The Reds may be drifting toward seller territory, but Wednesday in Seattle they kept doing the one thing that can muddy those deadline waters: winning.
Cincinnati finished off a 5-3 victory over the Mariners at T-Mobile Park, and the difference came in a seventh inning swing from Sal Stewart. His go-ahead three-run homer turned a tight game into a Reds lead they never gave back, and it sealed the final two games of the three-game series for Cincinnati.
That left the Reds at 47-54 and 4-2 on their nine-game road trip, with one more series still to come at St. Louis. They already had a series win in hand from Colorado, and on Wednesday they added another one to the trip ledger.
Even with the club’s place in the standings pointing toward a Trade Deadline sell-off, president of baseball operations Nick Krall wasn’t ready to tip the organization’s hand before the finale.
“We’re going to get through this road trip and then we’re going to have some discussions on Monday about where we’re going," Krall said before Wednesday's series finale against the Mariners. “That leaves us a little over a week. We’ll [discuss] where we are, where we are going and then make some decisions.”
If Cincinnati does move pieces before the Aug. 3 Deadline, Brady Singer keeps looking like one of its most appealing options.
The right-hander turned in another solid outing, working 6 2/3 innings and allowing three runs on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts. Over his last eight starts, Singer has posted a 2.98 ERA with five quality outings.
Seattle struck first in the fourth when JJ Bleday opened the inning with a home run to right field off Emerson Hancock. The Reds answered later in the frame after Tyler Stephenson doubled to right with two outs, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on Dane Myers’ RBI infield hit to the second baseman.
Singer’s lead didn’t last long. In the bottom of the fourth, Luke Raley lined a two-out, two-run single to right-center to put Seattle back in front.
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