Ford's Two-Run Blast Ends Cincinnati's Three-Homer Comeback Cold
Washington built a 3-0 lead on a Daylen Lile three-run shot, watched Cincinnati erase it with three consecutive home runs, then answered with a Harry Ford two-run blast that ended the conversation. Six home runs total, a tied game that lasted roughly one half-inning, and a 5-3 final that felt far more chaotic than the scoreline suggests.
Lile did the early damage in the first inning, sending a 400-foot shot to right that scored Abrams and House and handed Washington a cushion that looked comfortable. It wasn't. Cade Cavalli held that lead through the second, but Cincinnati came alive in the third with a vengeance. Eugenio Suárez went 422 feet to left center to make it 3-1, then Matt McLain followed with a 420-foot shot to left to cut it to 3-2. Before Washington could exhale, Elly De La Cruz went 379 feet to left to tie the game at 3-3. Three home runs in a single inning, all off Cavalli, who still finished his night with 6.0 innings, 7 hits, 3 earned runs, 2 walks, and 8 strikeouts — a line that looks like a quality start on paper but obscures how badly the third inning unraveled.
The story of the night, though, belongs to Ford. With Washington's win probability sitting at 75% entering the fourth, Ford launched a 396-foot home run to center that scored Lile and pushed the lead to 5-3. That single swing moved Washington's win probability from 75% to 88% — a 13-point jump that effectively closed the door. Cincinnati's bullpen — Luis Mey, Julian Garcia, and Zach McCambley — combined to cover the final 5.1 innings after the starter exited early, but the damage was already done. Garcia was the one who surrendered the Ford homer, allowing 2 earned runs across his 2.1 innings of work.
Lile finished 2-for-4 with a home run, 3 RBI, and 2 runs scored — the kind of performance that carries a lineup. Ford went 1-for-3 with his homer and 2 RBI. On the Cincinnati side, McLain (2-for-3, HR, RBI) and De La Cruz (1-for-2, HR, RBI) both look like they gave their team every chance to steal this one. The Reds' problem wasn't the bats — it was that Washington had one more answer than Cincinnati had questions. That's a tough way to lose a game you genuinely fought back to tie.