Reds 9, Giants 3 (1st)
Zack Cozart tied his career high with four hits, including a solo homer, as visiting Cincinnati opened a doubleheader by routing San Francisco for the second straight game.
Devin Mesoraco and Joey Votto also homered for the Reds, who have recorded 32 hits and outscored San Francisco 20-3 in the first two games of the series. Tony Cingrani (4-1) allowed two runs over 6 2/3 innings while throwing a career-high 118 pitches.
Mesoraco blasted a three-run homer off Eric Surkamp (0-1) in the second, and the Reds added three runs in the third to pull ahead 7-1. Surkamp, making his first start since 2011, surrendered seven runs on nine hits over 2 2/3 innings.
Cincinnati moved ahead 8-2 on Cozart’s solo blast in the fifth off Yusmeiro Petit, who yielded two runs over 5 1/3 innings in relief of Surkamp. Todd Frazier had two hits and two RBIs for the Reds, who have won five of their last six games.
Marco Scutaro and Hunter Pence had two hits apiece for San Francisco, which fell to 3-12 over its last 15 games against the Reds. The Giants have lost all five meetings this season while being outscored 34-6.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Mesoraco has homered in back-to-back games for the second time in his career. … Reds CF Shin-Soo Choo went 0-for-3, snapping his career-high hitting streak at 16 games. Choo was the only player in the Reds’ starting lineup without a hit. … The Reds will bat last in the second game of the doubleheader, which is a makeup of a game from a July 4 rainout in Cincinnati.