It was his fourth straight quality start. And he did it by coaxing 10 ground balls among his 21 recorded outs and walking none. He has faced 72 straight batters without issuing a walk over his last three starts.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s part of my game, attacking the zone, challenging the hitters,\u201d said Martinez. \u201cYeah, walks are no good.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nobody is more appreciative of what Martinez did and has done than manager Tito Francona.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is such a pro and you\u2019ve heard me say that a lot,\u201d he said. \u201cHe loves competing. Watch him out there, he is having a ball. I enjoy that. He\u2019s good.\u201d<\/p>\n
And of Martinez\u2019s 72 batters faced with no walks, Francona said, \u201cThat\u2019s really good. That\u2019s when you\u2019re not beating yourself. You gotta beat him because he doesn\u2019t beat himself.\u201d<\/p>\n
Martinez went to 3-and-2 counts four times and retired three. Chicago\u2019s first hit with one out in the fifth came on a full count, a single to right by Matt Thaiss.<\/p>\n
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Offensively, the Reds gathered 12 hits as everybody in the lineup but Tyler Stephenson produced at least one hit. And three Reds hit home runs \u2014 Elly De La Cruz, Will Benson and Matt McLain.<\/p>\n
The leadoff batter in five innings reached base and four scored.<\/p>\n
It all began in the first inning when the Reds played small ball to score three runs.<\/p>\n
And for once, the Reds caught all the breaks. It started with leadoff hitter Gavin Lux. He grounded to third and was called out. The Reds challenged and the call was overturned \u2014 safe at first.<\/p>\n
Santiago Espinal, enmeshed in a 2 for 26 skid, dropped a beauteous bunt up the third base line for a hit. De La Cruz singled to left, filling the bases.<\/p>\n
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Austin Hays hit a sacrifice fly to center scoring Lux and Espinal and De La Cruz moved up to third and second.<\/p>\n
Spencer Steer lined to shortstop for the second out and it looked as if the Reds might score only one run after loading the bases with no outs.<\/p>\n
For all of last year Will Benson hit .187 and he was sent down to Louisville early this season and just this week was recalled.<\/p>\n
So it has been, \u201cWhere there is a Will, there is no way.\u201d Not any more. Benson delivered a two-out two-run single to make it 3-0.<\/p>\n
And the Reds caught another break in the fifth when Benson flied deep to center and the ball glanced off Luis Robert Jr.\u2019s glove and cleared the fence for a deflected home run.<\/p>\n
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\u201cHe is trying to make the most of an opportunity,\u201d said Francona. Benson has played the last three games in place of injured TJ Friedl.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we sent him down, we told him, \u2018Go play and you\u2019ll get a chance.\u2019 That\u2019s the way the game is. If you deserve it, you\u2019ll get a chance. And he deserved it and now he is getting a chance.\u201d<\/p>\n
Matt McLain, dropped from second to eighth in the batting order due to his offensive deficiencies, didn\u2019t pout about it. He is coming around.<\/p>\n
He had two hits in the first two games and on Thursday he had a leadoff double in the fourth and scored, then cracked a home run leading off the sixth.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a good player,\u201d said Francona. \u201cHe\u2019s gonna hit. He\u2019s just too good. I don\u2019t want to predict when and where, I just know he\u2019ll get there.\u201d<\/p>\n
De La Cruz\u2019s home run in the third was his third in five games and two have gone the opposite way into the left field seats.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was really pretty,\u201d said Francona. \u201cWhen you hit the ball the other way, you are doing something really right. A lot of guys would hit that ball the other way with a nice little fly out and when he comes in everybody says, \u2018Nice swing.\u2019 Elly gets rewarded for it because there is so much leverage behind that swing.\u201d<\/p>\n
The win ended a three-game losing streak and the Reds had lost five of six and 11 of 15.<\/p>\n
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Three times during his post-game media conference, Francona said, \u201cNow we gotta back that up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was happy we won and we played good, crisp baseball,\u201d he said. \u201cWe played a good game and we need to back that up.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benson said there was a team meeting before Thursday\u2019s game.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had a meeting before the game and it was said we\u2019re doing all the right things and we just need to click,\u201d he said. \u201cWe just needed that one big inning, that one big hit and we got them today.\u201d<\/p>\n