None of that mattered much for the first five innings. Cincinnati grabbed a pair of 2-run frames in the 3rd and 5th, Miami answered with single runs in the 3rd, 4th and 5th, and the two clubs traded blows in a game that felt like it would come down to one big swing.
That swing came in the 8th, when Miami's bats woke up all at once for 4 runs and turned a coin-flip game into a comfortable win, then tacked on one more in the 9th for good measure. The Marlins out-hit the Reds 14-to-8 on the night, a sign of a lineup that had gone quiet for stretches of this series finally breaking through.
The two clubs are now split at a game apiece in this set, with the rubber match set for Sunday behind Nick Lodolo and Eury Pérez. For Miami, it's another data point in the argument that June's 20-6 run wasn't a fluke; for Cincinnati, it's a reminder that Singer's turnaround since June hasn't fully erased the shaky stretches that still show up.
Neither team is whole right now, and both are still fighting for position with more than a month of games left. Miami leaves Cincinnati with the series tied and its wild-card case a little stronger; the Reds head into Sunday looking to answer back before the two clubs part ways.