The Reds had no luck against two-game winner Rafael Montero on Wednesday weren’t all that enthused about facind 14-game winner Jacob deGrom a half a day later.
Reds’ starter Robert Stephenson wished to continue the current trend toward better starting pitching. He got his wish but Joey Votto fulfilled another wish in the Reds’ 7-2 series clinching win over the New York Mets.
Votto hit his 34th home run of the season off Jeurys Familia in the seventh for a 5-2 lead. Votto gave a bat and jersey to Walter Herbert, age 6, who is here courtesy of the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
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"I don't want to chat about this one," Votto said. "I will say that on September 16 from 11:00 am until 10:00 pm at Park House. There is a fund raiser. I'd be remiss if I didn't mention a long time friend and a long time teammate Jay Bruce has opened a twitter account to raise money for the Hurricane Harvey Relief Efforts. I know if anyone wants to support that in any way, shape of form, I know Jay would love that.'
Stephenson has personally connected two decent starts of five innings and 5 2/3 innings in his last two starts in which he earned wins. His recent success traces back to the development of a slider over the course of the season. Ted Power introduced him to it near the end of spring training.
"I started to use it at the end of spring training," Stephenson said. 'I mixed it in when I could in situations where I wouldn't get hurt. I used it a lot more in Triple A. It has developed into a pitch that I can use and feel really comfortable at any time. I got a better and better feel for it."
The last round of starts have been encouraging for all the Reds.
"Every day we're seeing guys get batter. That's really exciting for every body involved," Votto said. "We're watching younger players improve. We're getting our first glimpse of what hopefully will be the future."
The Mets wasted little time trying to show Stephenson who’s boss. Jose Reyes for the second time in two games, doubled to lead off the game. Reyes got to third on a ground out and trotted home on a sacrifice fly by Asdrubal Cabrera.
Scooter Gennett followed a single by Eugenio Suarez with a long 23rd home run in the second.
Stephenson issued one of his three walks to Reyes leading off the third. Reyes went to third on a single by Cabrera. Brandon Nimmo hit a hard ground ball back to the box that Stephenson on the right hip and deflected to Votto. Votto looked home then decided to try to tag Nimmo for the out as Reyes scored. Nimmo ran past the missed tag for a hit.
"Taking the line drive off the hip in the third at no point in time did it become a concern," Price said. "It can be a fall back position to come out of a game. It is not that I'd associate that with any of our guys. You can set yourself up for when things don't go well. I think he handled himself unbelievably well. He built up some street cred out there with the guys. He did a nice job righting the ship after a tough loss last night."
The Reds finished August with a winning record.
"You get their best guy the last day of the series and it's 1-1," Price said.. "It may have gone unnoticed but if we win that game we're 15-14 for the month. We lose it and we're 14-15. For team in our spot in the standings, it may not seem like much but it means a lot. We want to build a trend of positive successes going forward."
The Reds took the lead back when Billy Hamilton singled, stole second and went to third as Votto bounced to the hole at short. Amed Rosario’s throw skipped past Cabrera at third and Hamilton scored on the error.
Gennett’s double scored Peraza with the Reds’ fourth run after a single and Peraza’s 18th stolen base.
Stephenson left for a pinch hitter after six strong innings. He allowed two runs on five hits and three walks. He struck out seven in his longest outing of the year.
Michael Lorenzen took over in seventh and worked two scoreless innings.
Stuart Turner hit his first home run as a dad with Scott Schebler on base off Erik Goedell in the eighth inning. It was his second home run of the season.
NOTE:
The Reds donated $40,000 to Hurricane Harvey relief efforts off the split-the-pot ticket sales from the Mets series. The funds will be equally split between the American Red Cross and former Red Jay Bruce's efforts to raise money for victims in his hometown, Beaumont, Texas.
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