Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl had quite the day at the plate while celebrating his 29th birthday on Wednesday. Friedl helped lead the Reds, who are trying to claw their way back into the National League Wild Card race, to a 9-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals, and made some history along the way.
Friedl became second Reds player with a multi-homer game on his birthday since at least 1901, and the first since Hall-of-Fame shortstop Barry Larkin on April 28, 1994, according to MLB researcher Sarah Langs.
Friedl's first home run, a solo shot, came in the fifth inning against Cardinals starter Kyle Gibson and gave the Reds a 6-0 lead. His second, another solo homer, came in the seventh inning off reliever Kyle Leahy and put the Reds up 8-2. Those were Freidl's eighth and ninth home runs of the season, respectively.
Larkin accomplished his feat in a 19-7 drubbing of the Pittsburgh Pirates, hitting two two-run home runs to lead the Reds to the blowout victory over their division rivals.
Friedl powers Reds to huge series sweep on his birthday
Wednesday's win gave the Reds a three-game series sweep over the Cardinals and got them even with each other in the standings. Both teams are now tied at 60-61 and are four games back of the Atlanta Braves for the third NL Wild Card spot. The Reds and Cardinals are also behind the New York Mets, who are 1 1/2 games back of the Braves and the San Francisco Giants, who are 3 1/2 games back.
With about a month-and-a-half left in the season, time is running out for the Reds to make a push and make up some ground in the Wild Card race. However, if any team is equipped to go on a late run, it's the Reds. They have arguably the most exciting player in baseball in second-year shortstop Elly De La Cruz and an NL Cy Young candidate in Hunter Greene. If Friedl, who hasn't shown a ton of power as of yet in his career, continues hitting like he did on his birthday, the Reds will be in even better shape during this key stretch of play.
It's hard to think of anyone having better birthday than Friedl had on Wednesday, hitting two home runs, sweeping a division rival and staying in a postseason race. Let's see if he can figure out a way to top it for his 3oth birthday next season.
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