Washington Nationals' starter Patrick Corbin pitched a complete game in his last start against the Miami Marlins. On Friday he was hoping for a complete inning.
He got it but not before the suddenly potent Reds' offense had a big first inning, jumping on the left-hander with both the fury of a jungle beast and carried the momentum to a 9-3 win. The win pulled the Reds to within three games of the .500 mark.
Nick Senzel signalled the Reds' uprising with a line single to center. A resurgent Joey Votto, who sat out three games with a tight hamstring, singled just as sharply. Eugenio Suarez recovered from a contusion on his left hand after he was hit by Clay Holmes on Wednesday. He lined a hard single to left to load the bases. Yasiel Puig contributed a run scoring single. Jose Iglesias force play drove in the second run. Curt Casali's second home run of the season brought in three more.
"The big hit was Casali's home run. It gave us some breathing room," David Bell said.
Casali's lone home run coming in to the game was against catcher Victor Carantini of the Cubs.
"It is fun to hit home runs in the Major Leagues," Casali said. "I came off the field and told (Tucker) Barnhart that tonight I hit one off a real pitcher. It is fun to give it to teammates and they give it back. It was important to get off to a fast start. They have good starting pitching and we allowed Mahle to be comfortable."
Jose Peraza and Kyle Farmer hit singles after Casali's blast but they were stranded.
Reds' starter Tyler Mahle struck out the side in the first inning. Juan Soto led off the second with a fly over Peraza's head in left. It probably should have been caught. Two ground outs got him home.
The Reds added on in the third. Iglesias, Casali and Peraza singled. Farmer's would-be double play ball crawled up the arm of Trea Turner for an error but an RBI. Senzel hit a sacrifice fly. Votto singled for the second time in the three-run frame.
Soto hit a solo home run in the fourth for Washington.
The Reds got that run back when Iglesias singled and scored from first on Casali's double.
Mahle escaped the fifth with one run. Victor Robles and Yan Gomes singled. Reliever Javy Guerra laid down a sacrifice bunt. Turner singled Robles home. Anthony Rendon walked to load the bases. Soto flew out deep to centerfield.
"I just wanted to throw strikes. I didn't do anything differently with a big lead," Mahle said. "Even in that last inning the first two hits weren't hit that hard. They found holes. Turner went down and hit a good change up. That was the only ball that was hit hard."
Senzel doubled to lead off the fifth. He was thrown out at the plate trying to score on Votto's third hit. Votto had a six-game hitting streak before sitting with the hamstring. He was hitting .444 (12-for-27). He was 3-for-4 before being replaced in the sixth inning to improve to .484 in his current seven-game hitting streak.
Jared Hughes pitched two scoreless innings. Zach Duke had a scoreless eighth. Matt Bowman finished the game with a scoreless ninth.
The Reds offense struggled early in the year now the Reds are hitting and scoring runs with regularity. The batting averages have risen to respectable levels.
"It was a good offensive night for the entire lineup," Bell said. "We were aggressive. We got a lot of hits on the first pitch. The offense is gaining confidence."
The Reds had a 15-13 record for May.
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