Reds overpower Giants in four-game series

Five Reds players smacked home runs Saturday night and host Cincinnati didn't let a big lead slip away this time around in a 9-2 victory over the San Francisco Giants in the second game of a four-game series. One day after blowing an eight-run lead, the Reds used home runs by Eugenio Suarez, Tucker Barnhart, Derek Dietrich, Nick Senzel and Yasiel Puig to build a seven-run advantage in the rematch, which was more than enough for Cincinnati starter Tanner Roark and two relievers.

After the teams traded runs in the bottom of the first and top of the second innings, the Reds ran off to a 5-1 lead in the bottom of the second, a four-run uprising capped by Suarez's eighth homer of the season, a three-run shot off San Francisco starter Dereck Rodriguez (3-4). The assault on the second-year right-hander continued in the fourth with a solo shot by Barnhart, his third of the season, and in the fifth when Dietrich and Senzel went back-to-back with two-out solo blasts.

The homer was Dietrich's third in two days and his eighth of the season. Senzel's was the first of his big-league career. Down 8-1, the Giants closed within six on Steven Duggar's second RBI single of the game in the top of the seventh.

But the Reds answered back with a fifth homer in the bottom of the inning, with Puig belting his fifth for a 9-2 lead. Roark (2-1) benefitted from the powerful support to record a comfortable win, going 6 2/3 innings and allowing just two runs on four hits. He walked two and struck out seven.

Rodriguez was pulled after five innings, having given up eight runs and eight hits. He walked four and struck out one. Puig had three of Cincinnati's nine hits as the Reds continued an offensive dominance over Giants pitching that dates back three years. The Reds have won eight of their last nine at home against the Giants, scoring 77 runs in those games. Duggar had two of San Francisco's five hits.

(With inputs from agencies.)