– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — We might have found the secret recipe for the Cincinnati Reds’ power surge on Friday night that both extended their winning streak and got the team out to the perfect start in the second half of the season.
Tacos. At least the ones that Austin Hays supposedly devoured pregame before he ate up Mets pitching during Cincinnati’s latest victory.
Hays smacked two of the Reds’ four home runs as Cincinnati came back from an early deficit to defeat the New York Mets 8-4 inside Citi Field on Friday night. Matt McClain and Tyler Stephenson also homered for Cincinnati, who won their third straight.
Hays’ jacks came in the fourth and sixth innings, after the Mets had scored a single run in each of the first two innings in taking the early lead. Both of the homers, off New York starter Sean Manaea and reliever Alex Carrillo, both went the opposite way, a skill that Hays and the rest of the team worked soon after batting practice when the team reconvened after the All-Star Break on Thursday in Citi Field.
“We just had the fastball machine set up,” Hays said about the batting practice during the optional workout yesterday. “It was an opposite-field game. I kind of found a nice little line-drive stroke in the right-center gap.”
The hard work at the plate might have been the difference … or it might have been what was on Hays’ actual plate before the game.
“It could have been [the contest] and it could have been the three tacos he had [before the game]. I think that’s what he was crediting,” Reds manager Terry Francona said.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Friday evening’s game, with photos taken by New York-based photographer Matthew Last. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page, Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 26 pictures in total.
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