McCoy: Reds snap three-game losing streak with wild, walk-off win

There would be the bat used by Oakland leadoff hitter Lawrence Butler to club three homers.

And there would the bat Oakland’s J.J. Bleday used to pound five hits.

Yes, the A’s had one batter hit three homers and one batter contribute five hits. And they still lost.

Friedl’s single enabled the Reds to stop a three-game losing streak and avoid a three-game sweep by the A’s.

The Reds were down 4-0, 5-1 and 6-2. They came back to lead 7-6 heading into the ninth.

But Reds closer Alexis Diaz didn’t get anybody out in top of the ninth, giving up three runs and three hits that included Butler’s third home of the game and fifth of the series.

That gave the A’s 11 homers in the three games and they took a 9-7 lead into the bottom of ninth.

Oakland’s All-Star closer Mason Miller was not available after pitching in the previous two games, forcing A’s manager Mark Kotsay to send in rookie Grant Holman, just his sixth major league appearance.

It was disastrous.

Rece Hinds opened the inning with a full-count walk. Jonathan India singled Hinds to third and took second on a wild pitch.

Elly De La Cruz walked to fill the bases with no outs. Tyler Stephenson singled for one run and it was 9-8. And Friedl ended it with his stinging single to left.

“I was just looking for something to hit hard in the air and possibly tie the game,” said Friedl during a post-game interview with Bally Sports Ohio.

As he talked, Friedl was drenched by teammates, a huge vat of water dumped over his head.

“I’ll take it,” Friedl said of the uniform-on bath. “You don’t get many walk-off hits.” It was his second career walk-off. “We’re never gonna quit, never quit,” he added. “We’re gonna keep fighting until the end of the season.”

And what do you put into a museum for an inning in which the Reds scored three runs without a hit. Not even a smell of a hit.

With Oakland leading, 6-4, in the sixth inning, Kotsay sent Joe Boyle to the mound. Boyle was in the Reds minor-league system until last year when he was traded to Oakland for pitcher Sam Moll.

While Boyle throws 101 mph fastballs, most of them evade the strike zone. Entering the game he had walked 33 batters in 43 innings.

And he promptly made a huge addition to that total. The Reds scored three runs on three walks, two hit batters and a sacrifice fly. Santiago Espinal walked with the bases loaded, pinch-hitter Amed Rosario was hit by a pitch, forcing in a run. India launched a sacrifice fly and the Reds were ahead, 7-6.

And that’s where it stood when Diaz entered the ninth. He blew his previous save situation Sunday in Pittsburgh when Yasmani Grandal hit a ninth-inning, walk-off home run.

Diaz began the ninth the same way, Butler’s third home run to tie it, 7-7 Then came a walk and two doubles and two more runs, pushing Oakland ahead, 9-7, setting it up for the Reds furious finale.

Diaz had to be rescued and was replaced by Emilio Pagan with a runner on second and no outs. Pagan went 1-2-3 to keep it at 9-7.

Rookie Julian Aguiar started for the Reds after two previous professional-like starts. But he didn’t have it Thursday and gave up six runs and 10 hits that included three homers, two by Butler, in only four innings.

He fell behind 4-0 and 5-1. And the Reds were down, 6-2, after four innings. The two runs for the Reds came on solo home runs by Tyler Stephenson and Will Benson.

Stephenson had three hits and is on a career-best 13-game hitting streak. Benson’s homer was his second in two days.

Spencer Steer and Espinal both went hitless, ending their 10-game hitting streaks.

The A’s outhit the Reds, 14-8, and outhomered then four to two, but scoring three runs in an inning without a hit goes a long way.

Until Diaz trudged to the mound, the Reds bullpen was spotless after Aguiar departed.

Brandon Leibrandt, a son of former Reds pitcher Charlie Leibrant, made his Reds debut and was near-perfect. He deserves a ball in that mythical museum.

He retired the first five A’s on ground balls. He gave the Reds 2 1/3 scoreless innings with one walk and an infield hit.

Tony Santillan was next and he struck out the first four A’s and provided the Reds with 1 2/3 scoreless innings.

Then came Diaz and then came Friedl.