Sal Stewart turned around a meatball from Kodai Senga in the Bottom of the 1st inning, launching it 410 feet off the facade of the upper deck beyond the left field wall in Great American Ball Park on Tuesday night. Stewart, who was batting 3rd for the Cincinnati Reds on the night, did so after each of the first two batters of the game had also reached, and it gave the Reds an immediate 3-0 lead over the New York Mets just a day after the Reds beat their NL foes 12-0.
Spencer Steer followed with a solo homer of his own, and that ended up being enough for the Reds to take the win after all.
Brady Singer mercifully poured in his second straight good start (5.0 IP, 3 H, ER, 3 BB, 5 K on 91 pitches), and despite the Mets drawing things close with a homer in the Top of the 6th off Sam Moll, the Reds threadbare bullpen managed to otherwise hold down the fort for an eventual 5-3 win. Tony Santillan hammered down the save after Tejay Antone pitched around a pair of walks in the 8th inning, and the Reds inched closer to the .500 mark at 35-37 on the season.
Of note is that this victory paired with last night’s clinches a series victory for Cincinnati, and that comes after they’d found way after way to lose each of their previous five series before this one. To say this one was pretty vital is the understatement of the season, methinks.
The series finale between these two will begin at 12:40 PM ET on Wednesday afternoon with lefty Nick Lodolo on the mound. New York will be sending out promising rookie Nolan McLean, who the Reds managed to hit pretty hard the last time they faced him. So, there’s at least a theoretical chance that the Reds can a) sweep a series and b) head into their series against the New York Yankees on a real, live win streak.
One can dream!
