Rookie first baseman Sal Stewart is the most consistent cog in a scuffling Cincinnati Reds offense.

Stewart entered the Wednesday, April 15 game against the San Francisco Giants pacing the Reds in batting average (.310) and RBIs (11) while sharing the team lead in home runs (five). Meanwhile, Cincinnati ranked 27th in MLB with just 56 runs scored.

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All that was before Stewart made the biggest statement of his career.

The young slugger hit three-run home runs in his first two at-bats, leading Cincinnati past San Francisco 8-3. He finished 2-for-4 with his first multi-homer game and a career-high six RBIs.

After the game, Stewart got the call to discuss his performance on MLB Network. Turns out, he was no stranger to the interviewer.

“Sal, this is your favorite high school coach,” said former big-leader Mike Lowell, now a studio host at MLB Network.

Lowell, who won World Series with the Florida Marlins and Boston Red Sox during a 13-year MLB career, is one of several big-leaguers who mentored Stewart. The 22-year-old attended Winchester Christian High School in Miami. He also received instruction from Yonder Alonso and Manny Machado, among others.

At first, Lowell asked Stewart an innocuous question about his opposite-field approach. Then he got down to business giving his pupil a hard time, inquiring whether Stewart thought about hitting yet another blast in his third at-bat.

The question elicited a big laugh from Stewart.

“Yeah, I was looking for that third one,” Stewart admitted. “I wanted five. Once I looked up at that scoreboard, I said, ‘Naw, I could go after it, for sure.’ That’s what I get; I ground out to third base. I took my butt back to the dugout.”

Lowell’s MLB Network partner Chris Young then asked Stewart how he felt about having so many high-profile mentors.

“How fortunate am I to have all those guys, all such great players? With one ring of the phone, I can talk to them and tell them anything,” Stewart said.

After his big night, Stewart is tied for second in MLB with seven home runs. He ranks second in slugging percentage (.726) and third in OPS (1.160).

Meanwhile, the Reds improved to 11-7 and kept pace with the Pittsburgh Pirates atop the NL Central. The Reds and Giants close out their three-game series at 12:40 p.m. ET Thursday.