The Cincinnati Reds are now winners of 5 straight thanks to home wins over the D-backs on Saturday and Sunday.
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On Saturday, the Reds won 4-2 despite a quiet first 5 innings at the plate. Cincinnati and Arizona combined for just two hits (one by each team), heading into the sixth.
However, some offensive fireworks would occur in that inning. Jake McCarthy led things off with a double. Ketel Marte knocked McCarthy in with a single to record the game’s first run.
Cincinnati answered in spectacular fashion in the bottom of the inning, with back-to-back-to-back homers by TJ Friedl, Matt McClain, and Jake Fraley to give the Reds a 3-1 lead.
The Reds would add one more run in the 8th when a pinch-running Elly De La Cruz scored on a Fraley groundout to first to give Cincinnati a 4-1 advantage heading into the ninth.
Arizona’s Corbin Carroll hit a solo homer off of Reds closer Alexis Diaz to make it a two-run game. Christian Walker doubled to bring the tying run to the plate in Alek Thomas. Diaz shut the door on the comeback attempt, striking him out to give the Reds a 4-2 victory.
Brandon Williamson earned the win with a great start on the mound, striking 5 and walking 1 while allowing just 1 run.
Friedl went 2-4 at the plate with a double, the aforementioned home run, and 1 RBI.
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The Reds completed the series sweep on Sunday, winning 7-3.
Elly De La Cruz kicked things off for Cincinnati with a lead-off solo home run in the bottom of the 1st to give the Reds an early 1-0 lead.
The Reds would add two more runs to the lead with a Nick Senzel two-run blast in the bottom of the 2nd to make it a 3-0 advantage.
Arizona would not go quietly, tying the game in the 5th. Geraldo Perdomo scored first on a throwing error by Steer. Corbin Carroll followed it up with a two-run home run to tie the game at 3.
Cincinnati answered with a run in the fifth to take the lead back. They would add two more runs in the 8th, thanks to an RBI single by Spencer Steer and a two-run single by Christian Encarnacion-Strand, giving the Reds the run support they needed to win 7-3.
Encarnacion-Strand finished the game 2-3 with 2 RBI.
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Cincinnati has won 5 straight games. They head into a 3-game road series with Milwaukee a 55-46 record, trailing the Brewers by just 1/2 a game for the NL Central lead. The series begins tonight. Coverage on 103.9 WRBI begins at 7:40 tonight.