| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago Cubs (45-38) |
6 | 8 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (37-43) |
0 | 7 | 2 |
| W: Quintana (5-7) L: Castillo (7-3) |
|||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Well, the Reds did provide some excitement….. when Yasiel Puig yelled at Pedro Stroop after being hit by a pitch in the 8th inning. But a strong start by Luis Castillo was for naught.
The Offense
Joey Votto continued to swing a hot bat. He and Eugenio Suarez both went 2-4 in the game, and Suarez had a double among his two hits. Jose Igleisas, Phillip Ervin, and Luis Castillo added a single to the ledger, but the Reds couldn’t push a run across on the day. Ho-hum. They just didn’t have it today.
The Pitching
Luis Castillo allowed a solo home run in the second inning to Jason Heyward. That was all he gave up in 7.0 innings – allowing 3 hits and walking 3 batters with 6 strikeouts. He was in control of most of the game. But then the bullpen came on, and that’s when things went south. And quickly.
David Hernandez came on to begin the 8th and allowed a leadoff single and a 1-out double to Kris Bryant. Zach Duke came on to face the left-handed Anthony Rizzo and proceeded to walk him on 4 pitches to load the bases. That’s when Jared Hughes came on to face Javier Baez, who gave up a grand slam that made it 5-0. Robert Stephenson came out for the 9th inning and was charged with an unearned run that made it 6-0.
Notes Worth Noting
Derek Dietrich was hit by yet another pitch today. That’s 16 on the season, which leads the league.
Luis Castillo’s ERA dropped to 2.47 on the season with this outing.
David Bell was ejected in the bottom of the 9th after a third Reds batter of the game was hit by a Cubs pitcher and no one was tossed. It was the 6th time this year he has been throw out of a game.
While Jason Linden always tells us that end points are arbitrary, and he even wrote about that exact thing this week, Joey Votto is hitting .371/.442/.562 since May 24th, a span of 120 plate appearances.
The Reds can still win the series by taking the game tomorrow against Jon Lester.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Chicago Cubs vs Cincinnati Reds
Sunday June 30th, 1:10pm
Jon Lester (7-5, 3.83 ERA) vs Anthony DeSclafani (4-4, 4.70 ERA)
Reds probably would have lost anyway, but bringing in Duke in that situation can’t happen. Please FO, release him. His stuff has evaporated.
I am not clear about your point. Senzel did start and Suarez had a good offensive game (though he had an error). Maybe the question should be, why not start Senzel at 2B, Winker at LF, and Ervin at CF. Overall, it just seemed that it was one of those low offense-output games no matter what.
It is really nice to see Votto returning to form. Still, the team needs to sign an in-his prime consistent .300/.400/850 bat in the offseason. I don’t see any bat like that in the minors.
I think you can eliminate the “little” option. No team has ever won a baseball game without scoring a run.
An upper yesterday and downer today despite great pitching from Castillo. A tough loss before 41,360. Going for the series win tomorrow with Disco.
Disco is borderline awful thankfully the Reds won game one to avoid the sweep
But even awful occasionally have a good day.
He has said he won’t be traded so forget that one
I would think he would want out of this mess.
No team will take the contract
Eighty or so games into the season, we see what we have. They are around a 75-77 win team. They might keep saying they are better than that, but talk is cheap. The game is measured in wins and losses, despite what all the metrics say. You don’t make the playoffs based on the number of games metrics say you should have won. That is certainly a marked improvement over last year, but we really don’t know what we have.
Unless something happens in the next few weeks, our RF is gone, a SP is gone, a couple of relievers are gone, a starter who never showed up except to collect a very nice paycheck is gone. We don’t know if JW can handle all pitching, if JP can handle full time play, if PE can handle the outfield full time, if we have a suitable catcher going forward. On top of that, people want to trade away one of the best pitchers they have had in years.
On top of that, we have players who don’t know how many outs there are despite those huge displays they call scoreboards, players who get picked off regularly, or doubled off by outfielders, or can’t score from second on a base hit. Bad fundamental baseball by people who only seem to care about their launch angles. If this is baseball at its best, by the best, I’m outta here.
Wake me when its over, 2020 spring training, that is.
At this point, putting Duke in feels like Bell is conceding the game.
Conceding the game and not giving youth a chance to show what they have and whether they will be useful pieces going forward. At least Duke has shown them that when the three batter rule goes into effect, he will be rocking chair material. They couldn’t seriously bring him back and keep a straight face or credibility.
Plus he’s still owed well more than 100 million dollars
No team will take that contract
Go Teds!!! #viewermail
Should only be a GW RBI if it occurs 7th inning or later. Baseball has ventured into absurdity with statistics.
Had. That’s a really old stat. Not well regarded.
Reds are 13th in runs scored and OBP in a 15 team league.Only the Marlins and Giants are worse and nobody could name 10 players on either of those two teams because well they are playing young guys that nobody have heard of yet.We play older guys,look at our starting infield and a guy in right field that will not be here next year.Thats why we are where we are at and why we will stay there until we develop or acquire younger players.By the way the two teams I mentioned are trying to lose.Been a fan for over 50 years and I am just so tired of the same old worn out thought process of lets keep everybody and hope they get better when most are past their prime to begin with.I am with Doc and I am out of here.
I just hope the Reds sell these guys who are in the last year of their contract unlike last year when they kept Matt Harvey and let him walk for nothing
Several contract-year players: Wood, Hernandez, Hughes, Duke, Roark, Dietrich, Iglesias, Puig and Gennett. I’d only offer an extension to Iglesias and try to trade Roark and Puig. As for anybody else, who knows…
I’m not sure why any of them would even want to return to a perennial last place team and no hope of change in the near future
Team has and will continue to lose unless they get younger players with some upside.None of these guys were wanted by any other team and that’s why they are here on the Reds team.It just is what it is and this team will lose regardless.Just depends if the owners think 75 wins is better then 72.Reds are better then in previous years and I expect them to just do it again in the free agent market and take chances on guys nobody wants again next year.Nobody on this team should be untradeable if the return is good enough but the Reds love all of their players which is another problem in itself.For example I like DD and all he brings to the team but he is a bench piece at best but on this team he is a late blooming star.Yeah right.
I don’t believe anything ownership or the front office says.They’ve made a habit out of lying to the fans
I’m not sure players on the last year of their contact have as much value as some people seem to think. Someone should ask Jason about it on a podcast. Go Teds!!! #viewermail
Go Teds!!!
Matt sounds realistic, and is absolutely correct in everything he said. Joey Votto, in addition to his 10/5 status, is potentially both the greatest offensive player in Reds history and a Hall of Famer. To my knowledge, he’s never wanted to leave. He’s a Red for life as of now, and probably forever. I for one am glad for it.
Yes…plz…we must have better options in the minors or in the Cincy area that are better than Duke!
Is Reed off the minor league DL yet?
It did nor look intentional, nor did the game situation call for hitting someone. I haven’t read the rule book on this but if their is a warning given, is there anything in the rulebook that gives the umpire the opportunity to judge intent? Umpires have to judge intent all the time, game situation, was it a fastball or an off speed pitch, is the pitcher prone to wildness, etc. BUT. if the warning is given to both teams has not the umpire given up that right to make a judgment? I understand that forcing Chicago to change pitchers at the point was probably not going to effect the outcome of this game, but making Madden use another pitcher hurts them on Sunday. And remember the replacement pitcher only gets the standard 8 pitches to warm up. I am not in favor of retaliation, and in no way want a Reds pitcher throwing at someone’s head, hands or knees but I do think that Desclafani putting one in the back pocket of Baez is a bad idea. If the league and the umpires do not police this then each team needs to send a message you throw at my guys then expect to get hit.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have tossed that pitcher, even with a warning issued. It was a breaking-ball that spun up there and didn’t do anything. It plunked him.
I would like it noted however that I would have tosses Strop without warning or notice. From where I was sitting there was little doubt that his hitting Puig was intentional.