Last night, Reds fans got to see the downside of an all-rookie rookie rotation. This afternoon, Reds fans got to see the upside of an all-rookie rotation: a very promising young arm.
The Reds got off to a quick start this afternoon. Billy Hamilton lead the game off with a single, and then Eugenio Suarez was hit by a pitch from James Shields. Joey Votto ripped a single to right field (video). Billy Hamilton initially stopped at third base, but the throw went into second base, and Billy rushed home to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. After a Frazier strikeout, Jay Bruce just missed a home run to straight away center-field (video). Two runs scored to give the Reds a 3-0 lead, and Bruce made it to third base with a triple.
The Padres got right back in the game in a blink of an eye. Rasiel Iglesias hit the first batter Yangervis Solarte, despite quickly getting ahead in the count 0-2. Former Red, Yonder Alonso singled, and that brought up Matt Kemp. He smoked a 1-2 hanging breaking ball into the left-field seats to tie the game (video).
Rasiel Iglesias didn’t let his rough first inning define his start. After the first inning, Iglesias struck out 6 of the next 7 batters, and was perfect throughout the rest of his start. Iglesias retired 16 consecutive batters total. It was one of the most impressive starts you will ever see after a poor first inning (video: Iglesias strikes out eight).
The Reds would score another run in the third inning on a James Shields balk (video), and then score another in the seventh inning on a Frazier sacrifice fly (video). Joey Votto then made sure the Reds wouldn’t leave San Diego without a win in the top of the 9th. Votto hit his 20th home run of the season (video), a two-run bomb to straight away center to give the Reds a 7-3 lead.
The Reds bullpen did their job. Jumbo Diaz and J.J. Hoover pitched scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth, and Aroldis Chapman finished off the Padres in the ninth for a 7-3 win.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (50-62) | 7 | 9 | 0 |
| San Diego Padres (54-61) | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| W: Iglesias (3-4) L: Shields (8-5) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Player of the Game
Rasiel Iglesias: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
Iglesias is turning into must see TV during a lost season for the Reds. Iglesias now has a sizzling 9.25 K/9, which if he qualified for the leaderboard, it would put him 14th in the MLB in K/9 right between Madison Bumgarner and Jake Arrieta. Check out Iglesias last three starts:
8/12 at Padres: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 8 K
8/7 vs Dbacks: 6.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K
8/1 vs Pirates: 6.2 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K
Positives
The Reds non-elite first baseman Joey Votto homered, had 3 hits, 3 RBI, and a walk. Votto is now hitting .304/.434/.526 with 20 HR, and a 164 wRC+. Yawn.
Billy Hamitlon reached base twice (walk and a single), and actually had himself a pretty nice series in San Diego. Billy reached base 5 times in 13 plate appearances (3 walks!). Hey, that is a .385 OBP in the series. Billy also made a yet another great catch (video).
Jay Bruce reached base twice also (triple and a walk).
The Reds bullpen continues to pitch well of late. Diaz, Hoover, and Chapman each pitched a scoreless inning. The Reds pen entered today with a 1.59 ERA over the last seven days.
Negatives
After a leadoff single in the 7th inning by Phillips, Bryan Price called for Billy Hamilton to bunt. He kept the bunt on when Hamilton got the count to 3-1, but luckily Billy was smart enough not to try to bunt at ball four. Price then AGAIN called for the bunt for Eugenio Suarez. Suarez got ahead in the count 2-0, and he kept the bunt on AGAIN. Steve pointed out on Twitter that Suarez has a 1.016 OPS when the count is 2-0. It is amazing to see Price’s inability to read and understand a win probability chart, and even worse his need to keep a bunt sign on when a pitcher is struggling to throw strikes. DO. NOT. GIVE. AWAY. OUTS.
Marlon Byrd had a rough day at the office. Byrd struck out three times.
Not so random thoughts………………
Mariners starter Hisashi Iwakuma threw a no-hitter this afternoon (video). It was the first no-hitter in an AL game since 2012. Iwakuma’s line on the afternoon: 9.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 7 K.
Our good pal Chris Heisey was picked up by the Toronto Blue Jays today. Heisey was DFA’d by the Dodgers after they picked up like 20 players at the trade deadline. I was already like 90% on the Blue Jays bandwagon, but this solidifies it at 110%. It would be pretty cool to see a Royals-Blue Jays ALCS. Johnny Cueto and Edison Volquez vs Edwin Encarnacion and Chris Heisey. Shameless plug: The Curious Case of Chris Heisey.
Up Next:
The Reds being a four game series tomorrow evening at Dodgers Stadium. The Reds will miss Clayton Kershaw this weekend (he is pitching tonight against the Nationals), but they will face Mat Latos tomorrow night for the first time since being traded this off-season. Latos was scratched for his start right before the ASG against the Reds. Tomorrow night’s game will certainly be worth watching. Let’s hope the Reds offense can have a really big night, and make Mat regret his ridiculous comments this spring.
Reds at Dodgers
Thursday, 10:10 PM
TV: FSN-Ohio/MLB Network
Keyvius Sampson (2 GS, 3.00 ERA, 3.18 FIP) vs Mat Latos (18 GS, 4.67 ERA, 3.65 FIP)
All photographs used are courtesy of the Cincinnati Enquirer, and are used by permission. All statistics are used courtesy of Fangraphs, ESPN Stats and Info, and Baseball-Reference (including Baseball-Reference Play Index).