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Reds 7 Royals 4
For the second consecutive night the Reds put five runs on the board in an inning. Wednesday night they did it with three homers in the 5th inning and went on to beat the Royals 7-4 for their fifth consecutive win and a sweep of the three game series. They have won 8 of their last 10.
It wasn't easy. It never is. The Reds led 7-1 in the 6th. But David Bell had to turn to Alexis Diaz with a 7-4 lead and two on and one out in the 9th inning to close things out. Diaz pitching for the fourth time in five days, hit the first batter he faced to load the bases. But he got a strikeout and a groundout. Thankfully, the Reds are off Thursday.
The Reds, who entered the night 28th in MLB with just 53 home runs, clobbered four homers overall: Spencer Steer, Stuart Fairchild, Matt McLain and Jonathan India all joined the fun.
The Pirates and Brewers lost. The Reds are .5 game back of the Brewers for 2nd place and 1.5 games back of the Pirates for first place.
The Royals outhit the Reds 15-7, but stranded 14 runners on base to the Reds 1.
Then and now: The Reds are 34-35. A year ago, they were 23-46 through the first 69 games. They are 27-20 since April 24, seven games better than any team in the NL Central.
Ben Lively: 5.2 IN, 10 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 4 K, 95 pitches/65 strikes. The Royals had traffic on the bases early and often. Seven Royals reached base in the first three innings, but just one scored. The Reds staff has gone nine straight since the last Quality Start: Andrew Abbott, June 5.
Big games:
Fairchild HR, BB + he threw a one bounce seed to McLain to cut down Edward Oliveras attempting to stretch a single into a double.
He's making a case to stick with all the upcoming roster decisions. He had H-R-RBI Tuesday and HR-sac bunt Monday.
McLain 2 H, HR, 1B, 2 R, 3 RBI. He bunted his way on to start the 4th and scored....the first bunt hit of his MLB career.
India 2 H, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, R.
Steer blasted his 9th HR. He entered the night 1st among NL rookies in RBI, and 2nd in H, BB, EXBH, TB, R.
Searching: Elly De La Cruz went 0 for 4, GO, FO, GO, K....and 0 for 12 in the series. Gotta be the first time in his career he's hit into a DP in three straight games.
Wins some/lose some with aggressiveness:
McLain scored from 1B on a Jonathan India flair into left-center field with 0 outs.
India was doubled up when he broke for 3rd on a fly out by De La Cruz.
Error D: The Reds committed four errors, three by outfielders. Right fielder TJ Hopkins picked up two errors in the first three innings when throws hit the runner sliding into 3rd base.....twice. Jose Barrero bobbled a ball in CF. Barrero had a tough time on two other balls. Newman had a throwing error.
Lovin' lefties: The Reds are now 14-9 vs LH starters this season. They were 17-29 last season.
Bullpen:
Alex Young 1.0 IN, 1 R
Buck Farmer 0.1 IN, 0 R
Fernando Cruz 1.0, 0 R
Daniel Duarte 0.1 IN, R
Alexis Diaz 0.2 IN, Save....22 in a row.
How the Reds scored:
2nd: Steer HR (414 feet), 1-0 Reds
3rd: India RBI double scores McLain, 2-1 Reds
5th: Fairchild HR (386 feet), 3-1 Reds
5th: McLain 3-run HR (428 feet), 6-1 Reds
5th: India HR (409 feet), 7-1 Reds