Cincinnati Reds: Three takeaways from series win vs Chicago White Sox

The Reds took care of business versus the White Sox.

The Cincinnati Reds took 2-of-3 from the American League-leading Chicago White over the weekend. Cincinnati was in the playoffs entering play on Friday and they’ll begin a three-game set against the Milwaukee Brewers tonight with the postseason still in play. What did we learn from the Reds last three games against one of the AL’s best teams?

Cincinnati, behind the arm of Tyler Mahle, roared out the gates on Friday and defeated Chicago 7-1. The Reds got a solid outing from their right-hander and four home runs helped propel the team to victory. Joey Votto, Nick Castellanos, Jesse Winker and Tucker Barnhart all went yard off Chicago’s rookie starting pitcher.

With the White Sox sending Dallas Keuchel to the hill on Saturday night, the results were a bit different. A tight contest in the early-going, two home runs surrendered by Reds starter Trevor Bauer put Chicago up 2-0. Following Bauer’s exit, Robert Stephenson promptly allowed back-to-back-to-back homers, effectively putting the game out of reach.

Yesterday afternoon, Cincinnati took advantage of a horrendous performance from the White Sox pitching staff. Chicago issued 11 walks, and the Reds scored seven runs on just five hits. A two-run blast off the bat of Aristides Aquino helped provide more than enough runs and the Redlegs cruised to a 7-3 victory. What were some of the key takeaways from this series?