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Honorary Star of the Game Joe Nuxhall Memorial
It has been more than a frustrating year for Eugenio Suarez to date. A return to spring to shortstop may be part of the reason why the Cincinnati Reds mainstay has seemed completely out of place all season, when there may also be lingering issues with the operation at the shoulder he suffered last spring.
Either way, he’s had the kind of year where things have gone wrong a lot more often than they have gone right. On Monday against the Kansas City Royals, however, he threw the kind of big fly that makes you wonder if the vibes could be a little better for him in the future.
Suarez scored the 3-point home run at Kauffman Stadium, making it in the top of the 7th to lead the Reds to their 5th straight victory. This is the right thing, man. The great stuff.
Honorable mentions are due to: Vladimir Gutierrez, who fired another 6 IP bullet from 2 ER; Joey Votto, who scored a single, walked twice and scored; Nick Castellanos, who hit a drive in deep left field that ended in a home run; Tyler Stephenson, who doubled, walked and scored twice; and each of Ryan Hendrix, Josh Osich and Sean Doolittle, who shot aimless IPs to lock in the win.
Key games
- The Reds entered the table before the Royals in this one, thankfully. They managed a run in the lead of 2nd after a double on the LF line from Stephenson, a single in RF from Votto and a goal in a 4-6-3 double play from Eugenio Suarez. Hurray runs, hoots the rally killers. The Reds were leading 1-0.
- The Royals, however, recovered this race at the end of the third. The doubles of Nicky Lopez and Carlos Santana made it this round, the latter tackling Gutierrez first. Tied game, 1-1.
- Unsurprisingly, Gutierrez encountered a bit of it at the bottom of the 6th, as that’s about when the early successful pitchers start facing the top of the opposing lineup for the third time. Salvador Perez hit the nail on the head with Ribbie’s brace in LF to give KC a 2-1 lead.
- Don’t worry, Nick Castellanos is here! His solo take-off from Mike Minor in the Top of the 7th got things right right away. Thankfully the Reds had a bit more in store, as the walks to Stephenson and Votto were then punctuated by a massive 431-foot explosion in the LF seats by Suarez off reliever. [insert first name that’s not Bradley or Mike] Zimmer to make it a 5-2 game.
- Aristides Aquino tripled to open the top of the 9th, and he brought in a hitter later when Tyler Naquin hit a single ribbie in LF. That made it a 6-2 game, and that’s exactly how it ended.
Tony graphanino
Other Notes
- Michael Lorenzen left for AAA Louisville on a rehab assignment, and we hope he can join the Reds this weekend. The cavalry arrives …
- It’s a 5 game winning streak, and the Reds are now 4 full games above the 0.500 mark. These 5 victories were also of the return type.
- The Cubs are down 10-2 against the Phillies right now. If it holds, it will be 10 straight ls stolen from the south side.
- On a more relevant note, the New York Mets also sacked the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 tonight.
- Tomorrow Luis Castillo will take the mound again for the Reds, and I hope he will continue the excellent stretch he has covered. The Royals have yet to name a starter, but the first pitch will be pitched at 8:10 p.m. ET one way or another, barring some intervention from the sky.
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Tunes.
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