Reds rally to win after Finnegan leaves early with shoulder strain

The last thing manager Bryan Price and the Cincinnati Reds needed with a pitcher making his major-league debut on Sunday was a short start by Brandon Finnegan on Saturday.

Naturally, Finnegan lasted one torturous inning against the Milwaukee Brewers before leaving with a strained left shoulder.

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That became almost a distant memory after the Reds came from behind twice and overcame Eric Thames’ two home runs to pull out a 7-5 win before a crowd of 31,008 on a breezy afternoon at Great American Ball Park.

Scooter Gennett drove in Eugenio Suarez with the tying run and Jesse Winker, in his second major-league at bat, delivered a bloop, two-run double to left that produced the winning runs in a three-run sixth-inning rally.

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Winker, who struck out in his debut Friday playing in front of his parents and two brothers, had a distinctly different outcome with his aunt, uncle and grandmother joining his immediate family after driving from Niagara Falls.

“In my first at-bat yesterday, I took the time to look around and soak up the atmosphere,” he said. “I sort of knew where my parents were sitting and I found my mom and we locked eyes. It was surreal. You only get one first time. Today was more like whenever I get called upon, I’ll be ready to go to work. I didn’t hit the ball hard, but I got the job done.

“That was the first time my grandma got to see me play in the pros,” he added. “It was pretty cool that my grandma got to see my first hit.”

“It was fun,” Price said. “I think we’re all enjoying these young guys coming up and getting their first hit and their first win and their first opportunity to play. It was obviously important and a big memory for him.”

Robert Stephenson allowed one run in three innings of relief before relievers Raisel Iglesias, Tony Cingrani, Drew Storen and Michael Lorenzen teamed up to limit the Brewers to two runs in five innings, paving the way for the comeback win.

Suarez tripled and doubled and Scott Schebler hit a solo home run as the Reds piled up eight extra-base hits to bounce back after dropping the first two games of the home series following a 5-1 road trip.

Finnegan, one day after his 24th birthday, threw 26 pitches – 10 strikes – while walking three in the first inning. He picked off one runner, but Hernan Perez eventually made Finnegan pay with a double to center field, leaving fans with the unusual sight of a ball sailing over Billy Hamilton’s head.

Finnegan’s start was the shortest by a Reds pitcher since Homer Bailey lasted one inning last August 28 at Arizona, Bailey’s last game before right biceps tendinitis ended his season. Finnegan felt what Price described as a “sensation” during his last start, but he did everything between starts with no issues.

“Then it popped back up,” Price said. “He won’t make his next start. It’s not good right now.”

The Reds rallied on the second for a 3-2 lead, starting with Schebler’s leadoff home run on an 11-pitch at bat that included seven foul balls, four with a full count. Suarez followed with a double and scored one out later on Zack Cozart’s third triple of the season, matching his total from the previous two seasons. Of course, he missed the last 3 1/2 months of 2015 with a knee injury that still plagued him last season. Cozart scored the go-ahead run on Tucker Barnhart’s groundout.

Cozart improved to 7-for-13 since returning on Wednesday from a slight wrist injury that sidelined him for two days. He extended his season-opening hitting streak to 10 games, including five multi-hit games and matching the 10-game streak with which he opened last season. That streak was snapped when the Cubs’ Jake Arrieta threw a no-hitter.

Thames, back in the majors for the first time since 2012 after spending three seasons rampaging through Korean baseball, tied the game with a homer to lead off the third.

The Brewers regained a lead in the sixth on Perez’s leadoff homer, which bounced off the top of the wall, prompting a replay review that consumed two minutes, 29 seconds.

Thames added a solo homer in the seventh, his fourth in a span of fewer than 72 hours.

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