Reds rookie pitcher Tony Cingrani had one of those days where everything just seemed to work perfectly for him.
Cingrani set a career high with 11 strikeouts, including four in an inning, and the Reds avoided a four-game sweep with a 5-2 victory over the Nationals on Sunday.
Cingrani, who was making just his third Major League start, threw six scoreless innings and gave up just two hits with one walk, improving to 2-0 on the season. He is the first Reds rookie with double-digit strikeouts since Johnny Cueto in 2008. He also got his first career hit with a single in the second.
“I just threw fastballs and some curve balls in there and I just got ahead of them,” said Cingrani, who also threw a season-high 110 pitches. “I bared down and got them out. That’s what you got to do.”
In the fourth inning, Cingrani became the fifth Reds pitcher to strike out four batters in an inning when he sat down Denard Span, who reached first base when the ball got by catcher Corky Miller, and then Bryce Harper, Ian Desmond and Adam LaRoche.
The Nationals’ Ross Detwiler was not as effective, allowing four runs (three earned) on 11 hits with three strikeouts and one walk in five innings.
The Reds won for just the second time on the road this season. They also snapped an eight-game losing streak away from the Great American Ball Park. In addition, Cincinnati avoided its first four-game sweep since 1989 against the Nationals, who were still playing in Montreal at that time.
Reds manager Dusty Baker hopes to carry some momentum heading into the next series against the Cardinals.
“It was just nice to get a win, period, especially on the road where we’ve been struggling some,” Baker said. “We always talk about get-away day victories because they can stop a sweep, create a sweep or it’s usually a rubber-match game. It’s big for us going into St. Louis.”
The Reds’ bats came alive early when Zach Cozart singled and Joey Votto doubled in the first inning. Both players then scored on a single by Brandon Phillips, who took over the National League lead with 24 RBIs.
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