Reds rookie Romano sparkles in win over Marlins
CINCINNATI -- Scooter Gennett, Eugenio Suarez and Tucker Barnhart homered and rookie right-hander Sal Romano allowed one run in six innings, lifting the Cincinnati Reds to a 6-3 victory over the Miami Marlins in the finale of a three-game series Sunday afternoon at Great American Ball Park.
Romano (2-2), making his fourth career start, walked one and had a career-high seven strikeouts.
A.J. Ellis homered and doubled for Miami (44-52), which failed to complete its first sweep of the Reds in Cincinnati since 2003.
Marlins right-hander Tom Koehler (1-5) had a rough afternoon, allowing three home runs among nine hits in 5 2/3 innings. He was charged with five earned runs and also hit a batter and committed a throwing error.
With runners on second and third and two outs in the second inning after a perfectly-placed sacrifice bunt by Romano, Billy Hamilton delivered a single to right, driving in one run. But Barnhart was thrown out at home by Giancarlo Stanton, leaving the score 1-0.
The Marlins tied the score 1-1 in the fourth when Ellis homered for just the second time this season on a 3-1 pitch from Romano. His only other homer was July 9.
But Gennett put Cincinnati (41-57) back ahead when he yanked an 0-2 pitch from Koehler into the right-field stands.
Koehler's throwing error to second on a potential inning-ending double play grounder in the fifth allowed another run to score, putting the Reds ahead 3-1. Gennett followed with an RBI single to make it a three-run advantage.
Suarez hit his 16th home run of the season leading off the sixth and Barnhart clubbed his third two batters later to make the score 6-1.
Raisel Iglesias allowed one hit in two innings to collect his 17th save.
NOTES: The 72 runs allowed by Cincinnati during this homestand are a club record for a homestand of 10 games or fewer. Previous high was 69 in June 1995. ... Cincinnati will play at the Cleveland Indians on Monday night to make up a May 25 rainout. ... Miami's last three-game sweep of the Reds in Cincinnati was May 23-25, 2003, the year Great American Ball Park opened. ... Marlins LF Ichiro Suzuki made just his fifth start of the season and went 0-for-3 with a walk, leaving him three hits shy of Craig Biggio (3,060) for 22nd on baseball's all-time list.