Díaz breezes through Padres' big three

SAN DIEGO -- The Padres have one of the most fearsome hitting trios in baseball with Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Juan Soto atop their lineup. Reds closer Alexis Díaz was not intimidated.

Díaz actually wanted to face those three in a pressure-packed 10th inning on Tuesday night at Petco Park. To seal Cincinnati’s 2-1 victory, Díaz retired Tatis, Machado and Soto in order for his fifth save. He did it with the tying run on second base and the potential winning run on first base with no outs.

• Game Story: Key late hits lift Reds to 10-inning victory ▶️

"He’s unbelievable. No moment is too big for him," said Reds outfielder TJ Friedl, who had three hits and scored the game-tying run in the eighth inning.

Leading off the top of the 10th inning with Matt Reynolds as the automatic runner on second base, Jonathan India lined a first pitch from reliever Luis García to break the 1-1 tie.

In the bottom of the 10th, Díaz walked Trent Grisham on five pitches to put runners on first and second base.

"Right there, I knew I had a better chance to go after the next guys instead of that first guy," Díaz said, via translator Jorge Merlos. "I felt like there was a better chance of getting that double play."

It turned out to be an even more impressive ending.

Díaz threw Tatis two sliders and a fastball to strike him out on three pitches. Machado began in a 2-0 count before hitting a 2-2 slider for a flyout to left field.

After a 2-1 count to Soto, Díaz threw a pair of sliders for strikes. The final one was a slider that landed on the outside corner for a called strike three and the ballgame.

"It was a backdoor slider," Díaz said. "Sometimes, he won't be able to see that slider come in. And sure enough, he didn't see it. Thank goodness it landed in the zone."

A frustrated Soto could only turn and walk to his dugout.

"What a great challenge," Reds manager David Bell said. "I saw it in his face. He wanted to be out there. As a fan of baseball, it’s a little hard for me to watch it that way, but … I was.

“I was enjoying seeing that level of those hitters, great hitters. Alexis believes in himself and knows how good he is. He had to make pitches. He challenged them."

Díaz capped another strong night for the Reds’ bullpen. Starter Graham Ashcraft allowed one earned run over six-plus innings but gave up a leadoff single in the seventh. Lucas Sims took over and worked out of it while recording two strikeouts. Ian Gibaut dealt a 1-2-3 eighth, and Derek Law pitched a scoreless ninth with one walk for the winning decision.

The Reds have a chance to take the series and have a winning road trip with a victory Wednesday.

In 12 appearances this season, Díaz has a 2.70 ERA and 0.70 WHIP. He has struck out 21 of his 38 batters (55%) faced overall. The 26-year-old right-hander hasn't allowed a run in any of his last nine appearances while striking out 15 of 26 batters faced.

“He’s amazing. He’s such a good closer," India said. "I think he’s one of the best closers in baseball now. He’s still young. It’s impressive to watch him go out there, keep his poise and throw strikes and compete. He doesn’t make it easy for the hitters."

Díaz, the younger brother of injured Mets closer Edwin Díaz, seems to thrive when the stakes are highest in games.

"I just stay calm. Calm under pressure," Díaz said. "I don't let the game speed up. If you're going to get the game to speed up, you know you're going to get into a harder situation for yourself. So I just remain calm and go out there and attack the hitters."

About a year ago, Díaz was still working his way up the bullpen's pecking order. He made the team out of 2022 Spring Training while skipping the Triple-A level and completed his rookie season as the closer, posting a 7-3 record, 1.84 ERA and 10 saves in 59 appearances.

"He had a great year last year in his first year," Bell said. "You watch somebody go through that, you don’t know how the response is going to be for Year 2 because, ‘What do you do to get better?’ He’s found ways to really hone his craft, work on his delivery. He studies the game. He watches the game really close. He’s trying to take it to a whole other level."