All it did was provide the Cincinnati Reds with a 3-2 win over the Boston Red Sox, the Reds second straight one-run win.
And by winning the rubber game of the three-game series, the Reds took the series two games to one.
Is it an omen or is it Eugenio Suarez?
Last season the Reds were 22-22 in one-run games and they are now 2-0. Last season they were 8-12 in rubber games when they split the first two games. Now they are 1-0.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Reds trailed, 2-0, when Suarez came to bat with two on and one out in the seventh.
Up until then, Suarez was 1 for 11 and had stranded 11 runners while striking out five times. His one RBI was a dribbler back to the mound that scored a run.
Suarez told reporters he had been late swinging at fastballs and made an in-game adjustment. Boston pitcher Greg Weissert perhaps noticed Suarez’s tardiness on fastballs.
He tried to sneak one past Suarez and the crack of the bat sounded like Lash LaRue snapping his bull whip. The ball traveled 431 feet into the upper deck and the Reds led, 3-2.
Brock Burke, Pierce Johnson, Tony Santillan and Emilio Pagan protected matters the rest of the way.
Is it a new year and a different team? Manager Tito Francona believes it.
“That’s a game that last year we lose a lot of times,” he told reporters. “That’s because we were frustrated. We had some hits, but didn’t bunch them together.
“All of a sudden they try to sneak a fastball by Geno and it completely changes the game,” he added. “That didn’t happen a lot last year and that’s why we got Geno.
“We played a clean game, gave ourselves a chance,” he said. “If we boot the ball around a bit, Geno’s home run is cosmetic and we lose by one or two. That’s what we have to do.”
For Suarez, it was adjustment and relief.
“I always say, ‘The first one always feels good’,” Suarez told reporters. “I give credit to my coaches and I was late on the fastballs. I made my adjustments so I wouldn’t let the fastball beat me and I was ready.
“I got out in front of it and hit that homer and gave the lead to our team,” he added.
And gave his team a big victory and an even bigger boost for Suarez.
Before Suarez’s soiree into the upper deck, Matt McLain led the inning with a single. Elly De La Cruz struck out, but Sal Stewart walked.
Then, ka-boom.
Stewart doubled in the eighth and was on base four straight times with two walks, a single and a double. In three games, he has reached base 10 times, most in the majors.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
And he has had multi-hit games in all three games, the first Reds hitter to do that since Adam Dunn began the 2006 season with three straight multi-hit games.
Is Stewart saying, “Just give the Rookie of the Year trophy right now?”
Of Stewart’s at bats, Francona told reporters, “They’ve been tremendous. I know he’s not going to hit .650. Well, maybe. He’s a good hitter. I’ve been saying this for awhile now, but he’s an advanced young hitter.”
Rhett Lowder started for the Reds and retired 10 of the first 11. But he gave up a one-out single in the fourth to Willson Contreras.
Wilyer Abreu forced Lowder to throw nine pitches and fouled off five. Then he drove a home run into the right field sun deck for a 2-0 Boston lead.
That was Lowder’s only misstep. He pitched five innings and gave up two runs, three hits, walked two and struck out five.
“I thought he was really, really good,” said Francona. “I thought he started to get a little tired in the fourth. But you don’t want to just immediately take somebody out. You want to build him up a little bit.”
After Abreu’s home run, Lowder faced six more hitters — no runs, no hits, one walk and three strikeouts.
“Abreu just had a great at bat,” said Francona. “If I’m sitting on the other side, I’m bragging about that. He fouled off a bunch of pitches (five) and he gives them just good at bats ... just a real good hitter doing his thing.”
Lowder was self-deprecating about his better than good 86-pitch day.
“I came out strong, but the middle innings could have been a lot better,” he said. “On back-to-back hitters I needed better two-strike execution.”
Before Abreu’s homer, he gave up a two-strike single to Willson Contreras and gave up Abreu’s home run on a 3-and-2 count.
“Other than that, I felt good, but I have to be better in the middle innings,” he said.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
There was adventure in the Boston eighth when Tony Santillan was asked to protect the 3-2 lead. With one out, he walked Jarren Duran.
Santillan may be big, 285 pounds, but he’s quick. He picked Duran off first base.
That was significant because he then walked Contreras and gave up a single to Abreu, putting the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on first.
Then he struck out Caleb Durbin to end the uprising.
“He has as quick feet as you’re going to see,” said Francona, referring to Santillan’s move to first base. “I don’t care if you take his size and for even a little guy, his feet are so quick.”
It was up to Emilio Pagan to close it in the ninth after he gave up a two-out ninth-inning home run to Abreu for a blown save Saturday, although the Reds won it in 11 innings, 6-5.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
He gave up a one-out double to Andruw Monasterio, the potential tying run. With two outs, Roman Anthony was issued an intentional walk.
On the first pitch, Trevor Story flied to center to end it and Story’s sad series story. The man the Red Sox signed to a six-year $140 million contract was 2 for 16 in the series, hit into two double plays and struck out seven times.
Suarez knew how he felt ... until Suarez batted in the seventh.
NEXT GAME
Who: Pirates at Reds
When: 6:40 p.m.
TV: FS1/Reds.TV
Radio: 700-AM, 1410-AM
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