The Sports Xchange
Aug 31, 2017
CINCINNATI -- Scooter Gennett smacked a two-run home run and drove in three runs, Joey Votto added a solo shot and the Cincinnati Reds captured the rubber match of their three-game series against the New York Mets with a 7-2 win on Thursday.
Rookie catcher Stuart Turner added an eighth-inning two-run shot and rookie right-hander Robert Stephenson (3-4) shook off getting plunked by a line drive in the third to last a season-high six innings.
Stephenson, who has won his last three starts, allowed two runs on five hits with three walks with seven strikeouts.
Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom (14-8) slipped to 2-5 in seven starts since he strung together eight consecutive wins. DeGrom allowed six hits and four runs -- three earned -- with three walks and five strikeouts in six innings.
The Reds went 4-5 on their nine-game homestand, but they finished August with a 15-14 record, their first winning month since going 13-11 in July 2016.
Jose Reyes extended his hitting streak to seven games (11-for-25) with his second double to lead off a game in fewer than 24 hours. This one was a ground-rule shot that bounced off the warning track and grazed the top of the wall on its way into a service tunnel next to the home team's bullpen in left-center field. He scored on a sacrifice fly by Asdrubal Cabrera, who has seven RBIs in his last seven games.
The Reds, who were shut out for the fifth time on Wednesday night after piling up 14 runs on Tuesday, grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second. Eugenio Suarez led off with a single and Gennett followed his 23rd homer of the season, a long belt into the deep right-center field seats.
The homer was redemption for Gennett, who struck out with the bases loaded and two outs to finish Wednesday's 2-0 loss.
The Mets tied it at 2 in the third when Reyes scored from third on Brandon Nimmo's line drive single that glanced off the lower body of Stephenson. Stephenson threw a couple of test pitches and stayed in the game.
Hamilton manufactured a go-ahead run in the third. He led off with a single to center, stole his 55th base and, with one out, sped into third on Joey Votto's grounder to Cabrera at shortstop. Cabrera's throw to third glanced off Hamilton's body and rolled far enough away for him to score.
Gennett followed Jose Peraza's leadoff single with a two-out, RBI double off the base of the right field wall in the fifth.
Votto added his 34th homer in the seventh inning.
NOTES: The Reds placed C Tucker Barnhart on the three-day paternity list and recalled C Chad Wallach from Triple-A Louisville, Wallach's second baby-related promotion in less than a week. He was promoted from the Bats last Friday when C Stuart Turner went on paternity leave. ... Mets RF Travis Taijeron logged his first career hit with a double into the left-field corner with one out in the fourth inning. ... RHP Jacob deGrom's strikeout of pinch hitter Zack Cozart in the sixth inning was his single-season high 206th of the season.