Homer Bailey excellent again, Reds beat Diamondbacks to win series

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Homer Bailey took a while to heat up after returning to the Cincinnati Reds, but lately he’s been swinging the bat well enough to warrant being moved up in the order. On Sunday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, Bailey cracked a solid single into CF, and later added a double down the 1B line, and it appears that he’s finally starting to see the ball well after having spent much of the last three years battling back from elbow injuries to his right arm - the same arm as the all-important top hand on his bat.

Congrats on the good work, Homer. That the righty provided 6.2 innings of 1 ER, 5 K ball on 102 pitches certainly was nice to see as well. That’s now back to back outings of 6+ innings of 1 ER ball.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Joey Votto, who walked and singled in a run; Scott Schebler, who doubled in a run; Adam Duvall, for doubling and being that run that Scott Schebler doubled in (and for nailing a runner trying to score at home); Michael Lorenzen, who bailed out Homer by striking out Paul Goldschmidt with a pair of runners on in the 7th inning (firing 1.1 scoreless innings in total); and Jose Peraza, who had a 2-hit day.

Key Plays

• The Reds struck first in this one, plating a run in the Top of the 3rd. Billy Hamilton beat out a would-be double play after Bailey had led off the inning with a single, and promptly swiped 2B for his 38th steal of the season. That put him in scoring position for Votto, who dumped a single over the shortstop’s head to drive Billy in and give the Reds a 1-0 lead.
• Bailey hung a slider to AJ Pollock in the Bottom of the 3rd, however, and the Arizona leadoff man crushed it for a solo homer over the wall in RF that tied the game, 1-1.
• The Reds added another run in the Top of the 6th, as Duvall doubled and later scored on a double by Scott Schebler. Reds led, 2-1.
• After Lorenzen bailed out Bailey and got the Reds to the 9th, Raisel Iglesias locked down the save - and the series win - as the Reds were victorious, 2-1!

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Eugenio Suarez got ejected in the Top of the 6th after taking a called third strike on the inside of the plate. He didn’t appear to say anything, though he did slam his bat down in frustration.
• Speaking of Suarez and frustration, it’s been a rough go for the Cincinnati 3B since his blistering start. He entered play having hit just .239 since April 13th, and just .203/.339/.312 in his last 43 games.
• While this one was being played, the MLB Futures Game was taking place in Miami, where future Reds Nick Senzel and Jimmy Herget were participating. Senzel smoked an RBI single into CF in his first PA, by the way.
• Today’s outing was the final one of the first ‘half’ of the season, with the Home Run Derby and All Star Game taking place on Monday and Tuesday nights, respectively. Zack Cozart and Joey Votto will represent the Reds for the NL on Tuesday.
• The Reds will return to action on Friday, with the Washington Nationals in Cincinnati for a weekend series at GABP. Either Tim Adleman or Luis Castillo will get the start on Friday, though Bryan Price hasn’t revealed his final decision on the rotation order for the second half just yet.
• Tunes.