The curveball arced for a called third strike. Matt McLain craned his neck in disbelief. Ronel Blanco came off the mound with a hop-step and a pump of his fist, punctuation on another clean inning. It distilled Sunday afternoon at Daikin Park into a deft sequence.

Each team batted around once as the Cincinnati Reds sweated out a high-scoring win that prevented a record blown lead.