Wednesday at Goodyear Ballpark the Reds’ bullpen coughed up a late lead — sound familiar? — and the team dropped its second game in a row.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
|  Kansas City Royals (8-1) | 5 | 10 | 0 |
|  Cincinnati Reds (4-5-1) | 2 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Y. Pino (1-0) L: S. LeCure (0-1) | |||
| | Box Score | MLB.com Recap | AP Recap | | |||
Pitching: Paul Maholm started and tossed three scoreless frames, allowing one hit and one walk, ensuring his spring ERA remains at a Blutarsky level. Tony Cingrani followed and surrendered one run (a solo homer) in three innings, but the highlight of his tenure Wednesday were pickoffs of Christian Colon in the fifth and Bubba Starling in the sixth. Kevin Gregg danced around a pair of hits to deliver a scoreless seventh before the wheels came off in the final two innings with Sam LeCure (one inning, one hit, two runs, one walk, two strikeouts) and Daniel Corcino (one inning, three hits, two runs, one strikeout) coughing up the Reds’ 2-1 lead.
Hitting: The Reds pushed across their first run in third. Tucker Barnhart doubled to lead off the frame, then advanced to third on Jason Bourgeois’ groundout to second. Joey Votto’s sacrifice fly scored Barnhart on the next pitch. (Hooray for manufacturing runs!) Eugenio Suarez — remember, Zack Cozart’s job is safe — homered in the seventh. Cincinnati finished with eight hits, seven strikeouts, one walk and 12 men left on base.
The rest: Reds manager Bryan Price was happy with Maholm and praised Cingrani’s curveball. … For the lineup hounds, Votto was installed in the No. 2 spot once again. … Bourgeois was caught stealing in the first inning with Votto at the plate. The Reds are 2-for-8 in stolen base attempts this spring. … For the Royals, 34-year-old Joe Blanton started and registered three innings of one-run ball, yielding four hits. … Lane Adams was the only player on either side to post a multi-hit game, going went 2-for-2 with a run scored for Kansas City. … The Royals notched five extra-base hits.
Other news and notes:
Mark Sheldon: Jay Bruce was scratched Wednesday with calf strain; Billy Hamilton, Homer Bailey and Devin Mesoraco are progressing with their respective ailments; and Sean Marshall is still not ready for mound work.
Jamie Ramsey: As part of a comedy bit, Will Ferrell will suit up for the Reds (and other MLB teams) today, traveling around to five different games and attempting to play all nine positions.
John Fay: In a camp bereft of surprises thus far, the notion of top prospect Michael Lorenzen making the team is far from ridiculous.
C. Trent Rosecrans: Former St. John’s hoopster Amir Garrett is focusing full-time on baseball with Reds.
Spring training game and broadcast schedule
Today’s schedule: Reds at Diamondbacks, Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, Scottsdale, Arizona.
“B†game: Per John Fay, the game begins at 1:30 p.m. (EST) with 2014 first-round pick Nick Howard receiving the starting nod. Some regulars, including Votto, are slated to play. No radio or TV.
“A†game: Mike Leake starts opposite Allen Webster at 5:10 p.m. MLB.com will have a radio feed.