Tomas leads HR parade as D-backs top Reds

CINCINNATI -- Normally, Friday night is reserved for fireworks at Great American Ball Park. But the D-backs brought their own on Sunday.
With a four-homer performance, Arizona salvaged the third game of the series by topping the Reds, 9-8, and ending a four-game losing streak. Yasmany Tomás delivered the first one -- a solo shot in the second. Welington Castillo followed in the third with a three-run shot, Paul Goldschmidt delivered a leadoff solo homer in the fifth, which broke a 5-5 tie, and Tomas delivered the final blow in the eighth, another solo shot.
The Reds nearly mounted a ninth-inning comeback after two walks set Jay Bruce up for a three-run homer to bring the game within one. Although the game ultimately didn't fall the Reds' way, they still managed to finish their homestand 6-3 and won all three series. Reds starter Brandon Finnegan, who went five innings, allowed six of the nine runs on seven hits, including three of the four homers. It's the fourth straight outing for Finnegan in which he was unable to get an out in the sixth.
"I went back and looked at all three of the home runs, and all three were down and exactly where [catcher Ramon] Cabrera called them," Finnegan said. "The pitch that Goldschmidt hit was in on his hands. It wasn't even on the plate. It just wasn't my day."

D-backs starter Zack Godley didn't perform much better, allowing five runs through the first three innings, but he ended up settling down to give Arizona 5 2/3 innings and didn't allow a run over his last 2 2/3. The Reds' five runs came as they scattered singles, recording eight of their 10 hits in the first three frames. Of the 10 hits Godley gave up, all 10 were singles.
"He gave up some runs, but there were a lot of hits, ground-ball hits, a couple line drive hits in that one inning," D-backs manager Chip Hale said. "Probably the mistake was the hit batsman to lead off the [third] inning. You don't want to put anybody on. It just seems like when we walk somebody or hit batsman type thing, they score. It has not been very good to us. That's one thing these guys are really working on."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Yasmany more to come: Tomas didn't wait long to make his presence known in Sunday's game, homering on the first pitch he saw from Finnegan, an 83-mph slider. He added another in the eighth on a 79-mph curve from Josh A. Smith. Tomas' homers traveled a combined 762 feet and came off the bat at an average of 104 mph, according to Statcast™. Tomas had been scuffling a bit in July, hitting .196 before going 3-for-4 Sunday. They were his first homers of the month after hitting seven in June, the most he's hit in any month in his career.

"Our guys did not quit," Hale said. "Which they hadn't done that the last two days. They just were able to really hang in there in their at-bats. Obviously, Tomas with the two home runs were huge."
Hamilton effect:Billy Hamilton's speed, or rather the threat of his speed, helped the Reds grab a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Hamilton was on third base with two outs when Bruce walked. Bruce stole second base without a throw from Castillo, enabling him to get into scoring position. Adam Duvall followed with a single up that middle that easily scored both runners and gave the Reds what proved to be their lone lead of the game.

The Reds had a similar situation in Saturday's game, also in the first inning, with Hamilton on third and Joey Votto at first base. Votto attempted to steal second. Castillo threw to second base, at which time Hamilton broke for home plate. He was caught in a rundown but eventually returned to third base safely. The Reds ended up scoring three times in the inning as part of their 6-1 win.
Well, well, Welington: Castillo's third-inning, three-run shot broke an 0-for-9 stretch for the 29-year-old catcher, who got the day off on Saturday. His homer, which travelled 367 feet and came off the bat at 99 mph according to Statcast™, was his first since he homered in back-to-back games July 1 and 2. Against lefties this season, Castillo is hitting .341 with seven of his 11 homers.

Trouble with the long ball: Finnegan gave up three home runs, bumping his season total to 22 homers allowed. In his 20 starts this season, Finnegan has given up at least one homer in 13 of them. Sunday was the fifth time he's allowed multiple homers in a game and the third time he's been roughed up for at least three homers. His season high had been four against the Cubs at Wrigley Field on July 5.
UNDER REVIEW
With no one out in the top of the first inning, Jean Segura of the D-backs attempted to steal third base as the front end of a double steal. He was called out on the throw from Cabrera to Iván De Jesús Jr. The D-backs challenged the call, but upon review, it stood.

In the top of the sixth inning, Segura was again involved in a replay challenge, and again it pertained to a stolen-base attempt. This time, with the D-backs leading, 7-5, Segura attempted to steal second base. He was ruled safe, but the Reds challenged the call, claiming Segura over-slid the bag while Brandon Phillips applied the tag. The call was overturned.

WHAT'S NEXT
D-backs: Arizona opens a four-game series with the Brewers with a 4:20 p.m. MST game on Monday. Braden Shipley will take the mound for his first career start. In 19 Triple-A starts, he has a 3.70 ERA in 119 1/3 innings.
Reds:Anthony DeSclafani tries to improve to 6-0 since returning from a left oblique strain that cost him the first two months of the season when the Reds open up a three-game series at San Francisco on Monday at 10:15 p.m. ET. DeSclafani is 5-0 with a 2.50 ERA in eight starts.
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