CINCINNATI (AP) - In a battle of 10-RBI men, Anthony Rendon had the bigger blows.
Rendon hit his second career grand slam and added a two-run homer, and the Washington Nationals overcame Scooter Gennett’s four-RBI night to hold on for a 10-7 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
Ryan Raburn homered to lead off the seventh, sparking a seven-run outburst capped by Rendon’s grand slam for his 18th homer of the season and a 10-0 lead.
“You never knew the grand slam was going to be the deciding swing,” Washington manager Dusty Baker said after beating the team he managed for six seasons. “Those guys don’t quit. They have a good offensive ballclub.”
Rendon, who drove in 10 runs on April 30 against the Mets, reached base in all five of his plate appearances on Saturday. He has gotten on in 12 of his last 14 plate appearances on seven hits - including two homers and two doubles - and five walks. He extended his hitting streak to nine games, but he wouldn’t say he was trying to prove he should have been on the All-Star team.
“I’ll let you all write about that,” he said.
The Reds bounced back for two runs in the eighth inning and five in the ninth, three on Gennett’s 16th homer of the season, before Matt Grace got his second save in two nights. Gennett drove in 10 runs while hitting four home runs on June 6 against St. Louis.
“Gennett is one of our most productive ballplayers,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “He’s done it at multiple positions.”
Washington’s Max Scherzer (11-5), the National League’s strikeout leader, escaped trouble in the first and third innings. He allowed the first two batters to reach in both before getting the next three batters each time, striking out all three in the first and two out of three in the third. Scherzer began both mini-comebacks with strikeouts of All-Star Joey Votto.
“They put some good at bats on me,” the All-Star starting pitcher said, crediting catcher Matt Wieters with nursing him through the jams. “They really grinded me out. We just kind of stuck to the game plan.”
Scherzer finished with 10 strikeouts, his 12th game of the season and 61st of his career with at least 10. He issued a season-high four walks while allowing three hits in six innings, retiring seven of the last eight batters he faced to improve to 4-0 over his last six starts.
Bryce Harper had two hits, including a run-scoring single, to extend his hitting streak to 10 games.
Reds right-hander Luis Castillo didn’t allow a hit until Harper singled with one out in the fourth inning and scored from first on Daniel Murphy’s two-out double off the left-center field wall. Rendon followed with his 17th homer. Those were the only hits Castillo (1-2) allowed in six innings. He finished with four walks and six strikeouts.
“I was trying to stay ahead in the count,” Castillo said through interpreter Julio Morillo. “I need to practice with my breaking ball pitches and be more consistent. I wanted to challenge Rendon. I didn’t want to walk him.”
The Reds took advantage of Austin Adams’ eighth-inning control problems in his major league debut to snap their streak of consecutive scoreless innings at 19. Adams walked two batters, one with the bases loaded, hit a third and threw a wild pitch while not recording an out.
CINCINNATI ZOO
Amos, a donkey, was a visitor on the field during batting practice before Saturday’s game. Reds 1B Joey Votto is buying SS Zack Cozart a donkey as a reward for Cozart making the All-Star team.
WHAT STREAK?
Reds RHP Michael Lorenzen’s streak of seven consecutive appearances without allowing a run was snapped by the first batter he faced. Raburn led off the seventh with his second homer of the season. Lorenzen was charged with six of Washington’s seven runs in the inning.
WHAT SLUMP?
Cincinnati’s Patrick Kivlehan, who came off the bench to spell Votto at first base in the eighth, snapped a career-worst, 0-for-19 slump in the ninth with an RBI double, driving in the first of the Reds’ five runs in the inning.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Nationals: RHP Joe Ross will undergo Tommy John surgery on Wednesday and miss the rest of the season.
UP NEXT
Nationals: RHP Tanner Roark (6-6) was the losing pitcher in Cincinnati’s 6-2 win at Washington on June 25.
Reds: RHP Homer Bailey was rocked for six hits and eight runs in 1 2/3 innings of what eventually turned into an 18-3 Cincinnati loss in his 2017 debut on June 24 at Washington.
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