CINCINNATI -- For the entirety of the 2019 season to this point -- whether their offense was sputtering or in a groove -- the Reds have been waiting for
\n\n \n\nThe game raised Winker’s average from .230 to a slash line of .244/.320/.454 with a career-high 11 home runs.\n\nWhen Winker connected on a 2-1 changeup from Rangers starter Ariel Jurado and cleared the left-field fence, it was his first homer since May 18. He went a season-high 20 games and 65 at-bats without one.\n\n“I felt like I saw every one of his pitches,” said Winker, who also hit a double and two singles to fall a triple shy of the cycle. “I felt like I saw them all pretty well. You’re just battling. I wanted to drive those guys in. I take a lot of pride in that. I want to be the guy who can drive in runs and help this team with that. It was nice that the ball fell. I felt good about that swing.”
\n\nPuig’s first two singles came on fortunate breaks. His hit in the second inning bounced off the bag at first base. In the third, he hit a squib to the left side.\n\n“I did open the way for guys to get some nice hits and my teammates said, ‘You’re going to hit them all like that? Hit something hard,’” Puig said.\n\nPuig delivered something much harder in the fourth when he crushed a first-pitch homer to left field, his 13th of the season. Now batting .231 with a .696 OPS, he has started to come on with hits in eight of nine games, with a .351 average over the span.
Most of Puig’s recent hits have been singles, but he slugged a homer in Saturday’s 4-3 loss and just missed a second long ball that was caught in the eighth inning. It would’ve delivered the tying run.\n\n“Some line drives and fly balls were caught by the other team, but if I stay hitting like that and make good contact, the hits will come at some point,” Puig said.\n\nWinker and Puig could use more success to make tough lineup decisions even tougher for Bell once