By Hal McCoy
As former catcher/broadcaster Joe Garagiola entitled his book, “Baseball Is A Funny Game.”
It certainly is. . .and more.
One night after suffering and enduring a 9-0 punch in the gut from the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Cincinnati Reds flipped the table upside down with an 11-5 cold-cocking of the D-Backs.
And. . .
How can Elly De La Cruz collect four hits, including a down-range 450-foot home run and be overshadowed?
He was.
How can Sal Stewart collect three hits and his 97th RBI and be overshadowed?
He was.
How can Tyler Stephenson emerge from an 0 for 15 slump and nine strikeouts with two hits and three RBI and be overshadowed?
He was.
How can Hector Rodriguez hit his first MLB home run, a 424-footer, and contribute his first multi-hit game (two) and be overshadowned?
He was.
So who did the overshadowing?
It was JJ Bleday with a rare baseball accomplishment. He hit for the cycle in his first four at bats — double, triple, single, home run.
He saved the home run for the finishing touch and it was his career-best 21st.
After hitting the double, triple and single, Bleday admitted the home run possibility raced through his mind before he came to bat in the sixth inning.
“I would be lying if I said I wasn’t thinking about it,” he said. “Every time I went out to play defense I was kind of visualizing it and saying, ‘What if, what if,’ and how I would celebrate it. And I was able to hit the home run and get it done.”
He celebrated by circling the bases with a perma-pressed smile as broad as the Sonoran Dessert.
“That was wild, absolutely wild,” he said. “It was just competing. Going into every game you never know what might happen when you show up at the ball park. You never know unless you go out on the field and give it your best.”
Asked about etching his name forever in the Reds history books, he said, “When I’m 50 or 60 years old this day will be forever ingrained in my memory from the baseball field and the big leagues.”
For the Reds, a good time was had by all.
The top four in the Reds batting order — De La Cruz, Stewart, Bleday and Stephenson, accounted for 13 hits, eight RBI and eight runs scored.
The Reds scored runs in every inning but the second and the ninth.
Arizona starter Michael Soroka was 8-3 when the night began, but the Reds chased him off the mound after only 3 1/3 innings when they scored six runs on six hits for a 6-0 lead.
Reds starter Rhett Lowder displayed near-perfect control, first-pitch strikes to six of the first seven hitters.
The Diamondbacks didn’t fall into a fetal position when they were down, 6-0. Nolan Arrenado and Tim Tawa both homered and Arizona crept to within 8-4 after six innings.
The Reds, though, didn’t stop.
Cincinnati scored twice in the seventh that including the home run by Rodriguez. They scored another in the seventh and Matt McLain homered in the eighth, the Reds’ fourth homer of the night.
Former Reds pitcher Zack Littell gave up three homers — the ones to De La Cruz, Bleday and Rodriguez.
Francona, as even-keeled as always, said of Bleday’s cycle, “That was nice, especially when you’ve got the lead you can enjoy it a little bit.
“Our guys swung it good tonight (16 hits) and they kept swinging it,” he added. “Arizona keep looking like they wanted to come back like they can. But we stayed consistent one through nine.
“It was a good night because we got a bunc of hits, but that was special for Bleday.”
And beating up on Siroka?
“That wasn’t his best game,” said Francona. “But we took advantage of it. We got him out early and then we kept after it. That’s a good way to play and we haven’t had a lot of games like that.”
Lowder (5-8) was most appreciative of the offensive assault because he wasn’t feeling chipper. . .until he saw teammat after teammate after teammate crossing home plate.
“It was a good win, but the story wasn’t what I wa doing,” he said. “It was the offense and the way the defense played behind me.”
Lowder only struck out one hitter over his six innings of four-run, six-hit, two-homer pitching.
“All I needed to do was stay aggressive after we scored all those runs early,” he said. “I didn’t feel my best physically, but putting the runs up early I just needed to stay on the attack, try to get outs as quickly as possible.”
Of Bleday’s cycle, Lowder said, “That was insane. I’m very happy for him. He works super hard and that was cool to see it in person. That was awesome”
—Bleday followed De La Cruz’s game-opening double with a double to right in the first inning for a 1-0 lead.
—Bleday followed Stewart’s leadoff single in the third with a run-scoring triple to center field to give the Reds a 2-0 lead.
—Bleday singled to right as part of Cincinnati’s three-run fourth for the 6-0 lead.
—Bleday led off the sixth, facing Littell. He wasted zero time. He swung at Littell’s first pitch, a 90 miles an hour fastball, and loftend it 370 feet over the right field fence to complete the cycle.
And it was his career-best 21st.
“That’s just an added blessing,” he said. “That’s another cool way, to get the career-high to go with the cycle.”