Game 1
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (63-71) |
6 | 7 | 2 |
| St. Louis Cardinals (74-59) |
10 | 12 | 0 |
| W: Hudson (14-6) L: Bauer (10-12) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Trevor Bauer did not have a good start and before you knew it the Reds were down 6-2 and the Cardinals didn’t look back. But the Reds certainly made it interesting before it was all over.
The Offense
Joey Votto singled in the first and scored when Eugenio Suarez crushed his 39th home run of the season into Big Mac Land. That put the Reds up 2-0 in the top of the 1st. It was the last time they would be in front. They wouldn’t score again until the 8th inning, when Aristides Aquino singled in Joey Votto to make it an 8-3 ballgame. That wouldn’t be the only damage done in the inning, though. After several walks, Tucker Barnhart came up with the bases juiced and on a full count he doubled in three runs to make it 8-6. Jose Iglesias followed with a single to put runners on the corners and the go-ahead run at the plate. Unfortunately a ground out ended the inning with no more runs coming across the plate. They couldn’t get much of anything going in the 9th.
Eugenio Suarez went 2-3 with a walk, 2 runs scored, and 2 RBI. Tucker Barnhart went 2-4 with 3 RBI.
The Pitching
Trevor Bauer’s struggles continued this afternoon in St. Louis. He allowed six earned runs in 4.0 innings – including four in the bottom of the 1st inning after being handed a 2-0 lead to work with. Dexter Fowler and Yadier Molina both touched him up for home runs before he was removed from the game.
R.J. Alaniz took over to start the 5th inning for the Reds. He got through that inning clean, but allowed a run in each of the next two before being replaced by Joel Kuhnel who recorded the final out of the 7th. Lucas Sums came out for the 8th inning and gave up 2 more runs, making it a 10-6 game – which would be the final score.
Notes Worth Noting
Eugenio Suarez hit his 39th home run of the season in the 1st inning, clobbering it 423 feet into Big Mac Land down the left field line. That ties him for the franchise record for home runs in a season by a third baseman. Tony Perez hit 40 back in 1970, but only 39 of those came as a third baseman.
Trevor Bauer has made six starts with the Reds, thrown 30.0 innings, and allowed 30 runs, 28 of which have been earned. That’s an ERA of 8.40.
Game 2
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (63-72) |
2 | 3 | 1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals (75-59) |
3 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Gant (10-0) L: Iglesias (2-11) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The game started out well once again, but Raisel Iglesias’ struggles continued as he picked up his 11th loss of the season.
The Offense
Josh VanMeter took the first pitch of the game and hit it 411 feet into the stands for his 6th home run of the season to put the Reds up 1-0. Joey Votto would add a home run of his own in the 3rd inning. His 13th of the season went 407 feet to dead center field and made it a 2-0 game.
Joey Votto (2-4) and Josh VanMeter (1-3) had the only hits of the game for Cincinnati. Aristides Aquino went 0-2, but walked twice. While not “offense”, Nick Senzel made an incredible catch in the 7th inning to keep the Cardinals off of the board. He crashed into the wall as he made the catch, fired the ball into the infield to keep the two runners from advancing, and then had the trainer come out to check on him. He remained in the game.
The Pitching
For as much as Trevor Bauer struggled in the first game, Sonny Gray did not in the second game. He continued doing what he’s been doing – and dominated the Cardinals for 6.2 innings of one unearned run baseball that featured two walks and four strikeouts.
It was that 7th inning, though, where two runners were on with two outs when David Bell brought in Amir Garrett to face a lefty, and like like his nickname suggests, you can Count on AG. He struck out Kolten Wong to end the inning and preserve a 2-1 lead. That was all that Garrett would get, though. Michael Lorenzen came on for the 8th inning and he struck out two batters in a perfect inning.
That brings us to the 9th inning. Raisel Iglesias came on for the save. He didn’t get it. Tommy Edman singled to lead off the inning, then Yadier Molina was hit by a pitch. Harrison Bader then drove in the game tying run on a single to left field. That was it for Iglesias and Kevin Gausman came on to try and send the game into extras. He didn’t. Matt Carpenter singled on a 2-2 pitch to bring in the winning run for the Cardinals.
Notes Worth Noting
From Elias: Sonny Gray’s 0.74 ERA in August of 2019 is the lowest ERA in the month by a Reds pitcher since 1912 with at least 5 starts.
From me: Sonny Gray’s ERA dropped to 2.80 on the season, which moves him to the 7th best ERA in Major League Baseball.
Raisel Iglesias now holds the Reds record for most losses in a season, breaking the mark previously held by JJ Hoover. His ERA on the season is now 4.63 and he’s got five blown saves.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs St. Louis Cardinals
Sunday September 1st – 1:05pm and 7:05pm
Tyler Mahle (2-10, 4.93 ERA) vs Miles Mikolas (8-13, 4.32 ERA)
Luis Castillo (13-5, 3.21 ERA) vs Daniel Ponce de Leon (1-1, 3.76 ERA)