With Jason Heyward’s eighth-inning two-run home run off of Blake Wood on Monday night, the Reds set a new ignominious record, CSN Chicago’s Patrick Mooney reports. The club has now allowed 242 home runs, surpassing the 241 the 1996 Tigers yielded.
Heyward’s blast was the Cubs’ third home run on the evening. Addison Russell and Wilson Contreras each hit solo homers in the seventh, helping to erase the Reds’ 2-0 lead.
Brandon Finnegan has allowed the most home runs on the team with 29 followed by Dan Straily at 28. Because the Reds have struggled to keep other pitchers in the rotation, eight other pitchers have given up double-digit home runs including five who have made at least 10 starts.
Coming into Monday’s action, Major League pitching had allowed 5,218 home runs. The Reds’ 239 at the time represented 4.58 percent of that total. The Twins had allowed the second-most at 209, or 4.0 percent. By the way, that 5,218 total was already the sixth-highest total in major league history. Thank you, Reds.
The Reds, now 63-87, are at least setting themselves up to pick in the top-five and potentially the top-three in the first round of the 2017 draft.