CINCINNATI -- The Reds didn’t expect top prospect
• [Box score](https://www.mlb.com/gameday/565237/final/box)
“Nick has been a part of it, but there is a track record with these guys that I think is starting to show up,” Reds manager David Bell said.
During the series -- which the Reds could have swept had they not blown sizable leads on Friday and Sunday in losses -- Cincinnati scored 37 runs. This from the team that began the series tied for last in the Majors in hitting, a team that's scored two runs or fewer in a game 11 times while being shut out five times.\n\nIn the bottom of the first inning against Giants starter Drew Pomeranz, Senzel jumped on a 1-0 fastball for a leadoff homer to right field. That was just the beginning.\n\nTwo batters later, [Eugenio Suarez](https://www.mlb.com/player/eugenio-suarez-553993) added a two-run shot -- his third straight game with a home run -- and
After the Reds batted around in the first, Senzel led off again in the second. He saw three pitches this time, but the result was the same: another homer to right field -- giving him three since Friday, and the first two-homer game of his big league career. Per the Elias Sports Bureau, Senzel is the first batter in Reds history to collect three homers in his first four Major League games.\n\nThat gave the Reds 15 homers for the series, tying a franchise record set during a three-game series vs. the Phillies from Sept. 3-5, 1999. For added context, consider that Cincinnati’s entire lineup only had 18 homers in its prior 16 games.
Senzel struck out three times and grounded into a double play in his remaining at-bats, which didn’t thrill him.\n\n“I was pretty happy, but I wasn’t too happy with my last couple of ABs,\" Senzel said. \"I’m just glad we won,”\n\nIn part because of a MLB-record-tying four hit batters in the sixth inning, the Reds added five more runs to put the game out of reach. The big hit was a bases-loaded single to the wall from Iglesias that scored two runs and put him a home run away from the cycle.
Through four games since his promotion from Triple-A Louisville on Friday, Senzel is batting .235 (4-for-17 with four walks), but he has a 1.146 OPS while showing his ability to see pitches and work counts. According to Statcast, 44.4 percent of his contact has qualified as hard-hit balls.\n\n“Honestly, I don’t feel like I’m doing that well. I can go way better,” said Senzel, who MLB Pipeline ranks as the [No. 5 overall prospect](http://m.mlb.com/prospects/2019) in baseball. “I’m still getting into the feel of things. I’m not near where I want to be. There’s a lot of room to grow, for sure.”\n\nBell used Senzel from the leadoff spot on Monday, his fourth different place in the Reds’ order. He’s also batted second, fifth and sixth.\n\n“I think he does add to it. It lengthens out the lineup,” Bell said of Senzel. “He’s going to be a big part of our team, our lineup. I do think there were signs this lineup, this group of hitters can hit. We know that. We’ve talked about it a lot. We believe in them. They continue to work. Really, it was just a matter of time. At the same time, you get better when you go through months like \\[April\\].”
The Reds started the season with a 1-8 record, but they have gone 14-12 since. However, the offense has averaged 4.2 runs per game, which puts them near the bottom of the National League, while the team remains in fifth place in the NL Central and trails the fourth-place Pirates by three games.\n\nSpartan run support has often rendered strong starts moot for the Reds, but that trend appears to be changing.\n\n“We could be dangerous. That was what we were waiting for,” said Reds starting pitcher