The Big Pod Machine: Is it time for the Reds to sell?
Reds Beat Reporter Gordon Wittenmyer and Sports Reporter Pat Brennan discuss the current state of the Cincinnati Reds.
That was probably the single best day in the Cincinnati Reds‘ 2025 season, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand was a huge factor in it.
The Reds won twice Saturday, June 7 at Great American Ball Park. The first victory came in dramatic fashion as they walked-off the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 10th inning to complete Friday’s series opener, which was suspended after six innings due to rain.
About an hour later, the Reds came right back out in fresh uniforms and hammered the Diamondbacks, scoring five runs in the first inning and plating eight in the fourth inning in an eventual 13-1 victory.
The two wins saw the Reds improve to 32-33, and take the series from a middling Arizona team. With Brady Singer (6-4, 4.66 ERA) on the mound Sunday against Zac Gallen (4-7, 5.13 ERA), Cincinnati could sweep Arizona and move back to .500 on the season.
“We scored five in the first. That always helps,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “Later, we had eight in an inning which doesn’t happen very often but we’ll take it…”
Leading the charge in both wins was Encarnacion-Strand. Friday marked his return to the Reds after an injured list stint that started April 17. He proceeded to go 5-for-10 over the two games with two home runs, two runs scored and five RBIs.
In the first inning of the middle game of the series, Encarnacion-Strand hit a three-run homer to left field that reached 141 feet high at its peak. That set the tone for the day’s drubbing.
In the series opener that started Friday and carried over into Saturday, Encarnacion-Strand hit the game-tying home run in the sixth inning just before the game was suspended. On Saturday afternoon, he doubled in the 10th inning to drive in Jake Fraley. The win was Cincinnati’s first in extra innings all season (1-5) and first time they’ve scored the free runner.
“I think everyone knows he (Encarnacion-Strand) is part of our success now and in the future,” Gavin Lux said. “For him to make some adjustments and come back up and have some immediate success just kind of reaffirms that you’re working on the right things, doing the right things, so really happy for him.”
The Reds sent 13 batters to the plate in the fourth inning of the middle game, plating eight runs in the frame. Encarnacion-Strand popped out, but Gavin Lux’s grand slam struck a major blow for the hosts.
Matt McLain keyed that eight-run inning from Francona’s point of view. His bunt up the first-base line resulted in an infield single that loaded the bases for the first time. From there, Friedl was hit by a pitch to drive in a run and Lux would homer in the next at-bat.
“I hope that never gets lost in all the good that happened today because that, to me, was the play of the game,” Francona said of McLain’s bunt.
By the sixth inning, seven of the Reds’ nine starters had driven in at least one run. Starting pitcher Nick Martinez did his part, too, going six innings and allowing just one run as he improved to 4-6.
The only run Martinez allowed was a solo home run to former Reds slugger, Eugenio Suarez. The homer was the 100th of Suarez’s career at Great American Ball Park.
“I thought Nick Martinez was the perfect guy to have out there because he threw strikes,” Francona said. “I thought, actually, as the game progressed he started getting in a way better rhythm than he had early on.”
Cincinnati used its high-leverage relief pitchers Graham Ashcraft, Emilio Págan and Tony Santillan in order to take the first game. It was unclear between games if they’d be available to relieve Martinez, but their services weren’t required.
Joe La Sorsa, Brent Suter and Lyon Richardson nailed down the last three innings for Cincinnati.
“Love when the boys are swinging that way,” Martinez said. “They just kept going. They kept pounding it, and it’s a lot more fun pitching with a lead like that.”
By the time the Reds batted in the eighth inning, Arizona had resorted to using Jose Herrera − a catcher − on the mound. He lobbed pitches in around 40 mph, and blanked the Reds. He allowed two hits.
But Herrera’s introduction as a pitcher confirmed the day’s dominance for Cincinnati, and that the Diamondbacks were in regroup mode before the middle game of the series had ended.