INSTANT REACTION: Christian Encarnacion-Strand's Grand Slam Leads Reds Over Red Sox

CINCINNATI -- The Reds entered Wednesday night looking to continue their streak of being the only team in Major League Baseball to not be swept in a series this season.

Through six innings, that streak was in jeopardy with the Reds bats looking bleak and anemic against the Red Sox bullpen. Trailing 3-0 in the top of the seventh, the Reds needed a spark. They got it.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand's grand slam over the Green Monster erased the 3-0 deficit and gave the Reds 4-3 lead. Not only that, but the entire momentum of the game shifted as well.

The Reds would pile on four more runs to double up the Red Sox 8-4 Wednesday night and avoid a three-game series sweep.

Cincinnati stays three games above .500 at 45-42, and they now head to America's Birthplace, Philadelphia, for a 4th of July weekend series against the Philadelphia Phillies Friday-Sunday.

Let's look at the key takeaways from Wednesday night's 8-4 Reds win over the Red Sox

Reds Seventh and Eighth Inning Rallies

It was an emphatic rally from the Reds in the top of the seventh inning Wednesday night, punctuated by a 439-foot grand slam by Christian Encarnacion-Strand to erase a 3-0 deficit and give the Reds a 4-3 lead.

The rally started with a single by Tyler Stephenson, which was followed by Rece Hinds reaching on a fielders choice and error by Red Sox third baseman Abraham Toro and a walk by Gavin Lux that loaded the bases.

Encarnacion-Strand battled against Red Sox right-handed reliever Greg Weissert, and the at-bat culminated in a walloping shot over the Green Monster in left center field that's the first grand slam of Encarnacion-Strand's career.

In just over a week, the Reds’ first baseman has come through with two clutch seventh-inning hits—a three-run double against the Yankees last Tuesday and another big knock against the Red Sox on Wednesday night. Both swings drove in at least three runs.

That's what you want from Encarnacion-Strand if you're the Reds; powerful hits that result in bases-clearing run-scoring plays.

The Reds rally continued when Elly De La Cruz singled home T.J. Friedl for a huge two-out insurance run that extended the Reds lead to 5-3.

Then in the eighth, the Reds put more pressure on the Red Sox again by loading the bases with one out after a Santiago Espinal RBI single.

Friedl came up with the bases loaded and hit a sharp ground ball with a wicked hop towards Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story, and the ball proceeded to bounce high and away from his glove. That allowed Gavin Lux to score, and a breakdown from the Red Sox defense allowed Encarnacion-Strand to score and Espinal to advance to third.

That eighth inning is what you want from the Reds; get guys on base and apply pressure on the opposing defense. Two explosive rallies, one with a mammoth grand slam and one with playing smaller ball, completely flipped the momentum and the game to the Reds Wednesday night.

Nick Martinez Delivers Much-Needed Lengthy Start

With the Reds bullpen covering a lot of innings through the first two games of the series, 12 2/3 innings to be exact, they needed Martinez to pitch deep into the ball game Wednesday night to save the arms of the relievers.

The Reds right-hander did just that, going 6 2/3 innings and throwing 62 of his 89 pitches for strikes. He did allow four earned runs on nine hits, but he didn't walk any Red Sox hitter and struck out two over the course of nearly seven innings pitched.

With the Reds leading 5-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh, manager Terry Francona sent Martinez back out to the mound to try and further conserve the bullpen. Martinez getting two outs accomplished just that.

Martinez has been a Swiss army knife of late for the Reds, making strong starts and pitching crucial innings out of the bullpen in the wake of other starters going on the injured list.

Notes And Observations

Christian Encarnacion-Strand was a late addition to the Reds starting lineup, filling for Spencer Steer after the latter was hit on the hand in Wednesday's earlier resumed game from Tuesday night.
Eight of the nine Reds hitters in the starting lineup had at least one hit.
Boston used six pitchers on Wednesday night.
Eight of the nine Red Sox hitters in the starting lineup had hits on Wednesday night.
Will Benson pinch hit for Rece Hinds in the top of the ninth and reached on a fielders' choice.

On Deck

The Reds continue their East Coast trip to America's historic cities in its Birthplace in Philadelphia this weekend.

Friday afternoon's game is a 1:05 E.T. start on FanDuel Sports Network Cincinnati and 700WLW with left-hander Andrew Abbott (7-1, 1.79 ERA) going to the mound for the Reds against Phillies right-hander Jesus Luzardo (7-4, 4.06 ERA)

Saturday's game starts at 4:05 E.T. with the Reds sending another left-hander Nick Lodolo (5-5, 3.52 ERA) against Phillies left-hander Ranger Suarez (7-2, 2.00 ERA).

Sunday's series finale starts at 1:35 E.T. with a pitching matchup between Reds No. 1 prospect Chase Burns (0-1, 13.50 ERA) against Phillies right-hander Zack Wheeler (8-3, 2.27 ERA).

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