Homers from Francisco Lindor, Roberto Perez lead Cleveland past Reds 7-2

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

The blazing hot streak that we’ve seen from Yasiel Puig over the last few weeks continued in a big, big way on Saturday, and the Cincinnati Reds RF has absolutely emerged as the electrifying force we all hoped we’d see when the Reds acquired him from the Los Angeles Dodgers over the winter.

Puig bashed a 2-run homer, doubled, and singled, with each smash exiting his bat with a velocity in excess of 101 mph. That, folks, is a triple shy of a cycle. Even his effort was on display, as he legged out that single as one of the infield variety, his sprint down the 1B forcing a rushed throw that went for an error that left Puig on 2B.

(Yeah, he TOOTBLAN’d from there, but the point stands.)

The Reds have emerged as Puig has emerged, and here’s hoping that the All Star break isn’t long enough to slow either’s momentum.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Anthony DeSclafani, who allowed 2 ER in 6 largely effective innings pitched (with a final line of 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K on 95 pitches); and Joey Votto, whose 9th inning double - the 389th of his career - tied him with Davey Concepcion for 3rd most in Reds history.

Key Plays

• Francisco Lindor is a baseball heartthrob, one who I’ve openly wished would be a Cincinnati Red in the very near future lately. He dreamboat’d a solo dinger off Disco to open the Top of the 1st, and the Reds trailed immediately, 1-0.
• Never fear, though - Yasiel Puig is here. Puig tatoo’d a Shane Bieber meatball over the RF wall in the Bottom of the 1st, a 2-run jack as it came on the heels of an Eugenio Suarez single. Reds led, 2-1.
• Lindor did that thing again in the Top of the 5th, however, and it tied the score. He lifted a moonshot solo blast down the RF line that banged off the pole, leveling the score at 2-2.
• After firing a clean Top of the 7th, Michael Lorenzen was back on the mound for the Top of the 8th. It was not clean. It was rather dirty, actually. Jose Ramirez continued his mid-season resurgence by smoking a double off the RF wall, and he later scored on a 2-run dinger off the bat of Roberto Perez. Reds trailed, 4-2.
• Matt Bowman took the mound for the Reds in the Top of the 9th. A double, an intentional walk, and a walk later he faced the bases loaded, and walked Ramirez to force in a run. Then, Jake Bauers dumped a 2-run single into RF, and this one-time winnable game had become a abject conflagration. Red lost, 7-2.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Zach Duke officially cleared waivers today after having previously been DFA’d, meaning he’s now a free agent, the Reds announced.
• Aside from Puig, the entirety of the Cincinnati lineup managed a total of two hits and no walks. That’s not ideal.
• The final game of the season’s first ‘half’ will go off Sunday afternoon at 1 PM ET. It will feature Tyler Mahle on the hill for the Reds, and he’ll be opposed by Cleveland starter Trevor Bauer.
• Tunes.