Eugenio Suarez, Nick Castellanos homer to lead Reds past Royals, 6-2

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

It’s been more than a frustrating year for Eugenio Suarez, to date. A spring switch back to shortstop may have a part in why the Cincinnati Reds stalwart seemed completely out of sorts all season, while there still may also be some lingering issues from the shoulder surgery he had last spring, too.

Anyway, he’s had the kind of year where things have gone wrong much more often than they’ve gone right. On Monday against the Kansas City Royals, though, he launched the kind of big fly that makes you wonder if vibes just might get a bit more good for him going forward.

Suarez belted the go-ahead 3-run homer in Kauffman Stadium, doing so in the Top of the 7th to lead the Reds to their 5th consecutive win. That’s the good stuff, man. The great stuff.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Vladimir Gutierrez, who fired another 6 IP of 2 ER ball; Joey Votto, who singled, walked twice, and scored; Nick Castellanos, who hit a drive into deep left field that ended up a home run; Tyler Stephenson, who doubled, walked, and scored twice; and each of Ryan Hendrix, Josh Osich, and Sean Doolittle, who fired scoreless IPs to lock down the win.

Key Plays

• The Reds got on the board before the Royals in this one, fortunately. They scraped across a run in the Top of the 2nd after a double down the LF line by Stephenson, a single into RF by Votto, and a grounder into a 4-6-3 double play by Eugenio Suarez. Hooray runs, boo rally killers. Reds led, 1-0.
• The Royals got that run back in the Bottom of the 3rd, however. Doubles from Nicky Lopez and Carlos Santana did that trick, the latter plating the former off Gutierrez. Game tied, 1-1.
• Gutierrez ran into a bit of it in the Bottom of the 6th, unsurprisingly, as that’s about the time pitchers who’ve had success early begin to face the top of the opposing lineup for the third time through. Salvador Perez landed the big blow with a ribbie double into LF to put KC up 2-1.
• Never fear, Nick Castellanos is here! His solo blast off Mike Minor in the Top of the 7th immediately leveled things once again. Fortunately, the Reds had a bit more in store, as walks to Stephenson and Votto were later punctuated by a massive 431 foot blast into 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 scooted home a batter later when Tyler Naquin smacked a ribbie single into LF. That made it a 6-2 game, which is exactly how it finished.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Michael Lorenzen is off to AAA Louisville for a rehab assignment, and there are hopes he could rejoin the Reds as early as this weekend. The cavalry is coming...
• That’s a 5-game win streak, and the Reds are now 4 full games over the .500 mark. All 5 of those wins were of the comeback variety, too.
• The Cubs are down 10-2 to the Phillies right now. If that holds, that’ll be 10 straight Ls flown on the south side.
• On a more pertinent note, the New York Mets sacked the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2 tonight, too.
• Tomorrow will see Luis Castillo take the mound for the Reds again, and hopefully he’ll continue the excellent stretch he’s been riding. The Royals have yet to name a starter, but first pitch will be tossed at 8:10 PM ET one way or another, barring an intervention from the skies.
• Tunes.