Sal Stewart Silences Yankee Stadium and Strengthens His All-Star Push

Cincinnati Reds rookie Sal Stewart had about 25 family members and friends in the crowd at Yankee Stadium on Saturday for Father's Day weekend, and he made sure they got their money's worth.

The 22-year-old drove in six runs during a 10-2 blowout win over the New York Yankees, tying his career high and putting together one of the best single-game performances by any rookie in baseball this season.

Stewart could barely put it into words afterward.

"Speechless," Stewart said. "To have my family here and everybody I love here, it's incredible. Six RBIs at Yankee Stadium, I'm 22 playing at Yankee Stadium. I'm just so blessed."

Stewart's day started with a two-run double off the left-field wall in the third inning that gave the Reds the lead after Paul Goldschmidt's solo home run had put New York ahead 1-0 in the first.

He added a sacrifice fly during a four-run fifth inning, then cleared the bases with another double in the eighth to put the game completely out of reach.

It was the second time this season Stewart has driven in six, matching his April 15 explosion against the Giants when he launched two three-run homers to make franchise history.

That performance made him the first Reds rookie ever with multiple six-RBI games, and he also became the fastest Reds rookie to reach 50 RBIs by team game 75.

Stewart kept things simple when talking about his approach with runners on base.

"Don't get me wrong, I miss a lot too," Stewart said. "But when people are on base, honestly driving in runs is kind of a team thing. You try to just get one and if two comes, two comes. I feel like when you play for the team and play to win, then the RBIs come. So yeah, it was a good day. I'm happy about it, for sure."

Through 75 games this season, Stewart is hitting .252 with 14 home runs and 53 RBIs to go along with an .803 OPS and 118 OPS+.

He has 11 RBIs over his last five games alone, and that kind of run production from a 22-year-old is hard for anyone to wave off.

The former first-round pick won NL Rookie of the Month back in March and April after hitting .281 with nine home runs and 29 RBIs in his first 31 games, and even though he cooled off a bit through May and early June, days like Saturday show his bat is still one of the most dangerous in the league.

The Reds sit at 36-39 and are in last place in the NL Central, nine games behind the first-place Milwaukee Brewers.

Cincinnati needs Stewart to keep swinging the bat like this if they want any chance of staying in the race, and if he does, leaving him off the NL All-Star roster in July would be a tough sell.