Cincinnati Reds: Sal Stewart powers Reds to 8-3 win over Giants

Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona often says that it’s always a good sign to see someone hitting a line drive the other way with authority.

What does it tell you when a hitter has six opposite field homers in the first 18 games of the season?

Reds rookie first baseman Sal Stewart delivered two of those opposite field homers and led the team to an 8-3 win on Wednesday over the San Francisco Giants at Great American Ball Park.

“There are no words,” center fielder TJ Friedl said about Stewart. “It’s incredible. His maturity pitch to pitch is the most incredible part. Being able to work an at-bat and know where he’s being pitched and where each pitch needs to go. It’s insane. He just grinds out good at-bats. He’s just a really mature hitter.”

Last year, there wasn’t a single Reds’ hitter who had six-or-more opposite field homers all season. This is just another example of how Stewart is advanced beyond his years.

Stewart statistically has been a top-five hitter in MLB through the first few weeks of the season.

“I’m happy I had a good day today, but the game is over now,” Stewart said. “I’ll enjoy it tonight, but tomorrow we’ve got to come out here and look for the sweep.”

In the win on Wednesday, Stewart’s six RBIs are second-most by a Reds rookie in a single game since rookie rules were established in 1958. According to MLB statistician Sarah Langs, Stewart’s 12 homers through 36 career games are the second-most in Reds’ history, behind Aristides Aquino in 2019.

The best game of Stewart’s young career came one day after an interview where he said the Reds’ offense would get rolling. Stewart was far from the only contributor to a big offensive game for the Reds, which included a homers by designated hitter Eugenio Suárez and shortstop Elly De La Cruz.

The Reds entered the day on Wednesday with an offense that needed a spark. The Reds ranked 27th in the Majors in runs scored, and they had been held to two runs or fewer eight times this season. The offense showed its ceiling on Wednesday against the Giants and former Reds’ starting pitcher Tyler Mahle.

Stewart was the star.

“He’s a stud,” second baseman Matt McLain said. “He’s a great hitter. He’s a great teammate. He’s just mashing the ball. If you see the pitches he’s hitting, he’s really impressive. He works at it. He’s a great player, a great hitter and a great teammate.”

Mahle was often a poor hit in the Reds’ home ball park during his tenure with the team. He’s a fly ball pitcher, and Wednesday was another game where he struggled producing in Great American Ball Park.

Reds starting pitcher Rhett Lowder bounced back from the worst start of his young big league career. Six days after allowing four runs in Miami, he pitched 6 ⅔ innings against the Giants and allowed three runs.

“The ball was coming out better,” Lowder said. “I was executing a lot better. Getting ahead. The times I wasn’t getting ahead, I threw some soft stuff and got weak contact.”