TJ Friedl homered, singled and scored three times as the Cincinnati Reds beat the visiting Colorado Rockies 4-2 to give Terry Francona the 2,000th win of his managerial career.
Francona is the 13th manager in major league history with 2,000 victories.
Matt McLain and Austin Hays also had two hits and Emilio Pagan picked up his 20th save for Cincinnati, which won its 50th game heading into the All-Star break.
Ryan Ritter had two hits for Colorado, which stayed on pace to break the modern-era record for losses, set by the 2024 Chicago White Sox. The Rockies have 22 victories at the end of the first half of the season, five less than Chicago did at the same point a year ago.
The Reds took the lead when Friedl led off the bottom of the first with his ninth home run of the season, but Colorado responded in the third.
Kyle Farmer and Austin Nola led off with singles and moved up a base on Ritter’s sacrifice bunt. Mickey Moniak then drove them both in with a two-out single to left to give the Rockies a 2-1 lead.
Cincinnati tied it in the bottom of the frame when Elly De La Cruz beat a relay to first to stay out of an inning-ending double play. That allowed Hays to single up the middle to score Friedl.
The Reds took the lead again in the fifth when they loaded the bases on singles by Friedl, McLain and Hays, chasing starter Austin Gomber. Reliever Jimmy Herget got Spencer Steer on a pop-out, but Ritter misplayed Noelvi Marte’s grounder to short, allowing Friedl to score from third.
Gomber (0-3) remained winless in seven starts this season. He allowed three runs — two earned — on six hits over 4 1/3 innings.
Cincinnati tacked on a run in the seventh when Cruz led off with a double, advanced to third on an error and scored on Steer’s single to right.
That was enough for starter Nick Martinez (7-9) to earn the victory. He allowed two runs on five hits in 5 1/3 innings of work.
–Field Level Media
