Joey Votto hits go-ahead home run - his first of season - for Reds in hometown of Toronto
Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto said last week that he had "a responsibility to play well" during his return to his hometown of Toronto for the Reds' three-game series against the Blue Jays.
Votto doubled in each of the first two games of the series, and saved his best for the series finale - hitting a go-ahead home run, his first of the season - to break a 2-2 tie in top of the 8th inning off of Blue Jays relief pitcher Yimi Garcia and lift the Reds to a 3-2 win Sunday in rookie Graham Ashcraft's MLB debut.
"This could just be the start of the renaissance for the Reds' first baseman," Bally Sports Ohio play-by-play announcer John Sadak said during the broadcast. "This man sets goals and he achieves them. ... That is so neat for Joey Votto."
"It has meaning (hitting the go-ahead homer in Toronto)," Votto told Bally Sports Ohio's Jim Day afterward. "But I've gotta start hitting. So I could've done it on Mars and it would have felt satisfying."
Earlier: The long-standing legacy of Votto at his old high school
Social media reactions:
Goat trot 🐐 pic.twitter.com/dBxeKoo2Ay
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 22, 2022
arriving fashionably late to the function like pic.twitter.com/5G5X9rypDd
— Cut4 (@Cut4) May 22, 2022
6 God 🇨🇦 pic.twitter.com/nTCt8vkR49
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 22, 2022
HOME RUN JOEY VOTTO! 😜 pic.twitter.com/IZUR3Ui5X2
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) May 22, 2022
Joey Votto said he wanted to see the middle of the ball and the second deck in this series.
Now he hits his first homer of the season to give the Reds a 3-2 lead.— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) May 22, 2022
Nothing but love for his hometown. ❤️🇨🇦@JoeyVotto pic.twitter.com/zmAiGJEGTX
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 22, 2022
"I could have done it on Mars and it would've felt satisfying."@JoeyVotto reflects on homering in his hometown, helping the @Reds to a win, and reuniting with family.#ATOBTTR | @JimDayTV pic.twitter.com/1j4JgO0BSr
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) May 22, 2022
Joey Votto made contact three times today.
3rd inning: 103.4 exit velocity, 42 degree launch angle, 356-foot fly out to right field
6th inning: 101.1 exit velo, 52 degree launch angle, lineout to center.
8th inning: 99.9 exit velo, 40 degree launch angle, second deck home run.— Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) May 22, 2022
David Bell couldn't be happier for Joey Votto.#ATOBTTR | @JimDayTV pic.twitter.com/H8hTarj470
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) May 22, 2022
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This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Joey Votto hits go-ahead home run for Reds in his hometown of Toronto