Reds get six shutout innings from Chase Burns and JJ Bleday homers twice in 15-1 rout of Nationals
CINCINNATI (AP) — Chase Burns threw six scoreless innings, JJ Bleday homered twice and drove in six runs, and the Cincinnati Reds avoided being swept by the Washington Nationals with a 15-1 victory Thursday afternoon at Great American Ball Park. Burns (5-1) allowed two hits while striking out seven and walking two to win his fourth consecutive decision. The 23-year-old right-hander worked around a three-error fifth inning — one of which was his after dropping a toss while covering first base — to keep the Nationals scoreless.
He’s allowed only one earned run in his last three starts. Matt McLain staked Burns to a 2-0 lead in the second inning with his fourth home run of the year and the Reds’ first of four on the day. Bleday added a three-run blast in the fifth to make it 9-0, marking the end of the day for Washington starter Foster Griffin (4-2).
Griffin had allowed only 11 earned runs in eight starts for a 2. 12 ERA before surrendering nine in 4 1/3 innings against the Reds. Bleday's two-run homer in the seventh was his sixth of the season, upping the lead to 11-0 and marking the third multi-homer game of his career.
He added a bloop single as part of a four-run eighth inning against Washington outfielder-turned-pitcher Joey Wiemer, who also surrendered a three-run homer to Dane Myers. Burns received some highlight-reel help from his outfielders to help hold Washington scoreless, with Spencer Steer making a sliding catch in left field to strand a runner on second in the third inning. And Myers made a diving catch in center to end the fifth with runners on the corners.
Steer went 2 for 3 with three runs scored, and Elly De La Cruz doubled and singled for his sixth consecutive multi-hit game, which is tied for the longest streak since 1900 by a Cincinnati switch hitter. The Nationals’ lone run came on a wild pitch by Lucas Mey in the eighth. The victory extended the Reds’ run of consecutive home series without being swept to 39, their longest since setting a franchise record with 52 in a row from 2011-13.