Vladimir Gutierrez and Tyler Naquin power Reds to sweep of Marlins

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star(s) of the Game

It was a lazy Sunday afternoon as far as offense goes, but that wasn’t enough to cool off the bat of Tyler Naquin. He hit 2 home runs today as a part of a 2 for 4 afternoon, which would have been enough to win the game on its own. That’s because Vladimir Gutierrez was absolutely dominant on the mound. Gutierrez threw 7 innings against the Marlins, allowing only a run on 3 hits with a walk against 8 strikeouts. Well done to both of these guys.

Honorable mentions are due to: Mike Moustakas, who smacked a solo dinger; Joey Votto, who reached base thrice, going 1 for 2 with a couple walks; and the bullpen combination of Lucas Sims and Michael Lorenzen, who fired a couple of shutout innings in relief.

Key Plays

• Tyler Naquin continued his hot streak by launching a 2-2 pitch over the wall in center to lead off the bottom of the 1st and give the Reds a 1-0 lead.
• That lead would hold until the top of the 4th. Miguel Rojas led off with a single to left then, after a couple quick outs, stole second base. That would end up being important, as Jesus Sanchez would hit a slow roller past a diving Mike Moustakas for a RBI double to tie the game at 1-1.
• Mike Moustakas would come up to start the bottom of the 5th and absolutely rip a ball to the seats in right to give the Reds a 2-1 lead.
• Things would hold steady until the bottom of the 8th when Tyler Naquin, again, would smack a dong to right-center to give the Reds a 3-1 lead.
• Micahel Lorenzen would come on in the 9th and slam the door, cementing the win and the sweep.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Jose Barrero made this play in the top of the 4th, which was awesome:

• The Reds are off tomorrow before hitting the road to take on the Milwaukee Brewers in a pretty dang important series. Tyler Mahle will start for the Reds while Corbin Burnes will start for the Brewers.
• Tunes.