Reds beat Nationals 8-7 in 11 but fall further behind Cards

CINCINNATI (AP) — Aristides Aquino drove in TJ Friedl with a game-ending single off the glove of second baseman Luis Garcia, and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Nationals 8-7 in 11 innings Friday night.

Aquino’s sharp one-hopper off Mason Thompson (1-2) trickled into short right field, allowing Friedl to score from second.

“It’s super special," Aquino said. "Any time you can do something to help the team win is pretty special.”

Despite the victory, the Reds fell further behind St. Louis in the race for the second NL wild card because the streaking Cardinals swept a doubleheader from the Chicago Cubs. Cincinnati is six games back of the Redbirds with eight to play — and Philadelphia in between.

Art Warren (3-0) escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 11th with help from an alert defensive play by Joey Votto. The first baseman narrowly beat Garcia to the bag to end the inning after making a backhand grab of his sharp one-hopper.

“It’s definitely a rush," Warren said. "When you pull ahead and take the lead at the end of the game, it’s outstanding. It was one of those back-and-forth games. We’ve had several of those lately. This one went our way.”

Garcia hit a two-run single to cap Washington’s three-run ninth. That tied the game after Mychal Givens gave up consecutive doubles to Lane Thomas and Alcides Escobar and walked National League batting leader Juan Soto and Josh Bell to load the bases.

“In a moment like that, I’m just trying to focus on waiting for my pitch,” Garcia said. “With two strikes, I was just trying to battle and hit the ball the other way.”

All three of Washington’s ninth-inning hits came with two outs and two strikes.

“We battled back to tie the game," Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. "When you...

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