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Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings May 25, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 2011-The 19-inning game at Philadelphia lasts 6 hours, 11 minutes, setting a club record MLB.COM Vroom when it happens: Hamilton's huge run By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | 2:46 AM ET + 9 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- Just a few minutes earlier, the fireworks had burst and the music had blared as the Indians were celebrating what they thought was a one-run win over the Reds on a rainy Wednesday night at Progressive Field. But the only sound Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton could hear was the wind whistling in his ears as he blazed around the bases to score the game-winning run in an improbable 4-3 victory over the Indians. They say speed kills. On this night, it certainly killed the Indians. Twice the Indians had a chance to end the game and twice Hamilton said "not so fast." With men on first and second with one out in the ninth, Hamilton appeared to hit into a stellar 3-6-3 double play that closed with a bang-bang play at first to end the game. But Reds manager Bryan Price challenged the out call at first as the Indians gathered to celebrate their win, and the call was overturned. That left Hamilton at first and pinch-runner Arismendy Alcantara on third, with two outs and shortstop Zack Cozart at the plate facing Tribe closer Cody Allen, who had not blown a save all season. Allen threw Cozart a 1-0 fastball that was lined hard into short left field. Michael Brantley sprinted in and dove to make the catch, but he could not make the play. It would have been a heck of a game-ending catch: He had only a 16-percent catch probability, according to Statcast™, meaning it would have been a five-star catch. After diving, Brantley had trouble locating the ball, and that was all the blazing Hamilton needed. Running on the pitch, Hamilton never broke stride and scored the go-ahead run in a mad dash home in less than 9 seconds, a barrier broken only seven previous times in the Statcast™ Era. Hamilton himself holds the record, at 8.23 seconds last May 7. "As soon as I saw him dive, that was my key just to go," Hamilton said. "In my head the whole time, I'm like, 'We've got the tying run.' I had 'score' in my head the whole time once I saw him dive. I didn't see [third-base coach Billy] Hatcher. I didn't look at Hatcher. I was going to go no matter what, even if he tried to stop me. It's just something that I made up in my mind rounding second." Once Brantley found the ball, he didn't even attempt a throw home as Hamilton scored standing up and raced into the dugout, where he was mobbed by his teammates. "When I rounded first, I was kind of shocked it even made it," Cozart said. "Brantley almost caught it. I was shocked. Then when I looked up, I saw [the ball] on the ground and looked where Billy was. I knew he had no chance to get Billy, too. So I was just pumped. I knew he was coming in and we had a good chance to win." Added Price: "There's not many other guys that are going to score on that play or are going to be able to beat out that ball." Dealt his first loss of 2017, and his first blown save since Aug. 17, 2016, Allen made no excuses. "Obviously, you think it's over right there, but once they challenge it, you have to take a step back and get ready just in case. I was ready," Allen said. "I'm not going to say that Zack Cozart got a base hit because of that. He hit a pretty good pitch." Added Indians manager Terry Francona: "It's kind of hard once you think the game's over, you kind of let your emotion go. If there's anybody that I would trust to reel it back in, it's Cody." It all started with Hamilton's first dash -- a 4.13-second sprint from home to first to beat out what would have been the game-ending double play. "From just looking, I thought Billy was safe," Cozart said. "Then when they showed the first replay, I don't know why it took so long for them to make the safe call. It looked right away to me that he was safe. Then once I saw that, I was focused on getting my timing because Allen was throwing pitches on the mound." "It's a tough play," said Indians first baseman Carlos Santana, who initiated the 3-6-3 double play attempt with a great catch and quick throw to second. "The umpire, he called him out, but with baseball now, there's replay. I think he's out, so I was very excited. But the umpires called him safe, and that's why we lost the game." Just last week at Wrigley Field, the Reds lost a game on a final-play challenge that was overturned against the Cubs. Joey Votto was originally called safe on a two-out grounder to second base after a throw pulled Anthony Rizzo's foot off the bag. While Votto looked safe, replay officials overturned the call -- leaving Price and Cincinnati fuming. "I was concerned," Price said. "The thing that's tough about that is if you're able to see things on the video, and then they don't match up with the final call from New York, and you don't have anyone from New York to complain to, it just rips your heart out." On this night, it was the Indians that had their hearts ripped out. "Any time you can kind of snatch a win like that, so late," Cozart said, "and they have their guy on the mound, you pull out a victory, that's a big, big thing for sure." Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Reds race to win with two-out rally in ninth By Jordan Bastian and Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | 2:38 AM ET + 76 COMMENTS CLEVELAND -- Indians closer Cody Allen had been perfect in save situations dating back to August of last season. That changed on Wednesday night, when a clutch hit from Zack Cozart and a furious sprint from Billy Hamilton fueled a two-run ninth that gave the Reds a 4-3 comeback win over Cleveland at Progressive Field. With two outs and runners on the corners, Hamilton bolted from first base and Cozart lined a 1-0 pitch from Allen into left field, where Michael Brantley came up just short on a diving attempt. Arismendy Alcantara scored from third and the fleet-footed Hamilton was not far behind, scoring the go-ahead run to send Allen to his first blown save since Aug. 17, 2016. "Their whole bullpen is pretty good," Cozart said. "That shows how tough we've been offensively to score runs off guys like that in the past couple of games and to have good at-bats. That's tough to do. So we're out there, we just keep battling on every at-bat, even versus guys like that." Between this season and last, Allen had been perfect in 22 consecutive regular-season saves, with six more collected during the Indians' postseason run last fall. "He's just really good," Indians manager Terry Francona said. "When you have one-run games, you run the risk of something happening. You could lose. It's nice if you can spread a game out. We didn't. It had a chance to be a nice, crisp win, but we didn't spread it out. I don't ever feel like it's on Cody. We could've done some things better to score a few more runs." Cincinnati's late push overcame a solid night for Carlos Santana, who provided all of the Tribe's offense with a two-run homer in the third inning and an RBI double in the fifth. Both hits came off Reds starter Lisalverto Bonilla, who was charged with three runs on six hits in his five innings. Cincinnati slugger Adam Duvall knocked a towering two-run homer (No. 10 on the year) in the fourth off righty Trevor Bauer, who turned in 5 1/3 innings for the Indians before a rain delay lasting just over two hours arrived in the sixth. Duvall's shot traveled a projected 432 feet, per Statcast™, snapping his 15-game homerless drought. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Last out overturned: With runners on first and second and one out in the ninth, Hamilton chopped a pitch to Santana. The first baseman gloved and fired to shortstop Francisco Lindor, who got the force at second before firing back to Santana for what looked like a 3-6-3 double play to end the game. As the crowd roared in celebration, the Reds challenged the final out call. After a replay review lasting two minutes and 57 seconds, the ruling was overturned and Hamilton was deemed safe. That set the stage for Cozart's game-winning hit.