CINCINNATI — Santiago Espinal reached into his bag of tricks and pulled off a rarely utilized move with an often low success rate. But the Reds third baseman pulled it off to perfection for another big win.
Espinal delivered the biggest hit by fooling the Guardians’ defense with a fake bunt before lining an RBI single for the go-ahead run in the sixth inning during the Reds’ 4-1 victory at Great American Ball Park, their third win in a row.
“It’s a little old-fashioned butcher boy. Just trying not to do too much,” manager Terry Francona said. “That’s Espy. When Espy is hitting the ball that way, that’s when he’s good, anyway. But he’s the one guy that has the ability to do that.”
It was a 1-1 game in the sixth inning when TJ Friedl led off with a double to right-center field against Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi. Next was Espinal, who took two pitches to be in a 1-1 count. Before the third pitch, Espinal squared to bunt to show he was sacrificing to move Friedl to third base. As Cecconi’s fastball arrived, Espinal pulled back and slashed an RBI single over the second baseman’s head and into right field. “I didn’t expect the slash,” Friedl said. “But him being the hitter that he is, I know that’s in his toolbox. It was kind of just unreal to see it work to perfection like that. “Off the bat, I saw the line. I knew the infielders were in, moving all over. As soon as I saw the line drive, I was off. I knew no one was going to get to it. It was sweet.”
helps Reds to Ohio Cup win over Guards Share ; CINCINNATI — Santiago Espinal reached into his bag of tricks and pulled off a rarely utilized move with an often low success rate. But the Reds third baseman pulled it off to perfection for another big win. Espinal delivered the biggest hit by fooling the Guardians’ defense with a fake bunt before lining an RBI single for the go-ahead run in the sixth inning during the Reds’ 4-1 victory at Great American Ball Park, their third win in a row. Tyler Stephenson City Connect Bobblehead Giveaway is June 7! “It’s a little old-fashioned butcher boy. Just trying not to do too much,” manager Terry Francona said. “That’s Espy. When Espy is hitting the ball that way, that’s when he’s good, anyway. But he’s the one guy that has the ability to do that.” It was a 1-1 game in the sixth inning when TJ Friedl led off with a double to right-center field against Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi. Next was Espinal, who took two pitches to be in a 1-1 count. Before the third pitch, Espinal squared to bunt to show he was sacrificing to move Friedl to third base. As Cecconi’s fastball arrived, Espinal pulled back and slashed an RBI single over the second baseman’s head and into right field. “I didn’t expect the slash,” Friedl said. “But him being the hitter that he is, I know that’s in his toolbox. It was kind of just unreal to see it work to perfection like that. “Off the bat, I saw the line. I knew the infielders were in, moving all over. As soon as I saw the line drive, I was off. I knew no one was going to get to it. It was sweet.” Terry Francona on Reds’ game plan, Santiago Espinal May 18, 2025 · 0:59 Terry Francona on Reds’ game plan, Santiago Espinal Cleveland’s corner infielders were already on the grass to take away the bunt. Once Espinal squared, he knew he had the Cleveland infielders right where he wanted them. “When you’ve got a lot of players moving around — the shortstop going to third, second baseman going to first — you’re just trying to go to the middle, where nobody is,” Espinal said. “I just saw that they were breaking everybody. In my mind I was just going to put the ball in play and try to move Friedl to third base. It worked out for a hit.” Said Cecconi: “It was good baseball by them. Nothing we can do. It was a cerebral play by them.”
With one out, Espinal came home on Austin Hays’ RBI double high off the left-field wall.
Home runs paced the rest of the Reds’ offense, as they now have eight long balls over their last four games.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, with a 1-0 deficit, Will Benson evened the score by hitting Cecconi’s 2-1 curveball to right-center field. Benson has hit a homer in three straight games — a career first for the outfielder who was recalled from Triple-A Louisville on May 9.
In the seventh inning with two outs, Rece Hinds added an insurance run with a drive to straightaway center field for his second homer of the season.
