SAN DIEGO -- The Reds, in San Diego on a business trip, likely didn’t visit its world-class beaches. Instead it’s the dwindling sand in the season’s hourglass that has their attention.

The time to win is now, and the Reds did just that in defeating the Padres, 4-2 , on Tuesday night at Petco Park.

After getting sand kicked in their face 24 hours earlier while squandering a 3-0 lead in a 4-3 loss , Cincinnati rebounded in keen fashion.

"After last night, this was a big game that we really needed to come away with," Reds starting pitcher Zack Littell said.

Littell was standing in a raucous clubhouse, thanks to his batterymate, Tyler Stephenson . Stephenson went from being robbed of a home run by Fernando Tatis Jr. in the second inning to smacking a two-run, go-ahead homer to left

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