Eugenio Suarez homers again, Reds pound Brewers 14-6 to win series

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Eugenio Suarez was the hero for the Cincinnati Reds last night, and he was back on top of his game tonight against the Milwaukee Brewers, too.

Geno helped the Reds clinch the series victory over their division rivals with another monster game, coming up just a triple shy of the cycle in the process. He homered early, drove in a trio of runs, scored twice, and was his usual awesome self.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Joey Votto, who doubled, dingered, drove in a pair, and scored thrice; Jesse Winker, who homered as part of his 2-hit night; Phil Ervin, who tripled in a trio of runs as his part of this budding LF platoon; Nick Senzel, who singled, walked, drove in a run, and scored twice; Ryan Lavarnway, who singled, doubled, and drove in another run; Jose Peraza, who came off the bench mid-game and smacked a big 2-run single; and Sal Romano, who pitched the final 3 innings to pick up the ‘save’ in his first appearance of the year, allowing a lone earned run in the process.

Key Plays

• For whatever reason, the Cincinnati Reds are a well-oiled 1st inning machine offensively. That played out in a big way again on Tuesday, as they got a pair of dingers in the opening frame off Milwaukee starter Zach Davies - one from Suarez, and another from Winker, both of which were hit the other way and were of the 2-run variety. Reds led early, 4-0.
• Senzel got the offense going against Davies in the Top of the 5th, too, smacking a leadoff single off the outstretched glove of Mike Moustakas to lead it off. He and Votto were both then safe when a would-be could-be 4-6-3 double play resulted in zero outs when SS Tyler Saladino booted the catch at 2B, and that proved large when Suarez followed with an RBI single into LF. Yasiel Puig later legged out an infield single off reliever Alex Claudio on a high-chopper to load the bases with none out, and Claudio - a lefty - prompted David Bell to pull Jesse Winker for the red-hot Phil Ervin. Ervin followed with a bases-clearing triple into the RF corner, and he scored a batter later on a sac fly by Scooter Gennett. Reds led, 9-0.
• The Beers finally punched back against Tanner Roark in the Bottom of the 5th. Saladino began things with a single after his defensive foible, and he later scored on an RBI double by Lorenzo Cain. Christian Yelich is Christian Yelich, and he then brought in Cain with an RBI single, and the Reds lead was 9-2.
• The Reds got those runs back immediately in the Top of the 6th off reliever Burch Smith. He walked Senzel with 1-out before humming a meatball over the lower half of the zone that Votto absolutely crushed for a 2-run dinger. Reds led, 11-2.
• Robert Stephenson took over with a 9-run lead, but he unfortunately had to face Bill Hall All Star Manny Pina, who socked a dinger over the CF wall, because of course he did. The more unfortunate part about that sentence was that it was a 3-run jack after Ryan Braun reached on catcher’s interference and Bob walked Eric Thames. Reds led, 11-5.
• The Reds kept on hammering Smith in the Top of the 7th. A trio of singles began the frame, as Scooter notched one, Jose Iglesias followed, and Lavarnway knocked in another run with a single of his own. Smith then walked Derek Dietrich to load the bags with nobody out before Senzel’s RBI groundout appeared to plated Iggy. Unfortunately, the umps ruled that Dietrich’s slide into 2B to break up a would-be double-play came on the inside of the bag, and ruled both he and Senzel out and sent the runners back to 2B and 3B. That could’ve put a damper on the rally, but Peraza then smashed a 2-run single into LF to score both runners, and the Reds led, 14-5.
• Milwaukee farted around and scored a run in the Bottom of the 8th, but who cares. Reds won, 14-6.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Tanner Roark was far from awful in this one, but he didn’t exactly put on a showcase with a week to go before the trade deadline, needing 102 pitches to finish 5 innings. His final line: 5 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, BB, 5 K.
• Tonight’s win coupled with the Pittsburgh Pirates loss means the Reds are now in 4th place in the NL Central. Nice!
• Tomorrow’s series finale will also be the final game the Reds play in Milwaukee in 2019 - at least in the regular season. It’s also an afternoon start, with first pitch set for 2:10 PM ET. Lucas Sims will make his second start for the Reds this season as a fill-in for the injured Tyler Mahle, while the Brewers will turn to veteran Jhoulys Chacin.
• Tunes.