Center fielder Alek Thomas made a pair of spectacular catches on Joey Votto, including a home run-saving leap, and Merrill Kelly allowed one hit over six shutout innings to lead the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks past the Cincinnati Reds 7-0 Wednesday night.
Kelly (5-3) struck out five and walked three in winning his second straight start, going six innings for the first time since May 6, when he tossed 8 2/3 innings to beat visiting Colorado.
One night after scoring eight runs in the final two innings, the Diamondbacks found their offense again in snapping a four-game losing streak.
Christian Walker got the scoring underway in the fourth with a line drive home run to the seats in left field against Reds starter and loser Mike Minor (0-2). Walker’s team-leading 15th homer came one batter after Ketel Marte was hit by a pitch and put Arizona ahead 2-0.
Josh Rojas connected on a one-out changeup from Minor that landed on the net above the visitor’s bullpen in right for his fourth homer. That hit drove Minor from the game after just 4 1/3 innings. In only his second start after an injury delayed his debut, Minor was charged with three runs on three hits, while walking three and striking out four.
Jordan Luplow made it three homers in as many innings for Arizona in the sixth when he took Luis Cessa to the seats in right-center for his seventh of the season and a 4-0 lead.
Joey Votto appeared to give the Reds a 2-0 lead in the first inning when he lifted a fly ball to deep left center. The ball carried just over the wall before Thomas leaped and pulled the ball back for the final out.
Thomas robbed Votto again in the fourth when he dove for and caught a sinking liner in right-center. Votto was finally rewarded in the seventh when he led off with a double to right-center that Thomas couldn’t nab.
The Reds had two late scratches to their starting lineup, as outfielder Nick Senzel was out with back spasms. Meanwhile, team home run leader Brandon Drury was taken down due to a sore Achilles.
For a third straight game in the series, rain played a factor as the game was delayed at the start by one hour, 40 minutes by strong storms that soaked the field.
–Field Level Media
