Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings May 5, 2018 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1996-Eric Davis ties a major league record by hitting a grand slam home run for the second game in a row MLB.COM Back-to-back HRs get Reds back in win column Romano, bullpen combine to hold Marlins to 1 run May 4th, 2018 By Jeff Wallner Special to MLB.com 12:15 AM ET CINCINNATI -- The Cincinnati Reds came into Friday's game ranked fourth in the National League in on-base percentage, but it had yet to translate into runs. The Reds also did well in that category last year. Interim manager Jim Riggleman said the difference this season has been a lack of home runs, so far. That changed in the first inning on Friday, when Eugenio Suarez and Adam Duvall hit back-to-back homers, and Sal Romano pitching 5 1/3 solid innings, to lift the Reds to a 4-1 victory over the Marlins at Great American Ball Park. "It was a really good start," said Suarez of the big first inning. "When you score those four runs in the first inning, everybody gets comfortable. When we put it all together -- defense, pitching and hitting -- we can win a lot of games." Marlins left-hander Wei-Yin Chen ran into trouble in the first by allowing a single and a walk to begin Friday's game. His 1-2 pitch to Suarez, an 82-mph slider, landed in the upper deck in left field, putting the Reds ahead, 3-0. It was Suarez's fourth homer this season. "It was a slider down a little bit," Suarez said. "I was just thinking about driving in one run there and I put a really good swing on it, and hit it out." Duvall followed with a line-drive homer, his fifth, on a 1-1 pitch from Chen. Duvall's drive barely cleared the right-field wall to make the score 4-0. His homer had a 16 percent hit probability, and had a 10 percent chance to land in the seats according to Statcast™. It was the second set of back-to-back homers this season for the Reds. "That was big right there," said Riggleman. "After that inning, we didn't do a whole lot. It was not going to feel good to get four in the first and let it get away." Chen (1-1) allowed four earned runs and five hits in four innings. He also walked four. Romano (2-3) retired 10 straight before Lewis Brinson's fourth home run of the season made the score 4-1 with two outs in the fifth. It was only the second hit allowed to that point by Romano, who allowed a run and three hits. The Marlins had runners on first and second leading off the second inning, but Romano got Miguel Rojas to ground into a 6-4-3 double play, helping him escape the threat. "I was missing down with my fastball a little bit early, but after I got out of that second inning, I felt like I hit a little bit of a groove and the team was able to get a win," Romano said. Reds right-hander Jared Hughes also chipped in with two scoreless innings, allowing a hit with two strikeouts. The Reds got all their runs in the first inning, then left nine runners on base, finishing 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position, which made their manager a bit uneasy. "The second and third inning we had some men on base again, and Chen was on the ropes," Riggleman said. "We just didn't put them away. It was a struggle." Raisel Iglesias induced a double play with one on and one out in the ninth to nail down his fourth save and help Cincinnati (8-24) snap a three-game losing streak. MOMENT THAT MATTERED In the sixth inning, the Marlins forced Romano out of the game, and left-handed specialist Wandy Peralta entered to walk the only batter he faced and load the bases. But left-hander David Hernandez induced a pair of hard line drives from Brian Anderson and Martin Prado that were caught by Duvall in left. The Marlins managed only two hits the rest of the way against the Reds' bullpen. "They barrelled those two balls up pretty good," Riggleman said. "Duvall made a couple nice plays." The Marlins knew a golden opportunity slipped away in the moment. "I thought a few times we had something going, and it seemed like we would fizzle [out] and really couldn't put anything truly together," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "The chance we had with the bases loaded, that's where this ballpark will really hurt you. [Prado] flips that ball into left, and usually that's a hit right there because you're playing a little more shallow here. We couldn't get anything going." YOU GOTTA SEE THIS In the third inning, Romano made a barehanded play on a hard grounder from Chen, then calmly threw to Joey Votto at first for the first out of the inning. Trainers briefly visited Romano on the mound and he threw one warmup pitch, but he was able to continue. It was the second straight start that Romano has used his pitching hand to field a ball. "I probably need to stop doing that, but it's a reactionary thing," he said. UP NEXT Tyler Mahle had his best outing of the season on Sunday against the Twins at Target Field, allowing a run on four hits through 6 1/3 innings in an 8-2 win. He'll be looking to build off that performance tonight when he faces the Marlins at Great American Ball Park for the first time in his career, trying to help the Reds take the first two in the series. Mahle has 38 strikeouts to lead all Major League pitchers 23 years old and younger. Caleb Smith will toe the rubber for Miami, with first pitch set for 7:10 p.m. ET. Gennett could be ready to start Saturday Rainey recalled after Garrett placed on bereavement list By Jeff Wallner Special to MLB.com 12:58 AM ET CINCINNATI -- Scooter Gennett could return to the lineup on Saturday after missing four starts with right shoulder inflammation. To this point, the Reds have remained cautious. "Scooter feels good today," said Reds manager Jim Riggleman prior to Friday's game. "Talking to Steve Baumann, our trainer, he wanted to get [Gennett] a good workout on the field today and pass all the tests. We feel he'll be fully ready to go tomorrow." Gennett has appeared as a pinch-hitter in each of the past four games, including Friday's 4-1 win against the Marlins, going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts. "Shoulder feels good," said Gennett. "No pain right now. They didn't want to throw me in there and see what happened. I feel good, and as long as everything goes good in the pregame work, I'll be out there [Saturday]." Gennett is the only player to appear in each of the Reds' first 32 games, including 26 starts. Although he has appeared as a pinch- hitter, Gennett said it was tough to watch his teammates get swept by the Brewers in three games this week. "I think everyone wants to contribute and help the team win, myself included," Gennett said. Rainey recalled Right-hander Tanner Rainey was recalled from Triple-A Louisville on Friday for his second stint with the Reds this season. Rainey took the roster spot of reliever Amir Garrett, who was placed on the bereavement list on Thursday. This is Rainey's second stint with the Reds and he's looking for better results than his first stint, when he allowed seven earned runs and walked five in two innings. Four of those runs came on a grand slam by the Phillies' Scott Kingery on April 10. Rainey's results have been far better at Triple-A, where he has made seven scoreless relief appearances and converted both save opportunities. Garrett could be on bereavement for up to seven days. As long as Rainey is here, Riggleman said he'll find him some innings. "He's going to be a good one," Riggleman said. "When he settles in and really gets his feet under him -- he walked some guys and got himself into some trouble the last time [he was up] -- but look for him to get a little more comfortable." International League batters hit .069 against Rainey, who appreciated Riggleman's vote of confidence. "The first time [up] wasn't what I wanted," Rainey said. "But I went back down for a couple weeks, got back to feeling good again. Hopefully bring that back up here, and not let the game change." Spell for Peraza? Riggleman mentioned that Jose Peraza is due for a day off. Peraza has started at shortstop in 30 of the Reds' 31 games including Friday. He hasn't missed a game since April 2. The Reds are reluctant to get Peraza's bat out of the lineup. Since going 0-for-12 to start the season, he batted .327 through his next 27 games. Riggleman indicated on Friday how he'll shuffle the infield in Peraza's absence when he is given a day off. "I think we would move [Eugenio Suarez] over there and put [Alex Blandino] at third," Riggleman said. "It's a little bit of a coin flip, you know?" Suarez who developed as a shortstop, has played one inning at short this season.