6-run explosion in the fifth inning pushes Reds over Tigers

Tyler Stephenson blasted a grand slam, Brady Singer tossed six strong innings and the visiting Cincinnati Reds powered past the Detroit Tigers, 11-1, on Saturday afternoon.

Matt McLain hit a three-run homer, while Elly De La Cruz and Spencer Steer also homered for the Reds. Singer (7-4) allowed one run and four hits while recording four strikeouts.

Detroit starter Jack Flaherty (5-7) surrendered seven runs on five hits and five walks in 4 2/3 innings.

Flaherty got into some trouble in the third by issuing walks to Jose Trevino and TJ Friedl. With two out, Gavin Lux hit a grounder that deflected off the first base bag. First baseman Colt Keith snagged the ball with his bare hand and flipped it to Flaherty for the out.

Javier Baez led off the bottom of the inning with a walk and tried to score on Trey Sweeney's double but was thrown out at home. A pair of groundouts allowed Singer to escape that jam.

De La Cruz, leading off the fourth, clobbered a Flaherty fastball over the right field wall for his 15th homer.

The Tigers tied it in the bottom of the inning with Singer's aid. He gave up walks to Riley Greene and Keith before Wenceel Perez's RBI single got past diving first baseman Steer.

The Reds regained the lead with a fifth-inning eruption. Jake Fraley led off with a single and moved up on Friedl's one-out walk. Lux's single brought home Fraley and De La Cruz drew a walk to load the bases. Stephenson then jumped on a hanging curveball and deposited it over the left field wall. One out later, Steer powered a Flaherty slider over the left-center field wall to make it 7-1.

Kerry Carpenter was hit by a pitch and Keith had a two-out, ground-rule double in the sixth but Perez popped up, leaving them stranded.

McLain clubbed his three-run shot off John Brebbia in the eighth. Tigers catcher Jake Rogers pitched the ninth.

--Field Level Media