By Hal McCoy
For the Cincinnati Reds, it is a book entitled, Living On The Long Ball.
And when a long ball is needed, rookie Sal Stewart is your man.
Stewart’s three-run home run in the seventh inning pushed the Reds from a one-run deficit to a 5-3 lead, a lead that stood up for a Reds victory over the Seattle Mariners Wednesday afternoon in T-Moble Park.
More than 51% of the Reds’ runs so far this season have beem produced by home runs.
And over their last four games, 24 of the Reds runs have come via home runs.
But when it comes to timeliness, it is Stewart at the beck and call. His home run Wednesday was his 21st and nine have put the Reds ahead.
The beneficiary was starting pitcher Brady Singer, who held the Mariners to three runs and six hits over 6 2/3 innings with one walk and six strikeouts.
It enabled the Reds to take the series, two games to one, following their two to one series win in Denver over the Colorado Rockies.
The Mariners grabbed a 1-0 lead in the second, but the Reds took a 2-1 lead in the fourth when JJ Bleday led the inning with his 17th home run and Dane Myers’ two-out infield single scored the second run.
That lasted only long enough for Seattle to come to bat in the bottom of the fourth when the Mariners scored twice off Singer on Luke Raley’s two-out, two-run single for a 3-2 lead.
And that’s where it stood after Seattle manager Dan Wilson removed his starter, Emerson Hancock, who had held the Reds to two runs and five hits over six innings,
Eduard Bazardo replaced Hancock and he issued a one-out walk to Edwin Arroyo and Ke’Bryan Hayes singled.
Elly De La Cruz flied to left for the second out and Stewart wasted no time.
He picked on Bazardo’s first pitch, a high 98 miles per hour fastball, and drove it the opposite way to right field, 369 feet over the fence in the corner — his 21st homer and 74th RBI in only 101 games.
After hitting a three-run homer agaisnt the Colorado Rockies over the weekend, Stewart was 0 for 13 when he connected Wednesday.
“Honestly I just try to stay short with my swing in the zone,” said Stewart. “I just try to put a good swing on it on a good pitch. I’m happy it worked out.”
Stewart was asked about the nine go-ahead homers and where he gets his clutch genes.
“I didn’t know that,” he said. “It probably comes from shooting free throws with my dad when I was young. He’d put me on the line and if I missed I’d have to watch and I didn’t like that.”
Shooting 15-foot free throws has to be much easier than reversing 98 miles an hour fastballs for 369 to 420 feet home runs.
During an after-game on the field interview, TV broadcaster Jim Day brought up Stewart’s 74 RBIs and asked Stewart if he thought about those.
“No, I care about winning, ” said Stewart, a loud and clear response that indicates pointedly that he is a team player.
Reds manager Tito Francona is more than appreciative of what Stewart is doing, something it appears is part of his DNA.
“I know there is a lot of people who don’t believe in that, I’m not one of them,” he said. “I know there are guys that relish those opportunities.
“He can drive the ball so well to right field. There are fastballs that do beat him, but when he gets to two strikes he shortens up and gets on top of the ball and he is so strong. He has a great hitter’s hands and the ball jumps off his bat.”
Singer’s turnaround from a slow start has Francona’s appreciation, too.
“He is working ahead, throwing strikes, he is staying down in the zone when he wants to and not walking people,” said Francona.
For his third straight start, Singer worked into the seventh inning and had two outs when he issued his only walk on his 101st pitch.
Francona brought in Brock Burke, his 51st appearance in his team’s 101st game. He collected the third out in the seventh and gave up a one-out double to Julio Rodriguez in the eighth, but retired the next two.
Closer Emilio Pagan pitched his second straight 1-2-3 ninth for the save.
“I think Singer is a good pitcher,” said Francona. “He got off to a rough start (3-9 to his current 5-9) and had that early blister. But he has kinda found his stride.
“You’ve heard me say a million times that players find their levels, so do pitchers,” he added.l
Singer pointed to the fourth inning when the Mariners scored twice with two outs as the difference between when he struggled and what he is doing now.
“That inning I gave up those two runs, I got out of that and earlier in the season I would let that spin out of control,” he said. “Obviously I didn’t want to give up two runs, but only giving up two and keep my pitch count under control was big for me.”
The Reds are off Thursday before Opening a three-games series Friday in Busch Stadium against the St. Louis Cardinals, who ended a four-game losing streak with a 1-0 shutout Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels.