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Hal McCoy<\/p>\n
It was supposed to be a sideshow, the two top candidates for Rookie of the Year facing off from opposite dugouts.<\/p>\n
As it turned out, it was the main event Saturday, April 25 when the Cincinnati Reds annihilated the Detroit Tigers, 9-2, on Hall of Fame Night in Great American Ball Park.<\/p>\n
It was Detroit\u2019s Kevin McGonigle, who signed an eight-year $150 million contract after playing only 17 MLB games.<\/p>\n
It was Cincinnati\u2019s Sal Stewart, playing for the major league minimum of $781,500.<\/p>\n
McGonigle, batting leadoff, got in the first punch. He reversed Reds starter Brady Singer\u2019s second pitch over the center field wall.<\/p>\n
And he had a good night \u2014 home run, single and a double and has been on base in 24 straight games.<\/p>\n
But Stewart said, \u201cAnything you can do, I can do better.\u201d And he did.<\/p>\n
Stewart matched McGonigle\u2019s first-inning home run with one of his own, only Stewart\u2019s came with two men on base and gave the Reds a 3-1 lead.<\/p>\n
Then he beat an infield single, singled home two more runs and drew a walk.<\/p>\n
So the tally was McGonigle 3 for 5 with a run scored and an RBI and Stewart was 3 for 4 with a run scored and five RBI.<\/p>\n
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Cincinnati Reds’ TJ Friedl, left, celebrates with first base coach Collin Cowgill after hitting a single during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Cincinnati, Saturday, April 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Ben Jackson – FR172357 AP<\/p>\n
Winner? Stewart.<\/p>\n
And the Reds were the big winners, grabbing not only their eighth win in nine games, but also claiming sole possession of first place in the National League Center (18-9).<\/p>\n
Stewart was not the only Cincinnati batsman who trotted leisurely around the bases.<\/p>\n
Nathaniel Lowe homered immediately after Stewart\u2019s first-inning home run, Lowe\u2019s third homer in two games.<\/p>\n
Elly De La Cruz crushed a two-run homer in the second inning, tying Stewart for the club lead with nine.<\/p>\n
And a resurgent TJ Friedl topped off his three-hit night with a ninth-inning home run, his first. For Friedl it was two bloops and a blast. His first two hits were a bloop double over third base and a bloop single to right field. Then came the blast.<\/p>\n
Detroit\u2019s only other run than McGonigle\u2019s homer was a fourth-inning home run by Spencer Torkelson, his fourth homer in four games.<\/p>\n
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Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona walks back to the dugout after making a pitching change during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Cincinnati, Saturday, April 25, 2026.<\/p>\n
Ben Jackson \/ AP<\/p>\n
Fox commentator and former St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright despised pitching in GABP and calls it, \u201cThe devil\u2019s lair.\u201d<\/p>\n
In the first two games of the series, the two teams have combined for 14 home runs, eight by the Reds and six by the Tigers.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the most home runs in a three-game series in MLB this season. . .and the two teams play again Sunday afternoon.<\/p>\n
The only damage done to Singer was the two home runs. He came up two outs short of a third straight quality start. He pitched 5 1\/3 innings and scattered eight hits and didn\u2019t issue a walk.<\/p>\n
And he wasn\u2019t in deep trouble when Reds manager Tito Francoa said, \u201cEnough.\u201d Singer gave up a one-out single in the sixth, but his pitch-count was at 94 and Francona patted him on the posterior, told him, \u201cGood job,\u201d and sent him off to the showers.<\/p>\n
The Reds\u2019 bullpen of Connor Phillips, Graham Ashcraft, Sam Moll and Emilio Pagan held the Tigers to no runs, two hits and two walks over the final 3 2\/3 innings.<\/p>\n
Detroit starter Jack Flaherty wasn\u2019t around long enough to get acquainted with home plate umpire Laz Diaz.<\/p>\n
He lasted only two innings and gave up six runs, five hits (three homers) and two walks.<\/p>\n
His night began belligerantly when he struck out Friedl on three pitches. But he walked both Matt McLain and De La Cruz.<\/p>\n
Stewart unloaded his homer, a 366-foot three-run blast into the left field seats for a 3-1 lead. Lowe followed by pulling a 350-footer down the rigtht field line.<\/p>\n
Ke\u2019Bryan Hayes, batting .081, opened the second with a double over center fielder Matt Vierling\u2019s head. It was his fifth hit in 67 at bats.<\/p>\n
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Cincinnati Reds’ Sal Stewart, left, celebrates after his three-run home run with teammate Elly de la Cruz, second from left, during the first inning of a baseball game against the Detroit Tigers in Cincinnati, Saturday, April 25, 2026. Ben Jackson \/ AP<\/p>\n
Ben Jackson \/ AP<\/p>\n
Friedl bunted him to third and De La Cruz cleared the center field wall with a 415-foot Cruz missile and it was 6-1.<\/p>\n
Hayes struck again leading off the sixth, a solid single to left. Friedl singled and with one out De La Cruz walked to fill the bases.<\/p>\n
Stewart shot a two-run single to right for two more RBI, giving him not only the team lead with 29, but the top gun in MLB. And he lifted his batting average to .303.<\/p>\n
Another sideshow was an at bat by De La Cruz. He hit the fourth hardest ball in MLB this season at 115.3 miles an hour.<\/p>\n
And it wasn\u2019t on his home run. It was on a sizzling line drive he hit in the eighth inning that was stabbed by second baseman Javier Baez. The three balls hit harder than De La Cruz\u2019s liner were all home runs.<\/p>\n
NEXT GAME<\/p>\n
Who: Detroit at Cincinnati<\/p>\n
When: 1:40 p.m., Sunday, April 26<\/p>\n