Frazier flashes big power in two-homer game

DETROIT -- According to Brayan Pena, Reds third baseman Todd Frazier called his shot.

• Cast your Esurance All-Star ballot for Frazier and other #ASGWorthy players

The Reds' catcher claims Frazier had predicted his 500th career hit would land in the center-field bushes at Comerica Park. And it very nearly did, as the 29-year-old's seventh-inning blast dropped into the visitor's bullpen a couple of feet short of Frazier's intended target, giving Cincinnati a lead it wouldn't relinquish in Tuesday's 5-2 win over the Tigers.

So was the story behind the prophecy true?

"I guess so -- I was joking around," Frazier said. "But yeah, I did say it."

The blast was Frazier's second home run of the night, marking his fifth-career multi-homer game and first of the season. The third baseman had already gone deep in the fifth inning, sending an 88-mph fastball from Detroit starter Kyle Ryan over the left-field fence, the first of back-to-back shots by Frazier and Jay Bruce.

"His power is prodigious," said Reds manager Bryan Price.

Leading off the seventh inning, Frazier swung at the first offering he saw from Ryan, silencing a crowd of 33,774.

"It was just a pitch out over [the plate], and you get your timing down right on a pitch and you gotta connect with it," Frazier said. "That's basically what I did."

Frazier has launched 20 home runs this year and has hit safely in 10 of his last 11 games, batting .413 with 11 extra-base hits and 12 runs scored in that span.

"I know I can hit a ball out of any park," he said. "Not to be cocky or anything about it, I have that power, and I've pretty much shown it."