Cincinnati Reds back to .500 after completing sweep of Arizona Diamondbacks
The Cincinnati Reds are back to .500, but staying above that threshold and contending in a meaningful way will have to involve some difficult series in the near future.
The Reds ascended to the .500 mark again (33-33) with a three-game sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks, which Cincinnati completed Sunday in a 4-2, comeback victory at Great American Ball Park before a crowd of 21,083.
Trailing 2-0 after three innings, the Reds let fly with three home runs − one apiece from Christian Encarnacion-Strand, Jose Trevino and Matt McLain, whose two-run homer in the seventh inning proved decisive.
Encarnacion-Strand's third homer in three games against Arizona halved the deficit while Trevino tied the game in the fifth inning.
Encarnacion Strand returned from a long injured-list stint on Friday. In the sweep of the Diamondbacks, he went 7-for-13 with six RBIs and a walk.
"(Encarnacion-Strand's) giving us a huge lift and, you know, we've tested him a little bit," Reds manager Terry Francona said. "He's played some third (base), some first. He's holding his own just fine and, again, he's swinging at strikes and he's so strong that he gets really dangerous."
A 31-minute rain delay interrupted the proceedings in the sixth inning, but the Reds didn't lose any momentum during the stoppage. McLain's homer capped his 2-for-3 day at the plate and provided the final burst of offense needed to put Arizona away for good. The home run was his seventh of the season, second on the team to Elly De La Cruz's 12.
All of Cincinnati's runs came off Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen (4-8), a playoff and World Series-tested veteran. Gallen went 6 2/3 innings, and he was lifted from the contest after McLain's go-ahead home run.
Brady Singer didn't receive a decision for his five innings of work as starting pitcher on Sunday but kept the Reds competitive as he allowed two runs on five hits. Singer also took a come-backer to his pitching arm in the fourth inning and remained in the game afterward.
Francona said Singer attempted to talk his way into pitching the sixth inning, but Francona and pitching coach Derek Johnson didn't want to risk anything after Singer had been hit by the batted ball.
"The arm feels fine," Singer said. "Got me in the arm, so it's a little sore but totally fine."
Taylor Rogers, who pitched two shutout innings with three strikeouts, in relief, picked up the win to improve to 2-2. Rogers' performance was key on a day when Francona said several of his bullpen options were off the table.
"If (Rogers) stumbles, nothing comes together," Francona said, "but he did a really good job."
Tony Santillan recorded the save. It was his second of the year.
The Reds won the series opener, which was completed Saturday after it was suspended Friday night due to rain. Cincinnati took the game in 10 innings, 4-3, and then took Saturday's originally-scheduled 4:10 p.m. matchup in a 13-1 rout.
The sweep was the Reds' fourth of 2025, and their third at Great American Ball Park.
A tough road ahead for the Reds
The soft part of the Reds' schedule is definitely over. As of Sunday, they stand at 33-33. Now, we'll see how Cincinnati does against baseball's established powers.
"'CES' coming back was huge for us," Singer said. "Really, really good weekend. We're just playing really good baseball. It's awesome to get three wins but I just like the direction we're headed coming off this (sweep)."
This coming week's road trip starts at Progressive Field against the Cleveland Guardians (34-30), a team the Reds swept at Great American Ball Park in May. One win in the three-game series would give the Reds the Ohio Cup trophy that the two clubs compete for, but Cincinnati is more concerned about contending than the Ohio Cup.
The Reds are scheduled to send Wade Miley (first start, 18.00 ERA), Andrew Abbott (5-1, 2.18 ERA) and Nick Lodolo (4-4, 3.21 ERA) out to start against Luis Ortiz (3-6, 4.02 ERA), Slade Cecconi (1-2, 4.87 ERA) and Logan Allen (3-4, 4.42 ERA) in Cleveland.
From there, the Reds will travel to play the AL Central-leading Detroit Tigers, who featured the best record in baseball as of Sunday (43-24).
Cincinnati will then return to Great American Ball Park to host the Minnesota Twins for three games before setting out on the road again. They'll play their second series of the year against the St. Louis Cardinals June 20-22 at Busch Stadium.
Then, the Reds will host the New York Yankees (June 23-25) and San Diego Padres (June 27-29) back-to-back, followed by hitting the road to play at the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies (June 20-July 6).
Seven of the eight teams in this stretch had winning records as of Sunday, with only the Red Sox (31-35) lagging below .500.
Austin Wynns traded to the A's
The Reds on Sunday announced catcher Austin Wynns, who on Friday June 6 was designated for assignment, was traded to the Athletics for cash considerations.
In the absence of the since-recalled Tyler Stephenson (oblique strain), Wynns served as the backup catcher to Jose Trevino, who was the projected backup ahead of spring training.Wynns more than held his own behind the plate and with a bat in his hand − so much so that the Reds opted to carry three catchers on their roster when Stephenson returned from injury.
In 18 games this season, Wynns hit .400 with 16 hits and 11 RBIs. But he was squeezed in terms of playing time with three catchers on the roster. In May, Wynns was used mostly as a late-inning catcher or pinch-hitter, and had just seven at-bats during the month.
"You know what, he deserves it and I would love to keep him in the organization and we told him that," Francona said on Friday. "I'm not even comfortable saying 'fingers crossed' because the guy deserves to be in the major leagues. He handled a really (crappy) thing really well. He is (a pro). He was and is and will be."