Even if the offense is not coming consistently, Sal Stewart still is driving in runs on a fairly regular basis.
Coming off the most productive day of his brief career, Stewart hopes to help the Reds earn a series win when they visit the New York Yankees on Sunday afternoon.
The Reds seemingly are in a favorable position to win a series in New York for the second time in three seasons with Chase Burns (8-1, 2.01 ERA) opposing rookie Elmer Rodriguez (0-1, 4.15) — instead of Gerrit Cole. The Yankees are giving their starters an extra day of rest.
Cincinnati is 6-11 in 17 games without Elly De La Cruz, though the shortstop is nearing a return from a strained right hamstring. The Reds played one of their better games without De La Cruz when they pulled away for a 10-2 rout after striking out a season-high 17 times in Friday’s 5-0 loss.
Stewart recorded six RBIs for the second time in his career by hitting a two-run double, a sacrifice fly and a bases-clearing double. Stewart is up to 53 RBIs this season and has 11 RBIs in his past five games.
“He’s kind of got a knack for RBIs,” Reds manager Terry Francona said of Stewart, who leads all rookies in RBIs while hitting .252.
Stewart’s big performance occurred as the Reds tied a season high with 15 hits and scored double-digit runs for the fourth time this season. The Reds notched double-digit hits for the third time since De La Cruz went on the injured list as Spencer Steer hit a three-run homer and rookie Edwin Arroyo collected four hits.
“We’re capable of doing that and it doesn’t surprise me one bit,” Stewart said. “We made good swings. It doesn’t me one bit. I know what we can do and I have full confidence in all these guys.”
The Yankees are 10-6 in 16 games since losing Aaron Judge to a fractured right rib and coming off their most lopsided loss of the season. New York also is hoping to cash in on its chances a little better after going 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10.
“We had a couple of chances there to crawl back in the game, just couldn’t punch through with a hit when we had some traffic,” manager Aaron Boone said.
The Yankees are expected to activate Austin Wells off the injured list after he missed 12 games with cervical headaches. Wells was hitting .166 with four homers and seven RBIs in 47 games before getting hurt and New York will keep Ali Sanchez as the backup catcher instead of J.C. Escarra, who was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre following Saturday’s game.
Burns heads into his second start on a major roll by going 7-0 with a 1.68 ERA in his past 11 starts. Burns has four scoreless starts during his streak, including Monday’s 12-0 rout of the Mets when he allowed four hits and struck out seven in five innings while throwing 100 pitches for the second time in his career.
Burns made his major league debut against the Yankees June 24, 2025 in Cincinnati when the 23-year-old allowed three runs on six hits and struck out eight in five innings during a no-decision. That was his only meeting with New York.
Rodriguez made three starts for the Yankees earlier this season. He is pitching for them for the first time since allowing one run on five hits in 4 1/3 innings during a no-decision against the Mets on May 17.
At Triple-A, Rodriguez is 3-3 with a 3.00 ERA in 10 starts.
–Field Level Media
