Reds score another 14 runs, thump Giants early and often in 14-2 win

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Good lord. Everyone!

Billy Hamilton came a homer shy of the cycle in his 3 for 6, 2 ribbie, 2 run scored night (that also featured a steal).

Patrick Kivlehan, who seemingly hasn't played in a decade, had a 4 for 5 night that included a homer and a pair of runs scored.

Joey Votto? 2 for 3 with a double, walk, run driven, in, and run scored!

Zack Cozart went 2 for 3 with a double, a walk, a pair driven in, and a pair scored.

Adam Duvall? Good! With a homer!

Eugenio Suarez! Good, too! With a homer, too!

The reality of this one was that the Cincinnati offense blew the doors off the San Francisco Giants' attempts to retire them, and that was truly the story of the game regardless of how the team pitched...

...however, the Reds pitched well, too! Amir Garrett allowed just 2 ER in his 6 IP, yet another solid outing from the rookie lefty. And to top that off, Robert Stephenson chipped in with his best outing of the season, going 3 innings, allowing nary a hit, striking out 2 (against a lone walk), and getting the first save of his big league career.

So, congrats to everyo...

...wait a minute, even the bench had good outings!  Arismendy Alcantara doubled in a run to raise his season line to .360/.385/.520, and Scooter Gennett got a base knock to drive him in, raising his season line to .286/.310/.518.

Yes. Everyone. Absolutely freaking everyone, including Devin Mesoraco, who singled and scored.

Key Plays

• Oh boy. Finish that glass of water and stretch a bit, would ya? The Reds scored almost as quickly as possible in the Bottom of the 1st, with Hamilton’s leadoff triple resulting in a run a batter later on Cozart’s sac-fly. Duvall’s solo bonk came two batters later, and the Reds led early, 2-0.
• Two walks and and dropped fly ball from Kivlehan greeted Garrett for the Top of the 2nd inning, and the Giants scored twice thanks to an eventual sac-fly and a Gorkys Hernandez double, which tied the game 2-2.
• That immediately became unimportant, however, as Cincinnati’s offense went bonkers for 9 runs in the next three half-innings. Hamilton’s 2-out, 2-run double netted them a pair in the Bottom of the 2nd, and the Bottom of the 3rd saw them score 6 - six! - off San Francisco starter Ty Blach. Suarez had an RBI double. Peraza donked in a run on a productive grounder. Suarez swiped home on a wild pitch, Kivlehan bashed a solo homer, and an eventual Cozart single and Votto double both drove in runs, too. That left the Reds ahead, 10-2.
• I already mentioned that the Reds scored in the Bottom of the 4th, too. That came on a laser-liner solo dinger by Suarez that just cleared the wall in LF. Reds led, 11-2.
• But wait! That wasn’t all! The Reds pushed another run across the plate in the Bottom of the 5th after Cozart walked, Votto singled to move him to 3B, and Duvall skied a sac-fly to bring in the Reds’ SS. 12-2 was the lead.
• 12 runs was probably enough. Probably. The Reds didn’t care, though, and added on in the Bottom of the 7th thanks to a double by Cozart, an RBI double by Arismendy Alcantara whilst pinch-hitting for Votto, and another pinch-hit from Scooter Gennett to drive in Alcantara. Reds led, 14-2.
• From that point on, the game moved gradually towards inevitability, and the Reds claimed the win at that very 14-2 score.

Tony Graphanino

Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes

• Cincinnati scored 14 runs in this game. 14 runs! It’s the first time they’ve scored at least 13 runs in a game in exactly a day. However, it’s the first time in which they’ve scored at least 13 runs in back to back games since - you guessed it - the Big Red Machine days of 1976.
• The Reds will get their next shot at scoring a dozen runs on Sunday at 4:10 PM ET, which is a bit of an odd-time if you’re used to the typical 1:10 PM ET start times on Sundays. So, take note.
• Hey! That game will feature Johnny Cueto as the starter for the Giants! He’ll be opposed by Scott Feldman, and I’m pretty sure my Reds fandom just came into question based on which of those two I am most excited to watch pitch.
• Tunes.