By HAL McCOY
With no apology to Tony Bennett, the Cincinnati Reds left their winning streak in San Francisco.
The San Francisco Giants were not impressed with the six-game winning streak the Reds brought into AT&T Park Monday night and they certainly were not impressed with Sal Romano.
The Giants, who broke a six-game losing streak on Sunday, ripped into Romano for six runs and eight hits in only 2 1/3 innings and also piled on the bullpen for a 10-7 victory.
The Giants constructed an early 6-1 lead, but the Reds battled back on a two-run home run by Tucker Barnhart and a solo shot by Scott Schebler to get back into the game, 6-4, after the top of the sixth.
But the Giants were not impressed with the 0.61 earned run average owned by Reds relief pitcher Dylan Floro and they were not impressed with the defensive prowess of shortstop Jose Peraza.
They scored three runs off Floro in the bottom of the sixth and they watched Peraza fumble two ground balls for errors. Floro began the inning with a walk and gave up two doubles and two walks as the Giants forged to a 9-4 lead.
The Reds not only lost their winning streak, they lost their first baseman midway through the game. Joey Votto singled in the third inning and continued to second on an error, but he was limping all the way. He left the game a couple of innings later with a stiff lower back.
During Votto’s first at bat, at 7:18 PST, a mild 3.5 earthquake on the Richter Scale shook Votto in the batter’s box.
Adam Duvall replaced Votto and produced two hits against his old team, including a three-run two-out home run in the ninth inning to make it 10-7.
The Giants took Romano to task often and hard right from the start. They scored three in the first inning.
Romano struck out the first batter, but Andrew McCutchen stretched his hitting streak to 13 games with a double to left field. Romano walked Buster Posey on a full count but got the second out on Brandon Belt’s fly ball to deep center field.
He was one out away from no damage, but Evan Longoria singled for a run and Brandon Crawford doubled for two more and a 3-0 lead.
Tucker Barnhart, who drove in three of the Reds’ first four runs, singled home a run in the second, cutting San Francisco’s lead to 3-1. Barnhart is on a seven-game hitting streak.
McCutchen doubled again in the second inning, his 1,500th career hit, and it scored a run for a 4-1 Giants lead. Romano loaded the bases in the third and No. 8 hitter Kelly Tomlinson singled up the middle for two runs and 6-1 lead, ending Romano’s short night on the banks of San Francisco Bay.
The Reds had some early scoring opportunities frittered away. Before the game it was announced that second baseman Scooter Gennett was National League Player of the Week after he hit .591 last week with with four home runs, two doubles, 10 RBI and seven runs scored.
But on this night he went 0 for 5 and snuffed two rallies by hitting into double plays.
While the Giants amassed 14 hits, the Reds had 13 but were 2 for 9 with runners in scoring position.
Jesse Winker emerged from his mini-slump with a pair of hits, Scott Schebler had three hits (single, double, home run), Tucker Barnhart contributed two and Duvall had two hits and was hit by a pitch.