CINCINNATI – Wilyer Abreu, fresh off belting a game-tying homer in the ninth of an eventual 11-inning loss on Saturday, was at it again on getaway Sunday at Great American Ball Park.
The right fielder staked his team to a lead with a two-run homer in the fourth, added a double in the sixth and kept a rally going in the eighth.
However, with the Red Sox not quite locked in as a team offensively, Abreu’s heroics were again not enough.
Instead, a three-run homer by Eugenio Suárez off reliever Greg Weissert in the sixth proved to be the difference as the Reds took the rubber match of this three-game series, 3-2.
Lefty Connelly Early, Boston’s No. 3 prospect and No. 54 overall per MLB Pipeline, picked up where he left off following his September callup last season by going 5 1/3 strong innings (five hits, one run, two walks, six strikeouts).
Early finished his day on a high note, striking out Elly De La Cruz for the first out of the sixth inning.
With Early at a career-high 96 pitches (61 strikes), manager Alex Cora went to reliever Weissert, and that didn’t go well.
The righty walked Sal Stewart, and Suárez celebrated his return to the Reds by doing what they pay him to do, hammering one into the upper deck in left.
It was a blow the Red Sox didn’t recover from.