Home Baseball Austin Hays’ two homers help Reds beat Mets

Austin Hays’ two homers help Reds beat Mets

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NEW YORK — The Reds had an optional workout on Thursday at Citi Field, the day before they were scheduled to play the Mets. The entire team showed up, which pleased manager Terry Francona.

After batting practice, the Reds had a contest to see how many times they could hit the ball to the opposite field. ended up winning the contest.

“We just had the fastball machine set up,” Hays said “It was an opposite-field game. I kind of found a nice little line-drive stroke in the right-center gap.”

Hays carried the victory into Friday’s game against New York. He ended up hitting two opposite-field homers and drove in three runs as Cincinnati won the game, 8-4.

“It could have been [the contest] and it could have been the three tacos he had [before the game]. I think that’s what he was crediting,” Francona said.

Whether it was the hitting contest or the tacos, it doesn’t matter. During the first half of the season, Hays was limited to 47 games because of injuries to his left hamstring and left foot, but he was an RBI machine whenever he played. He recorded at least one RBI in 24 of those 47 games, which is tied with Jim Greengrass for the second most by a Red during that span since the stat became official in 1920. His 37 RBIs in the first half were tied for the ninth most by a member of the Reds through his first 47 games.

“If you are asking for one thing, it’s professionalism,” Francona said about Hays. “He is what you are looking for. [The front office] did a good job of finding him this winter and signing him. When we haven’t had him [in the lineup], it’s a big hole for us, not just in the lineup, but in the clubhouse. He leads by example. He does everything right and he hits the ball out of the ballpark.”

Hays credits his RBI total to the three guys hitting ahead of him — TJ Friedl, Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz.

“I’m getting a lot of opportunities with those guys on base, and they are all fast,” Hays said. “I’ve had so many balls that I’ve hit that Elly has scored on. That definitely helps a lot, too. I’m just trying to stay simple.”

Hays is off to a good start after the All-Star break. He went 2-for-3, adding a pair of walks to his two homers. The first dinger came in the fourth inning with the Reds down, 2-0, and left-hander Sean Manaea on the mound. Hays swung at a 1-1 pitch and hit the ball over the right-center-field wall to cut the lead by a run.

An inning later, McLain got in on the act and, with right-hander Alex Carrillo on the mound, gave Cincinnati the lead with a two-run homer. By the sixth inning, the Reds continued to use the long ball against Carrillo. Hays led off and hit another opposite-field homer, while Tyler Stephenson slugged a two-run shot three batters later. It was Hays’ second multihomer game of the season and eighth of his career.

“I got a couple of heaters up and out over the plate,” Hays said. “When it was up in the zone, I was able to … hit it on the barrel. I feel like what we did yesterday at the end of BP translated well into the game today. I also had three tacos before the game. After I had two [home runs], one more [and] it might be a sign.”

Left-hander Nick Lodolo, who received the run support, had one of his best games of the season, lasting seven innings while allowing two runs on four hits and striking out seven.

Lodolo had nothing but good things to say about Hays.

“He has meant a ton,” Lodolo said. “He is a good sparkplug. He is right in the middle of that offense.”

“That was the first time in my career where I got to pick the team,” Hays said. “I wasn’t drafted or traded somewhere. I actually got to sit down and pick a team. I feel like I made a really good choice with the style of play here. I’m getting the opportunity to hit in the middle of the lineup. That helps a lot, too.”

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