CINCINNATI — The rain did not help quite enough Thursday.
The only game among the three the Padres played here this week that started on time was halted at the end of the fourth inning for 52 minutes.
That was just the way it went. The difference Thursday night was the Reds won.
Kyle Farmer’s one-out home run tied the game in the ninth inning, and a walk, a charitably scored double off Jurickson Profar’s glove and walk-off single by Tyler Stephenson gave the Reds a 5-4 victory at damp Great American Ball Park.
After Tucker Barnhart walked and Profar dropped Jonathan India’s liner to left, the Padres got a second out when second baseman Jake Cronenworth fielded Jesse Winker’s grounder and threw out Barnhart at home. Nick Castellanos was intentionally walked before Stephenson lined a single to right field.
With that, Mark Melancon failed to extend his major league lead to 26 saves, instead blowing his fourth in 29 chances.
It was the Reds’ only win in the seven games the teams played this season.
They scored twice off Ryan Weathers before the delay and once more off Mason Thompson after the rain stopped.
The Padres tied the game in the seventh and took a 4-3 lead in the eighth before losing for just the second time in 13 games.
A night after rain helped the Padres to a 7-5 victory in a game that ended in the sixth inning, the rain interrupted Reds starter Luis Castillo’s no-hitter after four innings Thursday with the Reds up 2-0.
The downpour was apocalyptic by San Diego standards but merely a quintessential Midwest summer storm, come and gone in 30 minutes.
During the delay, the All-Star selection show was played on one of the big video boards, and a cheer went up from the sizable number of Padres fans in the park when it was announced that Fernando Tatis Jr. will start at shortstop for the National League on July 13.
Castillo resumed pitching after the break. His no-hitter survived one more batter, his shutout until the fourth batter of the fifth inning.
After a walk by Manny Machado, Eric Hosmer grounded a ball up the middle that India stopped but could only weakly underhand from the dirt to second base. It was ruled a base hit, and Machado was safe at second.
Profar followed a Wil Myers strikeout by driving a ball off the wall in center field for a double that scored Machado and moved Hosmer to third. Webster Rivas struck out and Ha-seong Kim lined out to center field to end the inning with the Padres having halved the lead to 2-1.
After getting two quick outs, the bottom of the fifth got away from Thompson, who had replaced Weathers.
A single by Alejo Lopez turned into a run when Thompson threw the ball to the wall on a pick-off attempt and bounced a wild pitch past catcher Webster Rivas on successive pitches, moving Lopez to third, and Aristides Aquino doubled.
Weathers, who arrived in Cincinnati Wednesday night and was officially recalled Thursday after a two-week stay in Triple-A, had his most wobbly outing in the majors.
He took a 2.47 ERA and 1.01 WHIP into Thursday’s game and allowed five hits, walked four and hit a batter. The leadoff batter reached base in three of his four innings, and the Reds had runners on in all four innings.
Down 3-1, the Padres got singles from Machado and Hosmer to start the seventh inning. A one-out walk by Profar loaded the bases for pinch-hitter Tommy Pham, who was replacing Rivas.
After a visit to the mound, Reds manager David Bell left Castillo in the game. On the eighth pitch of his at-bat, Pham lined a single to center field to tie the game.
The Padres broke that tie in the eighth when Machado scored from second on a grounder to the left side by Hosmer that Lopez, the Reds’ third baseman, threw away.
The eighth inning began with Tatis grounding a single to left field and stealing second base before getting caught in a rundown when headed for third on Machado’s grounder to shortstop. Then, with Hosmer up, Machado took off for second and was called out. But a replay review showed he beat the tag. Two pitches later, he was scoring his third run of the night.
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