'I got on my horse and started digging': Fairchild legs out Little League HR

CINCINNATI -- As far as the Reds were concerned, it didn't matter if it wasn't really a home run for Stuart Fairchild. It was close enough. The fireworks detonated, the celebratory Viking helmet was planted on Fairchild's head and the cape over his shoulders.

Alas, close enough wasn't good enough for the game's final outcome on Tuesday night. The Reds did little overall offensively and were handed a 3-2 defeat by the Marlins thanks to Jorge Soler's two-run home run off reliever Lucas Sims in the seventh inning. Cincinnati has dropped seven of its past eight games.

"No question, we need more opportunities on the bases," Reds manager David Bell said. "They did a good job keeping us off the bases tonight. That was really the difference."

Besides Fairchild's wild moment, the Reds' other big hit was TJ Friedl's two-out RBI double to left field off Braxton Garrett in the second that made it a 1-1 game.

Leading off the bottom of the fifth inning against Garrett with the game still tied, Fairchild lifted a fly ball near the right-field line. Jesús Sánchez gave a slow chase before the ball bounced fair in front of him.

“Off the bat, I was like, ‘Oh, pop-up -- I’m out,'" Fairchild said. "I kind of jogged out of the box and saw that he wasn’t really hustling very hard to go get it down the line, so that’s when I got on my horse and started digging."

As Sánchez ran into the wall, the ball rolled down the line and toward the corner. Sánchez went after it and Fairchild kept running. He easily would have had a stand-up triple, but third-base coach J.R. House was waving him around third.

Fairchild had reached third base as the cut-off throw reached second baseman Luis Arraez. House suddenly put up his arms to hold up Fairchild, but it was too late to halt his momentum.

"At that point, I was too far gone. I just kept going and saw the ball coming in," Fairchild said.

Fairchild hesitated halfway down the line, but as Arraez's one-hop relay throw got away from catcher Nick Fortes, he resumed running and avoided Fortes' diving tag attempt before sliding headfirst at the plate.

"I was halfway home when the catcher was about to have the ball and I was out at that point," Fairchild said. "But when he bobbled it, I was like, ‘OK, got to take a chance on this.’ Got in there.”

It was the epitome of a Little League home run. More importantly, though, it gave the Reds a 2-1 lead.

As 26,201 fans at Great American Ball Park roared and the fireworks went off, the official scorer ruled the play a triple for Fairchild and a throwing error on Arraez for letting him score.

"Unfortunate for Stew, but a run on the board nonetheless," said Reds starting pitcher Luke Weaver, who allowed one run over 4 1/3 innings.

"With our team, we were all yelling, 'That’s a homer,’” Bell said. “Nothing against their team or the player, but as soon as it got by -- we know it’s tough in the corner and Stuart can fly. We thought there was a chance it was going to happen."

As the Reds were unable to add on, relievers Sam Moll and Buck Farmer worked the middle innings. But with two outs in the top of the seventh, Farmer hit Fortes with a pitch and Bell made another call to the bullpen, turning to Sims to face Soler.

It was Sims' third consecutive night of pitching, something he had done only once previously in his career in 2021. But he threw only four pitches vs. Miami on Monday and 11 pitches against the Nationals on Sunday.

A first-pitch fastball from Sims was driven to right-center field for the game-deciding homer.

“The pitch counts in those two games were low. We felt really strong about sending him back out tonight," Bell said. "I thought he made a good pitch to a really good hitter. That was the difference. First pitch he came in. We didn’t see much of it. Lucas felt good coming into the day physically, so he was definitely available.”

The loss was costly. The Reds (60-56) fell behind the Cubs (59-55) to third place in the National League Central and also for the final NL Wild Card spot.