By HAL McCOY
The latest whisperings among Major League scouts is that Cincinnati Reds second baseman Scooter Gennett may be wearing a different uniform in the not too distant future.
That would be to make room for Nick Senzel once the Reds No. 1 draft choice two years ago shakes his bout with vertigo. It has kept Senzel out of the Class AAA Louisville Bats lineup for more than a week.
And the way Gennett is playing these days makes him a marketable commodity for the Reds to a contending team looking for help.
Gennett hit another home run Wednesday afternoon during a 6-3 Reds victory over the San Francisco Giants in AT&T Park.
That was nice, but a play Gennett made in the sixth inning displayed what The Scooter is all about.
He made what might have been a game-saving play, ignoring bodily harm to save at least two and maybe three runs.
With the Reds up 5-3, the Giants had the bases loaded with two outs in the sixth inning.
Pinch-hitter Gorkys Hernandez blooped one down the right field line. Gennett, without a scooter, zipped to the spot. Right fielder Scott Schebler, a mountain of a man, was blasting his way toward the ball, too.
Just before the two might collide, Gennett stuck his glove out and snagged the ball while vaulting over the diving Schebler.
Thus thwarted, the Giants went down meekly after that and the Reds salvaged the final game of the three-game series after losing the first two.
But because of a four-game sweep in Los Angeles, the Reds flew home with a 5-and-2 record on the trip, their first 5-and-2 west coast sojourn since June of 2011 when they went 2-and-2 in San Francisco and 3-and-0 in Los Angeles.
The first four Reds of the game scored, giving starter Matt Harvey a 4-0 lead before his first pitch. But the Giants pecked away at him and scored three runs.
Harvey lasted only four innings and gave up three runs and seven hits. He didn’t walk a batter and struck out five and the Reds made the four runs stand up.
Gennett was in the middle of the first-inning assault on Giants starter Andrew Suarez. Jose Peraza opened the game with a single on the ninth pitch. Gennett, batting second, hit a ground rule double and Joey Votto singled to make it 1-0.
That brought up Adam Duvall, batting fourth because Eugenio Suarez twisted his ankle Tuesday night and was out of the lineup.
Duvall, a former Giant, hit his second home run of the series against his old team, a three-run blast that gave the Reds a 4-0 lead.
Duvall also made a highlight diving catch that saved run in the first inning.
The Pirates scored two off Harvey in the bottom of the first when Gregor Blanco and Andrew McCutchen opened the inning with back-to-back doubles for a run. The second run scored on Pablo Sandoval’s sacrifice fly that actually was the hard line drive to left center that Duvall chased down.
The Giants scored their third and final run in the third, an inning that began with Brandon Belt belting a home run, his fifth home run in his last five games against the Reds.
Gennett’s home run with out in the seventh pushed the Reds to a 6-3 lead. He is hitting .327 with seven home runs and 25 RBI.
The Reds bullpen put up another stop-everything effort with Wandy Peralta, Jared Hughes and Raisel Iglesias holding the Giants to no runs on five hits over the final five innings.
After a day off Thursday, the Reds open a homestand Friday against the Chicago Cubs, followed by a doubleheader Saturday to make up a rained-out game and a Sunday afternoon game.