Cincinnati Reds' Christian Encarnacion-Strand, right, is congratulated by Rece Hinds (57) after his grand slam drive against the Boston Red Sox during the seventh inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Encarnacion-Strand hits his 1st career grand slam to power Reds’ rally to beat Red Sox 8-4

BOSTON (AP) — Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit his first career grand slam during a five-run seventh inning and the Cincinnati Reds rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 8-4 on Wednesday night.

Elly De La Cruz, TJ Friedl and Santiago Espinal added RBIs for the Reds.

Nick Martinez (6-8) pitched 6 2/3 innings, yielding four runs off nine hits to help Cincinnati avoid being swept in the three-game interleague series.

Wilyer Abreu hit a two-run home run for the Red Sox. Romy Gonzalez drove in two runs, including an RBI double in the seventh to pull Boston within 5-4.

Brennan Bernardino opened for Boston, pitching 1 1/3 innings before handing off to Jorge Alcala and then Chris Murphy. That trio held Cincinnati to three hits and no runs over 5 2/3 innings before Greg Weissert took over.

Cincinnati Reds’ Christian Encarnacion-Strand watches the flight of his grand slam drive against the Boston Red Sox during the seventh inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Weissert (2-3) got the final out of the sixth. But things fell apart in the seventh when Stephenson led off with a single, followed by Rece Hinds reaching on a fielder’s choice and Gavin Lux walking to load the bases for Encarnacion-Strand. Weissert was pulled after surrendering five runs off four hits.

Earlier Wednesday, Abreu hit a tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth to help Boston earn a 5-3 win in the completion of a game suspended by rain on Tuesday.

Key moment

Abreu jumped on Martinez’s changeup in the sixth, driving it over the right-field wall and into the Reds’ bullpen beyond the reach of Hinds. It came after Hinds had made a catch against the same wall in the fifth, robbing Jarren Duran of an extra-base hit.

Key stat

Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Martinez walks back to the mound with a fresh baseball as Boston Red Sox’s Wilyer Abreu, left, rounds the bases on his two-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Encarnacion-Strand’s grand slam was Cincinnati’s sixth of the season.

Up next

LHP Andrew Abbott (7-1, 1.79 ERA) will start for Cincinnati when it opens its three-game series at Philadelphia on Friday. RHP Lucas Giolito (4-1, 3.99) is scheduled to start for Boston at Washington.

Boston Red Sox’s Wilyer Abreu watches the flight of his two-run home run off Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Martinez during the sixth inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Boston Red Sox’s Ceddanne Rafaela scores on a sacrifice by Romy Gonzalez against the Cincinnati Reds during the second inning of a baseball game at Fenway Park, Wednesday, July 2, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

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