Matt Dominguez smashes three-run homer to lift Houston Astros over Cincinnati Reds 5-1 – MLB Update
Matt Dominguez smashed a three-run homer on Sunday, September 9, to help the Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds 5-1 at Great American Ball Park. The Astros were backed by a strong defence that rendered the Reds incapacitated in almost all the departments of the game, winning the last series between the two teams this year 2-1.
Astros’ Matt Dominguez’s homer came in the third inning against the Johnny Cueto, the accomplished Reds' starter who was looking for his 18th win of the season. It was particularly disconcerting for the Reds' starter.
The Astros had Edgar Gonzalez to their disposal, the starter whose five strong innings were extraordinary, keeping the Reds' hitters at bay. He only allowed a run in and two hits in the five innings.
"I told Tony D, that I'm Mexican and we are all in, all the time," Gonzalez said. "He told me that it was enough. I'm feeling good. I didn't expect two wins but I'm more mature now. I'm doing a lot of work in the gym and outside."
What was particularly troubling for the Reds were here was Dominguez’s third homer against the Reds in the games he has faced the club. On September 7, he smashed a homer against Aroldis Chapman in the ninth to score a majestic 5-3 win.
The Team manager maintained that the offence did not perform up to the mark. "Johnny was just getting the ball up," Dusty Baker said. "We didn't get a lot of offense against Gonzalez. He did a good job of mixing up his changeup and fastball."
Cueto acknowledged the day was not good for him. "It was a hard day, just a tough day. I threw the pitches that I wanted to. It was just one of those days," said Cueto.
Fernando Martinez hit a sacrifice fly in the first to give a 1-0 lead to the Astros followed by Dominguez’s homer in the third, making it 4-0. Jay Bruce tripled to bring the lead down to 4-1, but Taylor Greene hit a solo homer in the sixth inning against Tony Cingrani to make it 5-1 for the Astros.
Houston's bullpen fared remarkably well, and Wilton Lopez pitched a perfect ninth to finish the game 5-1, winning the series by 2-1.
Tags: