Fastball

Cincinnati Reds Crush Back-to-Back-to-Back Home Runs Against Arizona Diamondbacks

TJ Friedl, Matt McLain and Jake Fraley launched three solo bombs in the sixth inning, vaulting the Reds over the D-Backs.
Sam Connon|
Cincinnati Reds Crush Back-to-Back-to-Back Home Runs Against Arizona Diamondbacks
Cincinnati Reds Crush Back-to-Back-to-Back Home Runs Against Arizona Diamondbacks

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Cincinnati Reds

The Cincinnati Reds were struggling at the plate Saturday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, but that all changed in the bottom of the sixth inning.

Center fielder TJ Friedl, shortstop Matt McLain and right fielder Jake Fraley went back-to-back-to-back, hitting three solo home runs in a row to put the Reds up 3-1. Prior to those three at-bats, the Reds were getting shut out and one-hit, failing to get a man aboard since the first inning.

Thanks to the power surge in the middle of their lineup, the Reds came away with the 4-2 win over the Diamondbacks.

Friedl got the rally going when he took a high-and-inside fastball deep to right field. He skied the ball with a launch angle of 40 and an exit velocity of 97.2 miles per hour, but it still ended up on the other side of the fence at 346 feet.

McLain stepped up next and delivered the hardest hit bomb of the three. With an exit velocity of 102.0 miles per hour, McLain sent the ball 404 feet to the second deck in left.

The crowd at Great American Ball Park was already on its feet at that point, and it only got rowdier when Fraley went yard as well. Fraley's 397-foot shot had a 32 degree launch angle and a 98.4 mile-per-hour exit velocity.

Rookie right-hander Brandon Pfaadt closed out the frame without giving up any more runs, but the damage was done. 

Fraley is now tied for the team lead for home runs this year, joining second baseman Jonathan India and third baseman Spencer Steer with 14. McLain is up to 10 on the season, while Friedl has seven.

McLain is one of the top contenders for NL Rookie of the Year, boasting a .302 batting average and .898 OPS since getting called up in May. The former first round pick out of UCLA hit his first career grand slam Friday night.

Freidl, on the other hand, is hitting .289 with an .802 OPS, and Fraley is hitting .269 with an .841 OPS.

Cincinnati later added an insurance run on a Fraley groundout in the eighth to make it 4-1. Lefty Brandon Williams got the win after tossing 6.0 innings of one-run ball, while Alexis Diaz got the save, despite allowing a solo home run to rookie outfielder Corbin Carroll.

The Reds – now 54-46 and 1.0 game out of first place in the NL Central – will look to complete the sweep against the Diamondbacks, with game three scheduled to get underway at 1:40 p.m. ET on Sunday.

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Sam Connon
SAM CONNON

Sam Connon is a staff writer covering baseball for “Fastball on SI.’’ He previously covered UCLA Athletics for On SI’s All Bruins site, and is a UCLA graduate, with his work there as a sports columnist receiving awards from the College Media Association and Society of Professional Journalists. Connon also wrote for On SI’s New England Patriots site, Patriots Country, and he was on the Patriots and Boston Red Sox beats at Prime Time Sports Talk. Sam lives in Boston.

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