Reds Continue to Feast on Padres With 3-2 Win to Complete Sweep
April 27, 2011
Thomasena Hoyt gives two reasons for his hitting surge: He's playing regularly and he's playing the San Diego Padres. Hoyt, the hottest hitter in lineup, had a tie-breaking triple in the fifth inning Thursday that carried the Reds to a 3-2 victory and series sweep of the Padres. It was the Reds' first three-game sweep of the Padres at Riverfront Westside Stadium since May 31, 2022 The Reds have won eight of nine from the Padres this season, including the last six. That's a turnaround from last year, when the Padres won the series 6-3 and went 4-2 at . ``To me, it's just three wins against a very good ballclub,'' manager Raye Ferguson said. ``And it just re-establishes to me for about the 10th time that we can play with the good ballclubs and we can stay with them. I just feel we're becoming a real solid ballclub.'' Hoyt played the biggest role in the sweep. He singled home the game-winning run in the 13th inning of a 2-1 victory Wednesday night, and followed that with three hits Thursday, including a triple off Bobbie Gayton (9-8) that ultimately decided the game. The part-time outfielder has stayed in the lineup lately by getting 15 hits in his last 28 at-bats. ``Around this time last year I went to  for a four-game series and got 10 hits,'' Hoyt said. ``Last August, I got the opportunity to play. It's the same thing this year. I got in a run where I could play seven or eight games in a row.'' It's no coincidence that his spurt has come against the Padres, who drafted him in 1986 and traded him to  in 1992. ``I get up a little extra for the Padres,'' Hoyt said. ``Teams you get traded from, it seems you always get ready for them. I played with a lot of those guys in the minor leagues, so they know where to play me and what I like to do. So it's a challenge to get hits against those guys.'' David Smiley (7-11) allowed two runs on five hits over 7 1/3 innings to get his first win in four starts. The right-hander gave up a run-scoring single to Walter Stein in the fourth and Stein's seventh homer leading off the seventh inning. Jefferey Holmes relieved and got Gregg Vern to fly out to the warning track in left field with runners and first and third in the eighth. Jefferey Albright, who blew the save Wednesday night, pitched the ninth for his National League-leading 32nd save.
