The Reds got Mike Moustakas and Nick Senzel back on Wednesday after the duo won their appeal, having sat out the previous three days due to illness. With those two back, the Reds’ offense returned. Moustakas hit a two-run homer in the fourth inning to open the scoring. Nick Castellanos struck a big blow in the fifth with a grand slam, and Senzel followed up later in the inning with a solo homer of his own to push the Reds’ lead to 9-0.
The Castellanos blast was hit 103.7 MPH off the bat and traveled 420 feet, according to Statcast.
Castellanos was one of the players lobbying for Moustakas and Senzel to return. He said, “If you look at our lineup, unfortunately with some of these f***ing protocols, you know, Moose and Senzel both have negative tests, but they are unable to play until Thursday. That’s obviously been a big letdown because both of them are big parts of our lineup.”
The Reds’ bullpen melted down in the top of the seventh. Sonny Gray issued a leadoff walk and another runner reached with two outs on a Eugenio Suárez error. Brooks Raley relieved Gray but walked a batter, hit a batter to force in a run, then allowed a two-run single and a two-run double. Both runs charged to Gray were unearned, as he otherwise pitched brilliantly, allowing just one hit and one walk while striking out 11 over 6 2/3 innings. It’s a 9-5 game as of this writing. That grand slam is looming large.
