CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds were on the verge of making franchise history twice Friday.
Nick Martinez was three outs away from throwing the 18th no-hitter ever for the Reds, and first baseman Spencer Steer was one swing away from becoming just the second player to homer four times in a game for the club.
Both bids fell short, but it was still a memorable night at Great American Ball Park as Cincinnati beat the San Diego Padres 8-1, marking the Reds’ eighth win in their past 12 games. At 43-39, the Reds — the parent club of the Double-A Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern League — are fourth of five teams in the National League Central, but they’re just five games behind the first-place Chicago Cubs as the division remains relatively tight outside of the last-place Pittsburgh Pirates.
Martinez (5-8) didn’t allow a hit until pinch-hitter Elias Diaz doubled off the field wall in left-center field in the ninth inning, chasing the 34-year-old right-hander. He matched his career high with 112 pitches and struck out six before giving way to Taylor Rogers, who sealed the win with a swinging strikeout after issuing a pair of two-out walks that ended the shutout.
Martinez retired 22 straight batters between a two-out walk in the first inning and another to Trenton Brooks to start the ninth. It was the longest no-hit bid against the Padres since Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Tyler Gilbert completed the feat on Aug. 14, 2021.
“That’s as nervous as I’ve been in a long, long time,”said 66-year-old Terry Francona, a three-time American League manager of the year who is in his first season as skipper of the National League’s Reds. “They say good things happen to good people. What he did this week, going to the bullpen, he deserved that.”
It was a far cry from Martinez’s previous start on June 19, when he allowed seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings in a 12-5 loss to the Minnesota Twins. His next two appearances came in relief as he tossed three scoreless innings.
“My last start, focus wasn’t quite there, got shelled, which isn’t fun,” he said. “Coming out of the pen allowed me to simplify things. It definitely helped me tonight.”
Martinez came within three outs of the first no-hitter by a Reds pitcher since Wade Miley in a 3-0 win at Cleveland — which was managed by Francona at the time — on May 7, 2021. The franchise’s 17 no-hitters have been thrown by 14 pitchers; Homer Bailey, Jim Maloney and Johnny Vander Meer were on the mound for two apiece, with Bailey’s pair coming in back-to-back seasons (2012-13) and Vander Meer the only pitcher in MLB history to post them in back-to-back starts.
Steer homered in the second inning and again in the fourth off Padres right-hander Dylan Cease. He then hit a two-run homer in the fifth off left-hander Yuki Matsui. He came to bat leading off the eighth and struck out on a 3-2 pitch from David Morgan.
“With the score being 8-0 and it being the eighth inning, I can say that for the first time in my life, I didn’t want to walk,” Steer said. “I was trying to give myself a chance to hit a fourth. You never know how many opportunities you’ll get at that.”
It was the first three-homer game in the majors for the 27-year-old Steer, who has nine homers this season.
The only player to go deep four times in a game for the Reds was Scooter Gennett against the St. Louis Cardinals on June 6, 2017, also at Great American Ball Park.
Steer said his golf outing Thursday, when the Reds were off, gave no indication he would have a big day at the plate Friday.
“I shanked every shot I hit in the front nine,” he said with a smile.
After his third homer, Steer refused to grant the crowd’s request for a curtain call.
“He’s so humble, he wasn’t comfortable coming out,” Francona said. “Part of me thinks it’s cool that he’s so modest that he just doesn’t want to do it.”
The possibility of a no-hitter and a four-homer game on the same night seemed unlikely — until it almost happened.
Said Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson: “That would have been one hell of a night.”