CHICAGO – In the first game after the Cincinnati Reds traded for three relievers to boost the bullpen, it was Joey Votto who stole the show.
Votto added to his legend with two more home runs in Wednesday’s 8-2 win against the Chicago Cubs. He’s homered in five straight games. It’s the first time in his career he’s homered multiple times in back-to-back games. His last seven hits are all homers.
Tyler Mahle tossed six shutout innings. Bullpen newcomers Luis Cessa and Justin Wilson followed with two scoreless and drama-free frames. All great signs as the Reds try to make a playoff run in the final two months of the season.
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Arguably the best sign? Votto playing at an elite level since returning from his broken thumb in early June and transforming into the hottest hitter in the Major Leagues.
Votto continues to make the improbable look easy. A 37-year-old playing with unbridled joy. Cubs starter Zach Davies threw a 74-mph curveball off the plate in the first inning and Votto crushed it for a 394-foot homer to left-center field.
When Votto ran up the first-base line to begin his home run trot, he turned to his teammates in the dugout and said something, causing his teammates to break into smiles. Votto paid tribute to a character from the TV show “Ted Lasso” when he crossed home plate and then pointed to manager David Bell, another big fan of the show.
Votto became the ninth player in Reds history to homer in five consecutive games, matching a franchise record. The list includes Eugenio Suárez (2018), Jay Bruce (2016), Devin Mesoraco (2014), Adam Dunn (2008), Ken Griffey Jr. (2003), Johnny Bench (1972), George Crowe (1957) and Ted Kluszewski (1954).
In other words, pretty good company.
He’s hit 19 home runs this season, his highest total since 2017, and seven are against the Cubs. He was booed by the Wrigley Field crowd of 30,134 in his subsequent plate appearances, intentionally walked in the third inning and he walked on five pitches in the fifth inning.
In the top of the ninth inning, it was time for more magic. Votto blasted a 94-mph fastball at the bottom of the strike zone for a two-run homer. His teammates in the dugout erupted with cheers.
Votto is only the third Reds player, according to Bally Sports Ohio, to homer seven times in a five-game stretch, joining Bruce and Bench.
The top of the Reds lineup continued to produce Wednesday. Jesse Winker hit an RBI double in the third inning. Tyler Stephenson hit a two-run single in the fourth.
Mahle took it from there, permitting five hits and one walk. He didn’t have his most overpowering stuff, recording only two strikeouts, but he was effective pitching out of jams. He allowed three straight batters to reach base in the first inning with two outs, but he escaped when Jason Heyward lined out.
He pitched around a leadoff double in the second inning and a hit by pitch to the leadoff man in the third. In Mahle’s two starts at Wrigley Field this season, he’s pitched 11 scoreless innings.
In a four-run game, Cessna pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning. Wilson entered for the eighth and walked one batter.
It was the first time the Reds won a game by more than three runs since July 5.
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