Rookie Encarnacion-Strand was the offense, a career-best four hits that included a two-run home run and three RBI. Then there was pitching, aggressive base-running and defense.
As the Cars said it in song, dedicated this day to Reds manager David Bell, “Just What I Needed.”
In addition to Encarnacion-Strand’s coming out party, there was:
—Strong pitching from starting pitcher Hunter Greene and boisterous bullpen work from Ian Gibaut, Fernando Cruz, Lucas Sims and Alexis Diaz.
—A delayed double steal that ended up with Spencer Steer stealing home.
—Handsome defensive plays by center fielder TJ Friedl, second baseman Steer and shortstop Elly De La Cruz.
It was a dandy pitching clinic between Greene and San Francisco ace Logan Webb, a scoreless tie for five innings.
Steer and De La Cruz opened the sixth with back-to-back singles to right field, putting runners on first and third.
On the first pitch to Nick Martini, De La Cruz bolted for second. Giants catcher Patrick Bailey, failing to realize the chaos De La Cruz forces, boldly tried to throw him out.
De La Cruz was safe, and Steer burst from third to steal home and give the Reds a 1-0 lead. Encarnacion-Strand, who had singled his first two times, singled again. And this time it produced a run and a 2-0 lead.
The Reds one lapse occurred in the San Francisco sixth. With runners on first and third, Gibaut replaced Greene. His first order of business was to try to pick Thairo Escobar off first base. He threw wildly and Casey Schmitt scored from third, cutting Cincinnati’s lead to 2-1.
Encarnacion-Strand took care of that mishap in the eighth inning with two outs and De La Cruz on second due to a hustle double on a bloop hit to left field.
Facing Tyler Rogers, a submarine-style pitcher who delivers like a softball player, nearly underhanded, Encarnacion-Strand homered to straight-away center field for the 4-1 final margin.
“I’ve never seen an arm slot like that,” Encarnacion-Strand told Bally Sports in a post-game interview, referring to Rogers scraping his knuckle in the dirt as he delivered pitches.
“I told (manager David) Bell, that was like playing whiffle ball in the backyard. I just tried to hit it hard and hoped it was a good pitch. He just left it there, left it there.”
Of his four hits, Encarnacion-Strand was happier with the win.
“It feels awesome, but it feels even better just to get the win,” he said. “It was real important just to get a win and to get back home and get the momentum rolling.”
After a day off Thursday, the Reds open an important four-game series with the Chicago Cubs, beginning with a doubleheader Friday in Great American Ball Park.
The Reds are three games behind the Cubs, who occupy the No. 2 spot in the wild wild-card chase.
During his first two starts after coming off the injured list, it wasn’t easy being Greene. Toronto and Arizona committed assault and battery on the young right-hander.
But working with a behaving slider Wednesday. Greene muzzled the Giants on no runs and one hit with one walk and six strikeouts.
Gibaut, Cruz, Sims and Diaz finished the assignment for him by holding the Giants to no runs and one hit over the final 3 2/3 innings. Diaz finished it in the ninth, issuing a walk and nothing else, to record his MLB-leading 35th save in 37 opportunities.
Friedl set the tone on defense against San Francisco’s first hitter, stretching out to make a belly-whopper catch on a hard line drive.
With the Reds leading 2-1 in the sixth, the Giants had runners on first and second with two outs. Bailey shot a hard ground ball headed to right field for a game-tying single. Steer also did a belly flop to spear the ball in the webbing of his glove. He scrambled upright and threw out Bailey.
Diaz walked the first batter he faced in the ninth. With one out, J.D. Davis hit one into the shortstop hole. De La Cruz roamed 15 feet into the outfield, backhanded the ball, whirled and threw the runner out at second base.
Despite losing three of four in Arizona and the first two in San Francisco, the Reds flew home after an acceptable 5-5 trip out west.
And it enabled them to move to within one game of the Giants for the third and final wild-card spot.
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