Reds Use Two Eighth-Inning Wild Pitches to Beat Athletics 5-4

What happened:

Watch the highlights:

The Cincinnati Reds beat the Athletics 5-4 on Tuesday night after scoring twice in the eighth inning on wild pitches, according to Yahoo Sports. Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart opened the inning with walks against Hogan Harris, and both came around to score without the decisive damage coming from a base hit.

Game swing:

The eighth inning was the hinge. Cincinnati did not need a conventional rally to flip the game; it needed baserunners, pressure, and mistakes. De La Cruz and Stewart reaching safely put Harris in immediate traffic, and the wild pitches turned those walks into the winning sequence. In a one-run game, that is the kind of inning that sits somewhere between offensive patience and opponent self-inflicted damage.

Bullpen finish:

Julian Garcia handled the bottom of the eighth for Cincinnati and struck out two in a scoreless inning. He was credited with the win, moving to 2-2. Emilio Pagán then worked the ninth, allowing two singles before closing out his 12th save. The ninth was not clean, but it was enough, and that matters in a game where the margin had already been reduced to one run.

Tournament impact:

For Cincinnati, the direct implication is a banked win from a game that required late leverage execution. The supplied facts do not include standings, wildcard position, division context, or playoff odds, so the broader race impact cannot be stated precisely. Still, in tournament and postseason terms, games like this matter because they show whether a team can convert small late openings into results. Walks, advancement, and bullpen survival are all transferable traits in close games.

For the Athletics, the loss extends the skid to six games. That is the clearest confirmed consequence beyond the score. A sixth straight defeat does not by itself define a season, but it does create urgency around run prevention, late-inning command, and closing out winnable games. The source summary points directly to wild pitches as the late breakdown.

What to watch:

The key follow-up is whether Oakland’s pitching staff stabilizes in late innings after this kind of loss, and whether Cincinnati continues to manufacture runs without needing heavy contact. The supplied report does not provide the full scoring log, starting pitchers, defensive plays, or series context, so those pieces remain open.

Confidence:

Confirmed by the source: the Reds won 5-4, De La Cruz and Stewart walked to open the eighth against Hogan Harris, both scored on wild pitches, Garcia threw a scoreless eighth with two strikeouts, Pagán earned his 12th save after allowing two singles, and the Athletics lost their sixth straight. Not confirmed: standings impact, full box score details, injuries, attendance, or manager comments.