Wynns is the fifth player in franchise history to hit that landmark
Cincinnati Reds catcher Austin Wynns became the fifth player in franchise history to record a six-hit game on Sunday. To make it all the sweeter, Wynns did it as part of a 24-2 drubbing of the Baltimore Orioles (box score), the team who drafted him and who he reached the majors with.
Wynns, fittingly, opened and closed the game’s scoring. He drove in a run on a single in the second inning. Then, in the ninth, he delivered his second home run of the year — this a three-run shot:
Wynns thereby joined a group that included Tony Cuccinello (1931), Ernie Lombardi (1937), Walker Cooper (1949), and Phil Ervin (2019). Additionally, his six-hit game is just the fourth in the last five years. The other three belong to Shohei Ohtani, Luis García Jr., and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
The 34-year-old catcher entered Sunday hitting .267/.353/.467 (124 OPS+) in his first 17 plate appearances this season. He’s been splitting time behind the plate with veteran Jose Trevino during Tyler Stephenson‘s absence. (Stephenson has not yet played this year on account of an oblique injury.) In addition to spending time with the Orioles and the Reds, Wynns has also suited up in big-league games for the San Francisco Giants, Colorado Rockies, and Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Reds had two others notch at least four hits: designated hitter Austin Hays (four on the nose) and third baseman Noelvi Marte (five hits). Marte and Wynns were slotted in as Cincinnati’s eighth- and ninth-place hitters on Sunday, and their combined 13 runs batted in (seven from Marte, six from Wynns) represents the second most from those spots in the batting order in Major League Baseball history, according to MLB.com.
With Sunday’s victory, the Reds are now 11-11 on the young season. The Orioles, for their part, are now 9-12 as they continue to seek answers from their pitching staff.
