By Hal McCoy
Sal Stewart’s nickname is Salbert, as in Albert Pujols.
Stewart’s teammates hung the nickname on the 22-year old rookie because he displays all the traits displayed by Pujols, a future first ballot Hall of Famer from his days with the Cardinals and Angels.
And Stewart once again performed like Pujols Monday night during a 6-1 Cincinnati Reds victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.
In the first inning, Stewart unloaded a two-run home run, a 422-footer hit hard enough to knock down the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.
And if the team needs insurance, punch-in 1-800-Stewart.
With the Reds leading 5-1 with two outs in the seventh, Stewart pulled a double inside the third base bag.
Then on his own he stole third without a throw and scored on a wild pitch.
“We were in the dugout laughing with our players, because I didn’t send him,” said Reds manager Tito Francona. “I don’t know how I feel about that.
“All of a sudden there’s a wild pitch and it turns out to be very good. . .you just can’t ever get thrown out there and I’ll remind him of that about seven times tomorrow.”
That was all part of a fun night for the Reds as they won their fourth straight and their sixth in seven game. And they are 9-2 on the road this season, the best start on the road for a Reds team since the 1990 wire-to-wire World Series champions.
After Stewart gave the Reds a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, starting pitcher Rhett Lowder nearly gave it all back and then some in the bottom of the first.
The first four Rays reached base and the last two reached on walks, the second forcing in a run.
It was 2-1 with the bases loaded and no outs. Lowder got a force play on Yandy Diaz then struck out former Reds outfielder Jake Fraley and Cedric Mullins, both looking.
“D.J. and I were looking at each other trying to figure out how we were going to finish that game,” said Francona, referring to pitching coach Derek Johnson.
“Boy, he (Lowder) reeled it in after that and gave us six and that was really impressive,” Francona added.
After a career-most 34-pitch first inning, Lowder held the Rays to the one run over six innings on five hits and pushed his record to 3-1.
“I had no choice, my back was against the wall,” said Lowder about his first-inning escape act. “I had to lock in. Our bullpen has been pitching great, a bunch of guys who have been abused. I really had no choice.
“I was pitchin’ pretty bad,” he added. “Then I started throwin’ it where I wanted to and good things happened.”
With a 3-1 lead in the sixth, the Reds had two on with two outs when Rece Hinds pulled a two-run double to left to make it 5-1.
After an 0 for 10 start and five strikeouts when he was called up from Triple-A Louisville, Hinds is on a three-game hitting streak.
“It has been awesome to finally get some success up here, giving confidence in myself and helping the team win in any possible way,” said Hinds.
Hinds admitted that when he first arrived he was a bit overwhelmed trying to make an impression.
“For sure I was pressing,” he said. “The game sped up on me a little bit. I was trying to do too much, tried to come in here and change the whole offense. That’s not my job. My job is to come in here and just help the team win.”
Not only did Stewart hit the two-run home run and steal an insurance run, he put away his bat long enough to make use of his first baseman’s mitt, especially in the ninth inning.
With one on and one out, Tampa Bay’s Nick Fortes blooped one down the right field line. Stewart sprinted out and made an over-the-shoulder wide receiver-like catch.
Then with two outs and the bases loaded, Chandler Simpson lined one over Stewart’s head. But it got not farther than over Stewart’s head. He made a leaping game-ending catch.
“That play Sal made defensively in the ninth inning (on Fortes), that was a great play,” said Francona. “Those are fun to watch.”
Stewart, a deeply religious man, begins every post-game interview with Jim Day the same way:
“First and foremost, the way I start every time we talk, my Lord and savior Jesus Christ, I owe it all to Him. I want to glorify His name,” he says. “I’m happy we won but I have to thank Jesus first.”
Then he talked about his heroics.
“I let the game come to me,” he said. “I just put a good swing on that one (the home run).”
And of his manufactured run, he said, “People think I just hit homers and stuff like that. I play the game hard. I try to play the game as hard as I can. Like I said, I take what the game gives me. I just want to help the team any chance I get.”
Then, true to form, he shifted praise to his teammates.
“I told everybody from the beginning, man, my teammates, man, our staff, man. . .but my teammates, what a great group of guys. I love coming to the yard every day,” he said.
“I smile every time I come to the yard, I’m having such a good time,” he added. “My teammates are the best.”
And there is no doubt Stewart’s teammates believe the Salbert is the best.
Even Ke’Bryan Hayes got into the act on this night. He was 0 for 33 when he singled in sixth inning.
OK, OK, so it was a squibber just beyond the pitcher’s moud, but a hit is a hit is a hit.