Adam Duvall’s late home run lifts Cincinnati Reds to 4th straight win

The Cincinnati Reds extended their winning streak to four with a 6-3 win over the Washington Nationals.

How good has Adam Duvall been? The Reds’ left fielder hit another home run on Saturday — his 16th of the season and his ninth in the last 13 games — and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

With the game tied at three in the eighth inning, Duvall lifted a 1-2 pitch from Shawn Kelley over the wall to put the Reds on top for good.

Long balls lead the way

All six of the Reds’ runs game via home runs. Jay Bruce got the scoring started for the home team with a solo shot in the bottom of the second inning to cut the deficit to 2-1. No one would score again until the sixth inning, when Joey Votto hit a two-run bomb to put the Reds up by one. The Nationals would come back to tie it at three before the Reds delivered the big blow. After a rain delay of nearly an hour, Duvall was the first hitter up and came through with a 399-foot, three-run blast to the upper deck in left field.

The Reds now have 18 home runs in their last six games

Another quality start

The Reds got another nice outing from a starting pitcher, this time from Dan Straily. The right-hander allowed only two hits and two walks in seven innings of work, the second time this season he’s gone that deep into a game. His only big mistake of the day came in the second inning when he allowed a two-run home run to Anthony Rendon. Straily continues to be the unexpected anchor in the Reds’ rotation, sporting a 4-2 record, 3.36 ERA and 1.17 WHIP since moving from the bullpen.

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Mixed results for ‘pen

Staked with a 3-2 lead in the eighth inning, the Reds turned things over to the bullpen. Ross Ohlendorf, who had allowed no runs in his last six appearances, was called on to hold the lead. He did so for two outs, at least. After two quick outs, he got behind to Danny Espinosa and grooved a pitch right down the middle on a 3-0 count that got peppered over the right-field wall for a game-tying home run.

Things went much more smoothly for Tony Cingrani in the ninth. After the Reds retook the lead, the southpaw retired the heart of the Nationals’ lineup — Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper and Daniel Murphy — in order to lock down the win and his fifth save of the season.

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Notes:

• After being promoted from the minor leagues earlier in the day, Kyle Waldrop picked up his first major-league hit as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning.
• Eugenio Suarez and Billy Hamilton had days to forget at the plate. They combined to go 0-for-7 with seven strikeouts, with Suarez wearing the Golden Sombrero.
• Hamilton made up for his subpar day offensively with a magnificent leaping catch against the wall on a line drive by the first batter of the game, Ben Revere.