Nathaniel Lowe belted a two-run walk-off home run late Friday night, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to a 9-8 victory over the Detroit Tigers.
After Detroit closer Kenley Jansen (0-1) recorded two quick outs in the ninth, Spencer Steer fell behind 0-2 in the count, then singled on a 2-2 pitch. Lowe connected on an 0-1 sinker, hitting his second homer of the game — and the season — to help the Reds win for the eighth time in 10 tries.
Matt McLain also homered twice for Cincinnati, which overcame a 5-0 deficit and extended its best start to a season since 2006. Graham Ashcraft (1-0) tossed a scoreless top of the ninth.
Spencer Torkelson and Kerry Carpenter homered in the eighth to give Detroit an 8-7 lead. The Tigers had won 10 of their past 13 entering the Friday contest, which was the opener of a three-game interleague series.
Cincinnati starter Andrew Abbott yielded five runs on six hits across four frames, striking out four and walking two.
Framber Valdez tossed 4 1/3 innings for Detroit, allowing two runs on four hits, walking five and striking out four.
The game, which was delayed 2 hours, 1 minute by rain, ended just before midnight.
Detroit went ahead 1-0 in the second, as Riley Greene connected on his third homer of the year.
Javier Baez’s leadoff homer doubled the lead in the third. After Gleyber Torres walked and Kevin McGonigle singled, Matt Vierling’s two-run double made it 4-0.
Jahmai Jones’ RBI single in the fourth extended the margin to five.
McLain’s two-run homer in the fifth cut the gap to 5-2.
Lowe went deep against Detroit reliever Kyle Finnegan in the sixth, pulling Cincinnati within two.
After the rain delay in the seventh, Cincinnati’s Dane Myers drew a walk from Will Vest before McLain tied the game with a two-run homer.
From there, Elly De La Cruz singled and Vest retired Sal Stewart and Steer. Brant Hurter then replaced Vest. The Reds took the lead as De La Cruz scored on Baez’s throwing error before Tyler Stephenson’s double pushed the lead to 7-5.
Tony Santillan threw the eighth for Cincinnati, surrendering Torkelson’s one-out solo homer. Colt Keith then singled, and one out later, Carpenter hit his sixth homer of the season, returning the lead to Detroit.
