A's unable to hold onto 5-run lead, lose to Reds

TJ Friedl capped Cincinnati's three-run ninth inning with a two-run single, and the Reds beat Lawrence Butler and the Oakland Athletics 10-9 on Thursday.

Tyler Stephenson and Will Benson homered for Cincinnati, which had lost five of six. Stephenson finished with three hits and two RBIs.

Butler hit three homers for Oakland and drove in four runs. It was his second three-homer game of the season after he also went deep three times in an 18-3 win at Philadelphia on July 14.

Butler opened the ninth with his 19th homer, a drive to right off Alexis Díaz that tied it at 7. Brent Rooker then walked and JJ Bleday doubled ahead of Seth Brown's tiebreaking two-run single.

The struggling Díaz was replaced by Emilio Pagán (4-4), who retired his only three batters.

Oakland closer Mason Miller saved each of the first two games in the series, so manager Mark Kotsay sent Grant Holman (0-1) to the mound for the ninth. And the Reds rallied.

Rece Hinds reached on a leadoff walk and Jonathan India singled. Elly De La Cruz walked ahead of Stephenson's RBI single, and Friedl grounded a game-ending single into right field.

Butler hit a two-run drive in the second and a solo shot in the fourth, helping Oakland build a 6-1 lead. He also homered in the first two games of the series.