but never found the one swing or one play to change the tone. The offense went quiet late, and the game rolled to the ninth still tied. In the bottom half, reliever Emilio Pagán faced the lower half of the Padres order and got help from Spencer Steer, who laid out at first base to snag a scorched liner hugging the line. That diving catch saved the Reds from a walk-off hit and pushed the drama to extra innings.

With the automatic runner at second to start the 10th, Cincinnati couldn’t move him. No bunt, no ball to the right side, no fly deep enough to tag—just three quick outs. That missed chance loomed large when the Padres played classic small ball in the bottom half.

Nick Martinez took the ball for the Reds and got a bunt attempt popped foul on the first try, just out of Steer’s reach on another diving effort. The second bunt was deadened perfectly. Martinez charged, but his throw wasn’t clean, and the batter reached while Jake Cronenworth held at third. Tatis then lifted a routine-enough fly to the outfield—plenty deep for the sacrifice fly that ended it.

• Final: Padres 4, Reds 3 (10 innings)
• Lodolo: 5 IP, 0 R, 79 pitches in his first start since illness
• Turning point: Jackson Merrill’s two-run triple in the sixth to tie it
• Record check: Reds fall to 72-72 and 3-11 in extra innings

Big picture: bullpen strain and the extra-innings problem

This one traces back to two pressure points: workload management and execution under the clock. Lodolo looked sharp but sat after five, a call likely driven by health and rust. That put six outs in the hands of middle relief right away. Barlow’s two-out double and walk opened the door, and Suter’s first-batter triple blew it off the hinges. It wasn’t a total collapse—both settled after the damage—but those four batters decided the arc of the game.

Then it moved to late-game details. The Reds’ offense didn’t do enough against a Padres staff that kept nibbling, and when the free runner appeared in the 10th, Cincinnati didn’t manufacture the one run that so often wins these kinds of games. Meanwhile, San Diego executed the template: bunt the runner up, avoid the strikeout, and get a ball in the air. Tatis, who started the rally in the sixth, finished the night with a simple sacrifice fly.

Extra innings this year have turned into a recurring theme for the Reds. The margins are thinner with a runner on second and no outs—every pitch, every throw, every decision carries extra weight. Games often come down to three skills: moving the runner, keeping the ball off the barrel, and fielding cleanly under pressure. On Wednesday, the Padres checked those boxes. The Reds didn’t.

Some positives still matter. Lodolo’s line should steady some nerves about his readiness down the stretch. He looked comfortable, and his pace was crisp. Steer’s glove made a high-leverage play late. And even after the sixth-inning blow, the bullpen held the tie through the ninth.

But for a team hovering at .500 and fighting for relevance in a crowded wild-card picture, these coin-flip games can’t keep landing on the wrong side. The 3-11 extra-innings mark isn’t bad luck anymore; it’s a collection of small misfires—an unproductive at-bat, a missed bunt, a rushed throw—that add up to losses.

There’s a path out, and it doesn’t require a lineup overhaul. It’s the mundane stuff: a cleaner execution plan in the 10th, a default move-the-runner approach when the road team hits first, a pre-pitch checklist on bunts and slow rollers. Tighten those details, and their record in one-run, extra-frame games starts to normalize.

For now, the snapshot is simple. The Reds got five shutout innings from their starter, a three-run lead, a highlight-reel catch in the ninth—and walked away empty. The difference was one inning in the middle and one fly ball at the end. That’s how seasons pivot, one routine play at a time.