By Hal McCoy
The numbers indicated that the afternoon affair involving the Washington Nationals-Cincinnati Reds would be a tight low-scoring event.
Washington pitcher Foster Griffin was 4-1 with a 2.22 earned run average. And his previous start he held the Miami Marlins to one run and four hits over seven innings.
Cincinnati pitcher Chase Burns was 4-1 with a 2.11 earned run average. And his previous start he held the Houston Astros to one run and four hits over six innings.
The numbers were half right.
The Reds took Griffin apart piece-by-piece and the Nationals couldn’t hit Burns with a surfboard.
It was a Cincinnati blastfest, 15-1, but Burns only needed one run as he bedazzled the Nationals with no runs, two hits, two walks and seven strikeouts over six innings, lowering his ERA to 1.87.
Meanwhile, the Reds offense obliterated Griffin for nine runs and seven hits in 4 1/3 innings, expanding his ERA to 3.53.
The offense. Total team effort.
JJ Bleday hit a pair of home runs, a three-runner and a two-runner and drove in six runs, lifting his batting average to .321.
Elly De La Cruz had a pair of hits, his sixth straight game with two or more hits and his average sits at .299.
Spencer Steer had two hits and scored three times, giving him hits in 15 of his last 16 games.
Most noteworthy of all was the production of the bottom three hitters in the order — Matt McLain, Jose Trevino and Ke’Bryan Hayes.
Those three drove in the first six runs, all with two outs.
After Griffin struck out the side in the first, Steer led the second inning with a first-pitch single.
With two outs, McLain picked on Griffin’s first pitch, a cutter, and deposited it into the left field seats for a 2-0 lead.
Steer singled with one out in the fourth, then with two outs Griffin walked Blake Dunn and McLain, both on full counts, to fill the bases.
With two outs, that brought up Trevino, 3 for 25 and hitting .120. He drove a two-run single up the middle and it ws 4-0.
Still with two outs, that brough up Hays, hitting .132. He pulled a two-run double to left and it was 6-0.
Nationals manager Blake Butera sent Griffin back out for the fifth and he gave up a double to De La Cruz, walked Steer on a full count and Bleday unloaded his first homer of the day and it was 9-0 and Griffin’s awful day was done.
Bleday struck again in the seventh with a two-run home run and it was 11-0.
The Nationals suffered the ignominy of what the Reds have had to do four times this year — use a position player to pitch. Outfielder Joey Weimer pitched the eighth and gave up four runs and five hits, including a three-run homer by Dane Myers.
The day, though, really belonged to Burns, a 23-year-old stopper. He ended the Reds eight-game losing streak last Saturday and stopped a two-game losing streak Thursday.
“We have so much faith in that guy,” Bleday said about Burns. “He is electric with his stuff. I’m just glad he’s on our team.”
And the Reds are glad Bleday is on their team after a mediocre season last year with the Athletics — a slash line of 212/.294/.401.
“I’m just trying to be an athlete and be fluid with my swing,” he said after his big day as the only left-handed hitter in the Reds lineup against the left-handed Griffin.
“I feel like last year I was too stagnant and didn’t have a lot of rhythm,” he added. “The main thing for me in the off-season was to get that fluidity back, get my athleticism back and challenge myself.”
Burns was most appreciative of Bleday’s contributions, but he saw it quite a while ago. Both attended Vanderbilt University and Burns knows of Bleday’s days at Vandy.
“I love to see him hit,” said Burns. “I watched JJ when he was at Vanderbilt. We have our own handshake. He was a great player then and I love to see him play now.”
Burns also loves seeing back-up catcher Jose Trevino behind the plate, his special catcher who has caught all his games.
“It’s Trevino, me and him have gotten really close over this past year. That guy believes in me and has a lot of confidence in me. He trusts me and I trust him,” said Burns. “So a big shoutout to Trevino.
All the Reds believe in Bursn, are confident in Burns and trust Burns as their 23-year-old stopper with five quality starts over his last six appearances.
And there was some comedy relief. During spring training, catcher Tyler Stephenson presented manager Tito Francona with some tight-fitting Speedo swim trunks with the manager’s face plastered all over them.
To loosen things up, McLain put them on under his uniform and produce the two-run homer, a double and three runs scored.
“We had good vibes going in today,” said Francona. “Matt broke out the Tito Speedo. So we kinda had a good feeling going in.
“He wore ‘em the whole game, poor guy,” Francona added. “I tried ‘em this spring and almost suffocated.”
It is likely McLain will don the Speedo when the Reds open a three-game series Friday night in Cleveland against the Guardians.