Senzel snaps team HR drought in thrilling fashion

CINCINNATI -- Nick Senzel's timing to break the Reds’ home run drought was impeccable.

Batting in the bottom of the ninth inning, Senzel lifted a full-count slider from Jonathan Hernández to left field. The ball carried into the first row of seats and gave the Reds a 5-3 walk-off victory over the Rangers and a three-game series sweep, with all three wins coming in thrilling fashion.

"I didn’t know it was gone," said Senzel, who made his sixth-career start at third base. "I was like, ‘Please hit the wall so we could score that run.’ To see it go over, that was pretty exhilarating. That was a lot of adrenaline, a lot of excitement, a lot of emotion all in one.”

For Cincinnati, it had been 311 at-bats between Kevin Newman's homer against the Rays in the second inning on April 17 and Senzel's long ball on Wednesday.

The eight-game stretch without clearing the fences was the longest for the franchise since July 4-11, 1992.

"We knew it was just a matter of time. It couldn’t have come at a better time," Reds manager David Bell said. "We’ve been scoring in other ways, which is great. We have the ability to hit homers, too. They’ll come without trying to do it."

The Reds (10-15) not only swept a first-place club in the Rangers (14-10), they did it in wild ways.

• On Monday, they battled back from a 5-1 deficit in the third inning to get a 7-6 walk-off win on TJ Friedl's RBI single in the ninth inning.
• For Tuesday's 7-6 win, the Rangers had a 6-0 lead in the seventh inning before the Reds scored seven unanswered runs, including a six-run rally in the bottom of the eighth.

"Electric baseball games," catcher Curt Casali said. "That was super fun. The Rangers are a great ballclub, there's a reason they're in first place. A lot of great players, a lot of great pitching. That's baseball. It just shows we can compete with anybody on any given day."

Sweeping the Rangers came on the heels of an early crossroads moment for the Reds. They endured a six-game losing streak where they scored only six runs, including being swept in a four-game series at Pittsburgh.

Bell held a pregame meeting ahead of Monday's game and directed the hitters to stop pressing and trying to do too much. He told them that if there wasn't success, the next guy in the lineup would pick you up.

"Big plays and big at-bats. Plays made in the field. Everything," Bell said. "That’s what it takes. It’s fun to play that way where everyone is contributing. Having fun playing. It got capped off by Nick Senzel’s home run. He has been playing really well. Nick is at the forefront of what’s happening in here. He has one focus, to go out and win games as a team. That’s all he cares about. It’s so much fun seeing him play that way. It’ll bring out the best."

The Reds took a 2-0 lead in the second inning for starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft, who was pitching with a heavy heart after his grandmother, Theresa Ann Ashcraft, passed away a month shy of her 83rd birthday on Monday in Fort Worth, Texas. Ashcraft pitched six innings in the no-decision.

Texas made it a 2-2 game with a pair of runs in the top of the fifth inning but the Reds reclaimed their lead on Friedl's sacrifice fly against starting pitcher Jon Gray.

"You can't let a team like this stay alive," Gray said. "You let them hang around too long, they're a scrappy bunch and they'll find ways to win."

That's what the Reds wound up doing. Reliever Ian Gibaut notched the final two outs in the eighth inning and returned for the ninth. After Jonah Heim's leadoff double and Robbie Grossman's single, Lucas Sims took over. Sims got Brad Miller's game-tying sacrifice fly and hit the next batter before getting two strikeouts to end the inning.

Against Hernández, Newman hit an infield single to shortstop but went to second base on Josh Smith's throwing error. Next was Senzel, who put the game away with his first homer of the season.

"I was talking with David after the game, [and said], ‘We make it a little hard on ourselves trying to scratch hits after hits after hits across. It’s nice to hit one out every now and again,’" Senzel said. "That was exciting."