After beating the Reds, 3-2, on Thursday, the Serpientes (Spanish for snakes) took game two of the series Friday night in Chase Park, 10-8.
A grand slam home run by Will Benson in the ninth put a slight fright into the DBacks, but they hung on.
The Milwaukee Brewers won Friday and as Paul Simon sang it, winning the National League Central title is slip-slidin’ away from the Reds. With 32 games remaining, the Reds trail the Brewers by five games and are showing their taillights to the rest of the division.
And with the two losses to Arizona, the Reds fell 1 1/2 games behind the DBacks in the wild card chase.
Philadelphia owns the No. 1 spot in the wild card standings, Arizona is second and despite losing to Pittsburgh on Friday night, the Chicago Cubs are in the third and final spot.
The Reds and San Francisco Giants are a game behind the Cubs for the final spot.
The game Friday turned on the Reds and Hunter Greene during a 25-minute five-run fourth inning by the Diamondbacks.
After a horrendous first start five days ago after a stint on the injured list, Greene was passable for three innings.
In his previous start, he gave up nine runs and ten hits that included five home runs against the Toronto Blue Jays in three innings.
For three innings Friday, he held Arizona to no runs and one hit as his diving slider baffled the batters and he owned a 1-0 lead.
He retired the first batter in the fourth, then the Chase Field roof fell in with a resounding thud.
The DBacks batted around, aided by three of the five walks Greene graciously offered up.
The big blasts were a two-run triple by Jace Peterson and a two-run single by former Reds outfielder Tommy Pham, extending his hitting streak to 15 games.
The Reds battled back. Well, Nick Martini battled back.
The player the Reds recently signed hit a solo home run in the second and hit a three-run shot in the sixth, a rally extended when Elly De La Cruz shockingly laid down a bunt and beat it for a hit.
In 114 previous major league games Martini had two home runs, none since 2019. And he hit two Friday.
The second home run drew the Reds to within 5-4, but relief pitcher Brett Kennedy couldn’t hold it. He and Greene both gave up five runs and five hits. And they combined to issue nine walks and hit two batters.
The DBacks scored one in the sixth without a hit. Kennedy walked the first two and with one out hit a batter, loading the bases.
Christian Walker hit a shallow pop up to left. Shortstop De La Cruz raced out to catch it. After he caught it, left fielder Spencer Steer ran into him, knocking him down. That enabled Geraldo Perdomo to tag at third and score on an infield fly.
Arizona scored two in the seventh with the inning ending on a preposterous play. With two outs and two on, Pham drove one to the left field wall. Steer leaped at the wall and snagged it. But a young boy with a glove reached over the wall and plucked the ball out of Steer’s glove.
At first it was ruled a three-run homer, but replay/review saw what happened and fan interference was ruled, and Pham was out.
Back-to-back triples by Gabriel Moreno and Peterson, his second triple, helped the DBacks to two more runs and a 10-4 lead heading into the ninth.
All over but the shouting? Nope.
Arizona brought in Justin Martinez to pitch the ninth. Steer singled and Martinez walked Martini and Christian Encarnacion-Strand to fill the bases with no outs.
After Noelvi Marte struck out, Benson launched a monster 427-foot home run over the 27-foot high center field wall, a grand slam on 101 mph fastball.
Martinez has given up only two home runs all season, both grand slams by the Reds. Matt McLain hit one off him earlier this season in Cincinnati when the Reds swept the DBacks.
Suddenly it was 10-8 and the Rally Reds were coming on strong. Martinez was lifted for Kevin Ginkel. He struck out both pinch-hitter Tyler Stephenson and TJ Friedl, who was 0 for 5, to end it.
All eight Reds runs came on home runs. Arizona did not hit a home run but poked three triples and a double among its 10 hits.
When Arizona starting pitcher Brandon Pfaadt started the game, he was 0-6 with a 6.13 earned run average. The Reds beat up the Louisville native in a game in Cincinnati when he gave up back-to-back-to-back home runs to Friedl, McLain and Jake Fraley.
This time he held the Reds to two runs and three hits over 5 1/3 innings. He retired 11 straight, but when he gave up a one-out single to McLain in the sixth, he was replaced by Bryce Jarvis, a son of former Reds pitcher Kevin Jarvis.
That’s when De La Cruz dropped the bunt single and Martini drilled his three-run homer.
But the Diamondbacks hung on and Jarvis was credited with his first win of the season.
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