It wasn’t a good day at Great American Ball Park, but the Cincinnati Reds at least salvaged the night. Starting pitcher Rhett Lowder had a great deal to do with that.
After losing the matinee in their Aug. 17 day-night doubleheader, the Reds walked off the St. Louis Cardinals with a 6-5 win in 10 innings at Great American Ball Park.
The Reds trailed 4-1 in the sixth inning and 5-4 going to the last of the ninth inning. They knotted the game in both frames, and outfielder Dane Myers hit a pinch-hit, solo homer with two outs to force extra innings. Myers homered in both legs of the doubleheader.
Once in extras, Reds closer Emilio Pagán worked through traffic in the 10th inning to set Cincinnati up for the possible walk-off win, and Elly De La Cruz delivered with a hot shot into left field that third baseman Blaze Jordan couldn’t handle.
The contact was ruled a hit, but the deflection might have been the thing that gave catcher Tyler Stephenson the opportunity to score from second base.
While De La Cruz had plenty of accolades to his name including two MLB All-Star Games, the walk-off hit was the first of his career.
Lowder’s outing was the thing that tied together the 18 combined innings of baseball for Cincinnati, and prevented the club from expending too much on the pitching front.
“We survived it (the doubleheader), and we didn’t use anybody we shouldn’t of,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “And we have (Zach) Maxwell coming in next, so he’s fresh. Hopefully, another 18 hours or whatever until game time (Aug. 18), hopefully we can get some more rest for some of those guys… (Lowder) really helped a lot.”
The Reds braced and planned for the doubleheader weeks ahead of time, eventually opting to start Kent Emanuel in the first game followed by Lowder in the nightcap.
Phase 1 of the plan worked well as the 34-year-old Emanuel tossed five innings and allowed just two runs. The bullpen held, too, and all that was missing in the 2-1 loss to St. Louis was a couple clutch hits.
Lowder delivered six and 2/3 innings, matching a career-long outing from April 15 against San Francisco. He allowed four runs on eight hits, but still managed to see his 99 pitches go nearly seven innings.
“Pretty happy about that,” Lowder said. “I think we did what we needed to get done: Get deep into the game and give us a chance to win.”
The start was the 19th of 2026 for Lowder (4-8, 5.17 ERA), who missed about a month to injury after being removed from a May 7 start against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. He returned to Cincinnati’s rotation June 4, and struggled for consistency later that month before a brief stint in the bullpen.
Since then, Lowder had a blip in his first start out of the All-Star break, but since allowing eight runs in that July 18 game against the Colorado Rockies, he’s had five outings that were effective to some degree. During that stretch, he’s allowed 12 runs through 29 innings.
The four runs Lowder allowed against St. Louis were the most he’d conceded since the loss to the Rockies, and it was still a meaningful effort.
“I don’t thing we’ve seen him at his best yet. I think his best is ahead of him because he knows how to pitch and he’s coming off a year when he didn’t pitch,” Francona said. “He’s had some things, some inconsistencies. Even the first three innings, he’s 50-50 strikes (and) balls. That’s a hard way for him to be successful but he still battled and got through it. Then, he started throwing more strikes.”
Lowder burst onto the scene late in 2024. He went 2-2 with an 1.01 ERA in six starts, and 2025 figured to be a breakout season until multiple arm and core injuries cost him the entire season.
With 101 innings under his belt so far in 2026, Lowder will spend the rest of the year trying to maximize his opportunities with hopes of greater availability and consistency in 2027.
“It’s huge. Every start I can get, honestly, throughout this year, I’ve learned so much,” Lowder said. “Just trying to keep going, and right now trying to put together some consistencies… Just trying to stay consistent, finish strong and take it to next year.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Reds, Cardinals split their doubleheader. Here’s how
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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By Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
