The Cincinnati Reds offense needed a blowout in the worst of ways, and boy, did it ever get one on Thursday in Great American Ball Park.
After having dropped a pair of regrettable games to the rebuilding Washington Nationals to already clinch losing yet another home series, the Reds exploded against Nats starter Foster Griffin – a lefty, at that – in a 15-1 thumping that felt like a lot of pent up aggression being unloaded on the baseballs.
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JJ Bleday led the charge with a breakout game that Reds fans won’t soon forget. He slugged a pair of homers, including a huge 3-run one off the lefty Griffin, and later added an RBI single that left him with a 3 for 5 day with 2 dingers, 2 runs scored, and a blistering 6 RBI. Scooping him up off the non-tender heap and watching him develop immediately into an offensive force is the kind of thing that makes you think of one Scooter Gennett, though I do certainly hope a) I’m not getting too far ahead of myself and b) Bleday isn’t going to completely obliviate after just two good years.
Anyway, that was more than enough offense on the day given that ace Chase Burns was on the bump for the Reds. He delivered once again, firing another 6.0 IP of scoreless ball, this time with 7 K against just a pair of scattered hits and pair of walks. He needed 95 pitches to clear that, did so with ease, and turned the ball over to his bullpen with the game in-hand and a tidy 1.87 ERA on the season next to his name.
He’s a bona-fide ace, and he just made the 17th start of his big league career.
The Reds played add-on late after Joey Wiemer was summoned from the outfield to pitch, but that should only slightly diminish the contributions of Dane Myers (3-run dinger off Wiemer), Ke’Bryan Hayes (his second of an actual 2-hit game!), et al. It was a textbook get-right game, one that the Reds can hopefully channel as they take their talents up north to Cleveland for a weekend series against the Guardians.
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