Reds Set New Franchise Record In Sunday's Win Over Cubs

During Sunday's nationally televised game on Sunday Night Baseball on NBC, the Cincinnati Reds' incredible power surge continued with four players hitting a home run versus Cubs pitching in their 7-5 win to clinch their first series win in Wrigley since 2024. With that performance, they set a new franchise record for the most four-home-run games in a season with 12.

The Reds Continue Relying on the Home Run Ball

Aug 30, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Cincinnati Reds first baseman Sal Stewart (27) gestures after hitting a home run against the Chicago Cubs during the seventh inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The team is now ranked fourth in Major League Baseball with 183 home runs on the season. In Sunday's game in Chicago, four players each hit a home run: Hector Rodriguez, Dane Myers, Tyler Stephenson, and Sal Stewart. This was the 12th time the team has hit four home runs in a game as a team, breaking the franchise record that was set in 2021. That team had 11 such games with four or more home runs.

On July 8 against the Philadelphia Phillies, the team hit five home runs. Four of those were hit in the same inning, including three straight from Elly De La Cruz, Sal Stewart, and JJ Bleday. The 2021 Reds had a lot of power in the lineup. Three players hit 30 or more home runs that season, and five players had 20 or more. That season, Joey Votto led the team with 36, and a rookie, Jonathan India, won Rookie of the Year while hitting 21. The 2026 team is led by Stewart, who is considered the front-runner to win Rookie of the Year this season. He has 31 home runs and 105 RBI before the month of September.

Rodriguez has looked far better over his last seven games than he did when he was first promoted. He's slashing .370/.452/.852 with four home runs and seven RBI and has been hitting a fair job against left-handed pitching during that span. His home run on Sunday was a go-ahead three-run home run off Cubs lefty Shoto Imanaga. In San Francisco on Wednesday, he hit two home runs against the Giants, one going well into McCovey Cove at 115 miles per hour. He is the Reds' third-ranked prospect and has begun to find his stride at the big league level.

Looking Back on the 2021 Reds Season

Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto (19) stands in the batter's box in the first inning of a baseball game against the Washington Nationals, Thursday, Sept. 23, 2021, at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati. Washington Nationals At Cincinnati Reds Sept 23 | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

The 2021 Reds were a strange team. That team finished the season 83-79 and finished third in the division. Their pitching took a step back from the 2020 season that saw Trevor Bauer win the franchise's only Cy Young Award and a playoff birth in a 60-game shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Luis Castillo led baseball with 16 losses that season but finished with an ERA under four. Tyler Mahle went 13-6, Wade Miley had a career resurgence, winning 12 games with a 3.37 ERA and threw a no-hitter against Cleveland on May 7. What hurt the team was a terrible bullpen and lack of run support.

That season, Votto hit a home run in seven consecutive games and nearly missed tying the MLB record when he hit the top of the fence in the eighth game. Nick Castellanos led the team with 100 RBI, and India led the team with 12 stolen bases. Famously, Castellanos signed with the Phillies that offseason, giving the Reds a competitive balance pick in the following year's draft. That draft pick was Sal Stewart.

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