CINCINNATI – Only two teams have averaged fewer runs per game than the Reds this season entering Tuesday. Good thing for Cincinnati that the Giants were one of them.
While Cincinnati once again could not put together a robust night of production against Giants starter Robbie Ray, it got just enough. Solo home runs by Spencer Steer and Sal Stewart did the job offensively while Brady Singer provided a strong six innings to get a 2-1 victory over San Francisco at Great American Ball Park.
The homers accounted for two of the three hits overall for the Reds, who are 4-0 in one-run games this season.
“We had a lot of good at-bats," Stewart said. "People would just look and be like, ‘Oh, three hits,’ or ‘We’re not hitting.’ [Giants starter Robbie Ray] had [94] pitches in [five innings]. If that’s not a testament to guys’ at-bats, then I don’t know what is. I put all my money on these guys and I trust them. We’re having good at-bats and we’re going to keep breaking through, I promise you.”
Facing Ray leading off the bottom of the third inning, Steer connected on a 2-1 slider and drove it to left-center field for his third homer of the season.
With one out in the fourth inning vs. Ray, Stewart worked a nice at-bat. In a 2-2 count, he fouled off one pitch, took another to make it a full count and then fouled off two more pitches. The eighth pitch, a fastball, was up and away and out of the strike zone, but Stewart reached for it and connected for an opposite-field homer to right field and a 2-0 lead.
“That was a great at-bat," manager Terry Francona said.
Francona saw Stewart as a bit of a throwback because many hitters look for pitches they can uppercut for launch angle and lift.
“If he had done that, he’d have missed it," Francona said. “In an era of baseball when you’re not supposed to talk about the top hand, he has a great top hand. He got on top of that ball and I know that’s not a real popular term in today’s game but I love it.”
It proved to be the game's deciding run for the Reds.
"The guy somehow just clips it perfect, and it's a home run," Ray said. "It's one of those where you look back at it and you can't really get mad because you felt like you made a good pitch."
Stewart, 22, has five homers this season and 10 career homers over his first 35 big league games dating back to Sept. 1, 2025. He leads National League rookies in homers, OPS (1.069), hits (18), walks (13) and total bases (37).
“It was a good pitch by him and I was happy I was able to put a good swing on it," Stewart said. "He’s a good pitcher. He’s a Cy Young for a reason.”
The Reds (10-7) came in averaging 3.4 runs per game – slightly better than the Giants (3.2) and the White Sox (3.1). An MLB-high eight of their wins have come in games decided by two runs or fewer, and they have been held to two or fewer runs eight times already this season, which is sixth in the league.
Working with little margin for error, Singer allowed one earned run and six hits over six innings with no walks and one strikeout. His one blemish came with two outs in the top of the fifth when Willy Adames crushed a 2-0 pitch into the left-field upper deck to make it a one-run game.
“Honestly, it keeps you locked in a little bit more too, which is nice. Spencer and Sal hitting the homers were huge for me. It was great," said Singer, who went for X-rays after the sixth when he took a comebacker off his right foot. They were negative.