KANSAS CITY – There it was out of nowhere. After the Cincinnati Reds went hitless for four consecutive innings, Nick Castellanos awakened the offense with one swing in the seventh inning.
Castellanos connected on a first-pitch fastball and sent a line drive over the left-field wall for a solo homer. He clapped his hands as he crossed home plate, giving himself a round of applause for his game-tying, 419-foot blast into the Kauffman Stadium seats.
Box score: Reds 6, Royals 2
"When he hit that homer," Eugenio Suárez said, "everybody woke up."
It was the eighth time this season Castellanos has delivered a game-tying or go-ahead homer. Three batters later, Suárez crushed a three-run homer and the Reds rolled to a 6-2 win against the Kansas City Royals.
The Reds have won five consecutive games, which is one shy of their season-high. They’ve won nine of their last 13 games.
"We believe in what we got," Suárez said. "We believe in what we can do."
Castellanos, who was voted as a starter in next week’s All-Star Game, wrestled momentum away from the Royals after they took a 2-1 lead. It was Kansas City’s first lead of the night and it didn’t last one pitch.
Starting pitcher Mike Minor had retired 13 of his last 15 batters (a walk and hit batsman were the exceptions). Minor had already struck out Castellanos twice. It didn’t matter. One fastball over the heart of the plate was all Castellanos needed.
"After he hit that one, and you see it, everybody got different energy," Suárez said. "Like, 'OK, we’re here. We've got to win this game.'"
Minor walked the next two batters to end his outing. Reliever Kyle Zimmer, who hadn’t allowed a run at Kaufmann Stadium since April 20, entered to face Suárez. It's the same hitter who was out of the lineup for two games after slumping.
"I think he did a great job of using those two days the right way," Reds manager David Bell said. "He didn't work himself like crazy or anything like that. He'd already been doing that. I think he just kind of took a step back."
On the third pitch of the at-bat, Suárez broke the game open with a three-run, 431-foot blast that nearly hit the scoreboard behind the left-field seats.
"I didn’t feel that way for a long time," Suárez said. "Definitely, that was one of my best swings this year. It made me feel like, 'all right, you still have it.' Just believe it and do it."
It was Suárez’s 17th home run of the season. The dugout erupted. Suárez did his salsa dance with Joey Votto. Reds starter Vladimir Gutierrez, who gave up a run in the previous inning, made sure to grab Suárez to celebrate after the dugout’s high-five line.
He's on a four-game hitting streak since sitting for the two games.
"Those couple days off made me feel like I need to see the game different way because that was the first time that happened in my career," Suárez said. "You just have to play better and you just have to do your best."
Said Bell: "I saw it, really, in his first at-bat when he came back. He just looked a little bit different. I wasn't even sure what it was. I didn't ask any questions, but when he was at the plate, he just looked in a really good position to hit."
The Reds had only two hits in the previous six innings. Tyler Stephenson and Votto had back-to-back hits in the second inning and Stephenson scored when Suárez grounded into a double play.
Minor yielded three hits and three walks in six innings, but the Reds turned it into four runs.
Monday’s series opener had the makings of a pitchers’ duel. Gutierrez permitted two runs on five hits and two walks across six innings. There were innings where Gutierrez looked dominant. He threw six sliders for strikes in the fourth inning and it resulted in five whiffs and one foul ball.
"The guy's got good stuff," Royals manager Mike Matheny said. "Using his slider a lot and throwing it behind in counts. You couldn't really guess along. At one point, he threw four changeups in a row."
Gutierrez pitched into trouble in the sixth inning when the first two batters reached base via a walk and a single. After a lineout, Gutierrez surrendered an RBI double to Jorge Soler, which scored the go-ahead run.
The lead was gone, but Gutierrez wasn't done.
"I went behind the mound and took a breather," Gutierrez said, according to team interpreter Jorge Merlos. "I knew that the team would be able to rally, especially with the way we’re playing right now. I knew they would be able to rally for me. I just couldn’t lose focus right there."
With two runners in scoring position, Gutierrez left them stranded. There was an out when Salvador Perez tried to score on a grounder and it turned into a fielder's choice. Gutierrez ended the inning with a flyout.
"That was kind of the key to the game right there," Bell said. "If that turns into a big inning, it's a totally different game."
Instead, the Reds responded with a four-run inning and the bullpen did the rest. Reds relievers have thrown 16 innings without giving up an earned run during the five-game winning streak.
Once Castellanos and the offense responded with a four-run inning, the bullpen did the rest. The Reds' bullpen has thrown 16 innings without giving up an earned run this month.
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