Cincinnati Reds rookie Sal Stewart has certainly slumped since his breakout month of April, but that hasn’t stopped him from stepping into big situations and picking up timely hits for the club. Manager Terry Francona has stuck with him in the heart of the order despite his recent slide, and Tito was rewarded in spades by the rook on Saturday afternoon in Yankee Stadium.
Stewart doubled twice and picked up a sac fly, to boot, in the process driving in 6 runs as the Reds raced past the New York Yankees 10-2 to even the series in the Bronx. His first double – of the 2-run variety – flipped the scoreboard after Reds starter Andrew Abbott had yielded a 1st inning solo homer to Paul Goldschmidt, and Sal’s second came with the bases loaded in the Top of the 8th – clearing them to put Cincinnati ahead 10-1 at the time.
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For the season, Sal now has 53 ribbies to his name, which leads the Reds and would’ve ranked 7th in all of baseball at the start of today.
Edwin Arroyo chipped in with his first big day as a big leaguer, going 4 for 5 with a double and a pair of runs scored. All of a sudden, he’s got a .308 OBP as a Red that doesn’ tlook too dissimilar to the .309 mark posted by one Matt McLain. Spencer Steer had the big mid-game swing in the Top of the 5th off Will Warren, a 3-run homer that helped assuage the current slide he’s been on in a big way, too.
That was more than enough to back Abbott, who pitched around trouble for 5+ IP of 5 H, ER, 3 BB, 6 K ball. He allowed the final two batters he faced to reach, but Tejay Antone (2.0 IP, K) came on to bail him out of that jam before continuing on himself. Chase Petty pitched a scoreless 9th and looked pretty good doing so once again.
This all sets the stage for a pretty blockbuster matchup on Sunday in the series finale, as Cincinnati will send ace Chase Burns to the mound to face 6x All Star and former Cy Young Award winner Gerrit Cole. Cole has looked good since returning to the mound following a lengthy absence getting over Tommy John surgery, and Burns has looked, well, just about as good as any pitcher to ever wear a Reds uniform all season. First pitch in that one is slated for 1:35 PM ET tomorrow, so get your popcorn pre-ready.
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