McCoy: Reds pummel Pirates, continue historic offensive start to season

And nearly everybody fattened their statistics as the Reds rocked the Pirates, 14-1, Cincinnati’s fourth straight victory.

For Naquin, though, it was more than just a night. It was a career evening — two home runs, a single and seven runs batted in.

That’s an electric performance for a guy who is in the lineup only as a stand-in for Jesse Winker, sidelined with flu-like symptoms. And Naquin has 12 RBI so far this season, tops in the National League.

And his seven RBI tied Brandon Phillips for the most by a leadoff hitter in the history of the franchise.

Naquin was the leader of a pack of hit collectors.

—Rookie second baseman Jonathan India had three hits. scored three runs and drove in four. He had two hits with runners in scoring position — seven straight hits with runners in scoring position, a record for a rookie starting his career.

—Nick Senzel had three hits and scored four runs.

—Tucker Barnhart had three hits, drove in three and scored two.

—Mike Moustakas had two hits and scored two.

Everybody in the starting lineup but Eugenio Suarez had a hit, even starting pitcher Wade Miley.

“I told the guys before the game I’ve never lost with 10 runs,” said Miley. “And they went out and did it.”

And then some. The Reds have scored 46 runs in the first five games, a franchise record for the first five games — better than the ’75 Reds, better than the ’76 Reds and better than the ’90 Reds.

The night, though, belonged to Naquin, released by the Cleveland Indians mostly because injuries kept him off the field.

He began the bottom of the first with a coast-to-coast blast, a 464-foot explosion that hit near the top of the right field bleachers and bounced out of the ball park, landing on Mehring Way.

That made it 1-0. Next time up, Naquin made it 5-0 with a three-run rip that landed in the Reds bullpen in left center. He added a fifth RBI on a fielder’s choice and two more with a single in the fifth that made it 12-0.

“Being able to go 1-0 with one swing of the bat (to start the game) always sets a good tone,” said Naquin of his first home run.

Asked if he ever hit a ball that far, Naquin smiled shyly and said, “I wouldn’t want to put a ceiling on it, but I believe I have. One time in Cleveland, yes. Just one other time, though.”

Health, of course is Naquin’s issues in the past and he is doing everything medically and physically possible to stay on the field.

“Health is No. 1 because you can’t be between the lines if you’re not healthy,” he said. “It is a whole lot of fun being here and playing for this team. I can’t express enough how good of a time it is to play with these guys.”

Nearly lost in the barrage of hits and runs during the four-game winning streak is the starting pitching, especially the last three games. Those were pitched by the bottom of the rotation. . .Jeff Hoffman, Jose De Leon and Miley and they all pitched like top of the rotation guys.

Miley, pitching at break-neck speed, catch it from the catcher and go into his windup, held the Pirates to no runs, two hits, one walk and six strikeouts over six innings. It gained him his first win in a Reds uniform.

“I was fortunate to go out there and make pitches, (catcher) Tucker Barnhart was putting down the right fingers, we worked fast, the defense made plays, we scored a lot of runs. . .you really can’t have a better baseball game than that.”

Especially the runs part.

“It definitely makes pitching a little less stressful,” said Miley. “Right now, it’s fun. You just go out there and try to get the offense back in the dugout as soon as possible and just watch the show, let the boys go.”

Manager David Bell is most appreciative of the team’s early-season approach — quality at bats, put the ball in play, go the other way, 12 singles among this game’s 17 hits.

“We’re really have at bats where we are keeping innings alive,” he said. “We did damage by hitting home runs, and that has happened, but we’ve also been able to get our fair share of base hits to keep it alive.

“We’re sending more hitters to the plate and that gives us more chances to score,” he said.

Miley took it as a challenge after he saw what Hoffman and De Leon did before him.

“You see those guys (Hoffman, De Leon) go out there and part of being a good team is wanting your peers to be successful,” said Miley. “To see those guys go out and dominate and be the best version of themselves, well, you feed off that. You feed off their energy.

“What Jose (De Leon) did Monday night, first time he start since 2016 and to go out and throw as quality as he threw. I want to go out there and match him, try to keep the ball rolling and get it to the next guy.”

On this night, Naquin and Miley were the best versions of themselves and India and Barnhart weren’t far behind.