Reds Drop Series in San Diego, Ending with Stud’s Walk-off Homer
by William Meiners
The Reds west coast trips, in my mind, seem rife with losing streaks and late-night heartbreaks. I’ve spent many midwestern summer nights fighting off sleep only to catch the wee-hour celebrations of Dodgers and Giants and Padres. Oh my, Dick Enberg.
Time 
zones and circadian rhythms aside, the Queen City crews seem to play worse farthest from their Ohio homes. Perhaps only the Spanish priests, of the Franciscan order, found passage to southern California in the late 1700s as daunting.
On June 8th, amidst a four-game skid and owning only a single win in the month’s first week, Cincinnati traveled to San Diego for the first of three games with the Padres. The teams then had inverse records… Reds (31-34) and Padres (34-31).
Andrew Abbott surrendered a solo shot in the bottom of the third. Reds bounced back with single runs in the fifth and sixth. And then, per the 2026 season routine, the final frames returned to script. Reds relievers gave up two in the seventh, three in the eighth. An inability to field bunts and take outs given to them turned a close game into something almost predictable… a 6-2 loss.
On Tuesday, a week away from their last win — with the “tarps-off” Cincinnatians inspiring the walk-off win against the Royals — the Reds needed good fortune, an uncharacteristically stingy bullpen, and late-night power to win 5-3 in 11 innings. Sal Stewart provided the punch with a two-run homer in the final frame. Zach Maxwell, in certainly his career highlight to date, retired three straight Padres to earn his first save.
In the Wednesday afternoon rubber match, the Reds relied on three homers to score four runs. That’s the thing with this club. Several guys can launch one out on occasion. Often, however, you just need a ground out to second, or a sacrificial bunt or fly to score. Think of those charitable friars, living a more selfless life.
Up two late, the Cincy bullpen wasn’t so good in the California sun, surrendering two in the eighth to tie it. In the bottom of the ninth, Chase Petty, a converted starter, managed two harmless groundouts. Then Fernando Tatis Jr. scorched a line drive over the left field wall. Gleefully circling the bases, Tatis untucked his shirt as he approached the welcoming arms of fellow Padres at home plate.
There’s nothing like the walk-off win in baseball. The unleashed joy of men jumping around a field like boys, baptizing their momentary hero with the hydrating fluids from Gatorade coolers. And they stripped the tarp off Tatis quicker than the 106-mph exit velocity of his homer.
A lean athlete, an Adonis adored by the ancient Greeks, Tatis stood shirtless for the postgame interview. Were his body mine — through colonialism, controversial contract, or some “Freaky Friday” transformation — I’d show it off all the time. Yet my 60-year-old frame, conditioned in cubicles and bolstered by beer, walks the runway of life with “tarps on.” With a compression undershirt beneath covering nipples and a broken heart. Even in the shower.
William Meiners is the editor of Sport Literate. Among his summer 2026 plans are the documentation of 33 Reds’ series. That should be about 600 to 700 words every few days. If you don’t expect too much breakdown or analysis, outside of his own troubled head, you may not be disappointed. From losing streaks through high-water marks, he’ll follow the club, sometimes literally, from the reluctant spring of early May through the dog days of August. Then he’s off to something else.