The pitching match-up between Tyson Ross and Jon Moscot turned out about how we thought it would. But Ross’s dominance of the Reds was cut short thanks to the merciful hour-long rain delay. Just maybe with Ross out of the game, the Reds might win a battle of the bullpens … Sure.
The Reds were losing. So naturally, Bryan Price used the worst pitchers in the bullpen. Burke Badenhop and Pedro Villarreal each took a spin giving the Padres an insurance run. The Reds batters went down without a fight the last four innings.
On the day when Jason Marquis joined Kevin Gregg on the team’s discard pile, it’s worth remembering that Burke Badenhop was Walt Jocketty’s “big” signing to improve the bullpen in the offseason. He’s become unusable. Another $2.5 million of Mr. Castellini’s money set on fire.
And another loss with the all-too-familiar formula comprising a season that started with sweet dreams but ended up in pieces on the ground.
Padres 6, Reds 2 | FanGraphs Info | Jason Marquis 2015 Game Log
Three years to the day after he was drafted out of Pepperdine University by the Reds in the fourth round of the 2012 amateur draft, Jon Moscot threw his first major league pitch. With nerves jangling, the 92-mph four-seam fastball was a strike. Moscot struck out the first batter he faced, Will Venable, on four pitches (video). The next 30+ pitches of the first inning would not prove to be so kind to the 23-year-old right hander. The Padres scored two runs aided by three walks and two oh-so-soft ground ball hits. Moscot then gave up not-so-soft solo home runs in the second and third. He completed five innings, retiring San Diego in order in the fourth and fifth. Moscot’s final pitch was a 77-mph curve ball to Matt Kemp.
Joey Votto continued his offensive rebound after spotting the league an entire month. His single in the fifth inning drove in two runs. Votto also had two walks. Brandon Phillips had a hit and a walk, as did Skip Schumaker.
Phillips also made two outstanding defensive plays. The first was a ground ball deep in the hole behind first base that Phillips fielded and then tossed a long backhanded pass to the pitcher covering first base. In the seventh inning, Phillips ranged deep behind second base and flipped the ball behind his back to Zack Cozart to start a 4-6-3 double play. (video of both plays)
Burke Badenhop‘s ERA coming into this game was 7.27 (worst in the NL) and FIP was 5.02. The 32-year-old pitcher had given up the highest percentage of hard-hit balls in baseball. Badenhop’s strikeout rate is the third lowest in baseball. After Votto’s single had cut the Padres lead to 4-2, Burke Badenhop, pitching for the second time in ten days, gave a run right back.
The Reds tried a double steal with one out, down 4-0 in the third inning and Todd Frazier at the plate. Brandon Phillips was thrown out at third base. You wonder if the play was called from the dugout or if the players were freelancing.