MLB

Joey Votto hits go-ahead home run - his first of season - for Reds in hometown of Toronto

Dave Clark
Cincinnati Enquirer
Joey Votto #19 of the Cincinnati Reds hits a solo home run in the eighth inning of their MLB game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on May 22, 2022 in Toronto, Canada.

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

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