Noelvi Marte robbed Bryan Reynolds of a tying home run in the ninth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday to move within a half-game of the New York Mets for the final National League wild card.
Nick Lodolo tied his career high with 12 strikeouts before leaving with a right groin injury in the seventh.
Marte and Gavin Lux drove in runs, and the Reds (81-78) were positioned to move into the last wild card spot if the Mets lost at the Chicago Cubs later Thursday. Cincinnati has the tiebreaker over the Mets (81-77) and Arizona (80-78), which played at the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Marte used his 6-foot-2 height when he jumped at the 8-foot right-field wall and reached back above the first-row of seats to catch Reynolds’ 348-foot drive for the second out of the ninth. Marte had all three putouts as Emilio Pagan got three straight outs for his career-high 30th save in 36 chances.
Lodolo (9-8) got 27 swings and misses, including 15 on curveballs. He allowed two hits and walked one, leaving due to the injury after 6 1/3 innings and 81 pitches. Lodolo also struck out 12 at Philadelphia on April 8, 2023.
Braxton Ashcraft (4-4) gave up two runs and a career-high eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Nick Yorke had an RBI grounder in the eighth.
Cincinnati salvaged the three-game series finale, which started after a 1-hour, 22-minute rain delay.
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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