CINCINNATI _ Eric Hosmer ended a long week _ or maybe it really was just four soggy, slogging days _ in southern Ohio for the Padres with a solo home run in the ninth inning that stood as the difference in a 7-6 victory over the Reds on Sunday.
Besides the victory, the Padres were happily able to avoid extra innings before flying to Seattle, because Hosmer for the first time in his career homered in a third straight game.
The shot that just barely cleared the wall in left field broke a 6-6 tie and came a half-inning after the end of a rain delay of one hour, 32 minutes.
Including the 1:13 delay before Saturday's game was officially called, there were five hours and 22 minutes of delays in the final three games of the four-game series.
On Saturday, the teams agreed to reschedule Sunday's first pitch for three hours later than the originally scheduled 1:10 ET start in an effort to avoid the weather that had already delayed one game and shortened another.
The start of Friday's game was delayed more than 2 { hours, and the Reds won 12-6 thanks to a four-run inning and a five-run inning. Saturday's game began three hours earlier than scheduled due to heavy rain being forecast starting in the late afternoon, and the Reds put up a seven-run second inning on their way to a 7-2 victory.
Between most half-innings Sunday, umpires and the grounds crew chief met and checked radar while the rest of the grounds crew applied clay all over infield and to the mound.
In all, there were approximately two tons of clay added, bag by bag for almost 80 bags, on Sunday.
The grounds crew was going about that task in the middle of the eighth inning when Padres manager Andy Green animatedly approached the umpires amidst what was an increasing downpour. A minute later, the umpires called everyone off the field.
After the Padres won unfettered on Thursday, a weekend of longs days and big innings commenced.
Three innings before Sunday's delay, the Reds tied the game with an all-too-familiar outburst.
The Padres had to that point seemed to be cruising to a split of the series.
Rookie starter Jacob Nix had struck out a career-high five batters and thrown just 56 pitches, and the Padres led 6-1 on the strength of three successive two-run innings.
Austin Hedges started the scoring with a two-run homer in the third. Luis Urias' 434-foot blast to the third deck made it 4-0 in the fourth. After the Reds got their first hit and first run off Nix in the bottom of the fourth, a single by Franmil Reyes and walk by Cory Spangenberg set up Freddy Galvis' two-run double.
Then came three singles and Jose Peraza's two-run double preceded Joey Votto's three-run homer before Nix could get another out.
He was replaced by Robert Stock, who got through the inning. Rowan Wick started the seventh and got an out before allowing a single. Jose Castillo came in and got the next five outs.
Craig Stammen (7-2) pitched the eighth, and Kirby Yates earned his seventh save with a perfect ninth.
