Victor Robles’ eighth-inning pinch-hit grand slam home run off Amir Garrett brought the defending World Champion Washington Nationals (21-10) from behind to hand the Cincinnati Reds (13-18) their third consecutive defeat by a 5-4 score.

That was the result today as Strat-O-Matic games of Glen Head, N.Y., continued its announced plan to simulate the entire 2020 Major League Baseball season on a day-by-day basis for as long as actual game play is on hold.

Help set the lineup, batting order for the simulated Reds:

Have you ever dreamed of your opportunity to “manage” the Reds? Now is your chance. Learn more below!

The sim Reds led 4-1 heading to the bottom of the eighth. Garrett began the inning by allowing three of the first four Washington hitters to reach on two walks and a single. With lefthanded batter and famed Reds killer Eric Thames due up, the Nationals instead played the lefty-righty matchup by sending up the righthanded batting Robles against the lefthander Garrett. The strategy, needless to say, paid off.

Cincinnati scored first in the top of the first on an error by Nationals shortstop Trea Turner, a single by Eugenio Suarez, and a sacrifice fly by Mike Moustakas. Washington tied the game in the bottom of the third on a solo home run by Howie Kendrick, the only damage the Nationals were able to do against Reds starter Trevor Bauer.

In the fifth, the Reds tallied three times on an RBI triple by Freddy Galvis, followed by RBI hits by Shogo Akiyama and Suarez against Stephen Strasburg.

With the loss, the Reds fell to fourth in the NL Central, one-half game behind third-place Milwaukee and a game and a half ahead of fifth-place Pittsburgh.

Here is the sim Reds box score, as provided by Strat-O-Matic:

D-Pinch Hit For Lorenzen In 9th Inning

A-Pinch Hit For Elias In 7th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Thames In 8th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Doolittle In 8th Inning

Standings following the May 1 games:

The 2020 schedule as currently constituted has the Reds playing the second of a three-game series in the nation’s capital Saturday against the Washington Nationals. Anthony DeSclafani will pitch for the sim Reds, while righthander Joe Ross will pitch for the Nationals.

Help set the lineup, batting order for the simulated Reds:

Have you ever dreamed of your opportunity to “manage” the Reds? Now is your chance.

Strat-O-Matic has agreed to allow Redleg Nation to submit the Cincinnati Reds’ lineups for each day’s simulated game. We want all of our readers who want to participate to get involved.

Here is how it will work:

• In each wrap up of that day’s simulated game, Redleg Nation will post the opposing starting pitcher for the next game. You will know who the pitcher is and whether he is left-handed or right-handed, and you can use that information in creating a lineup for the next game, and submitting it in the comments below. “Splits” such as performance vs. left-handers or right-handers are replicated in the Strat-O-Matic game algorithm, and therefore should be considered.
• We will accept lineups from every reader who wants to submit one. The lineup that will be submitted to Strat-O-Matic each day will be the one that receives the most positive replies (in effect, “yes” votes) from readers other than the submitter. In case of ties:
  • First tiebreaker: Lineup submitted by the reader who has had the fewest number of opportunities as a “manager.”
  • Second tiebreaker: Lineup submitted earliest in the comment thread. (So get your lineup in “early” each day.)
• What is “early?” Redleg Nation posts these articles daily between 5 and 6 p.m. Eastern time. Strat-O-Matic’s deadline for us to submit a lineup for the next day’s game is midnight. On most days, we’ll do this before “bedtime,” which is typically between 10:30 and 11 Eastern time.

Strat-O-Matic statistics through today’s games:

All players’ batting stats

All players’ pitching stats

Batting and pitching player stats by team

Have fun with this! If you have any questions, please post them in the comment string below. Here are the “managerial records” of our Redleg Nation participants to date:

About Strat-O-Matic

Strat-O-Matic has been in the sports simulation business since the 1960s. A USA Today article contained this explanation:

Strat-O-Matic and other baseball simulations use statistics from the previous season to create “cards” for each player on a roster. The team managers select the batting order and the starting pitcher. From there, a series of dice rolls and calculations determines the outcome of each at-bat.

Strat-O, as it’s known to longtime players, first gained its immense popularity as a board game. The company has since expanded to a downloadable Windows version and one that’s played online. A few years ago, it introduced Baseball Daily – a new iteration that combined the player cards from the previous season with statistics from the real season being played at the same time.

Unlike many video games, the Strat-O-Matic results are based on algorithms that account for players’ performance based on statistics that their statistical experts project for each player in the 2020 season. It’s not a game played with a joystick that relies more on the skill of the person with the video game controller in his or her hand.

The simulation software will keep comprehensive statistics for all teams for the season, so we’ll be able to track year-to-date leaders in many statistical categories. Our current plan is to provide statistical leader summaries here at Redleg Nation each Sunday. You can follow the season at Strat-O-Matic.com, where they plan to post the results from each day’s schedule at 2 p.m. Eastern time.

News/Notes from around baseball

One of the things we would have during the season in the game threads was a section comprised of news and notes for the day. While there’s a lot less going on these days in the baseball world than usual for this time of year, there still are some things that are worth highlighting. When there are, we’ll be adding them to these daily simulation threads.

MLB proposed a 10-round draft, but the MLBPA declined

The Major League Baseball Draft is usually 40 rounds. This year with the shutdown of baseball, MLB and the Major League Baseball Players Association agreed that it could be as low as 5 rounds, and with some strange limitations, too. But both sides also agreed that they could bring a new offer to the table before the draft – but it would require approval from both sides. Well, MLB brought a new deal to the table this week to expand the draft to 10 rounds this year, but with some real limitations on those rounds, and on undrafted free agents, too. The players association turned that deal down.

MLB tried to expand the draft to 10 rounds, MLBPA declines

Fox Sports Ohio to replay Tom Browning’s Perfect game on Sunday night

FOX Sports Ohio will air a replay of Tom Browning's perfect game this Sunday, May 3 at 8 p.m. #Reds

— Jeff Wallner (@JeffWallner) May 1, 2020

The top power and speed combo players of all time

Over at MLB.com Andrew Simon looked back at some of the top power and speed players of all time. He looked at players with at least 300 home runs and 300 steals in their career. One former Cincinnati Reds player is on that list. Do you know who it is? It’s not Hall of Famer Joe Morgan, who only hit 268 home runs – but had 689 steals. It’s not Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr. who hit 630 home runs, but only stole 184 bases. Eric Davis? Close, but no cigar as he stole 349 bases but came up 18 home runs shy of 300.

Did you guess Reggie Sanders? If so, I applaud you. He finished his Major League Baseball career with 305 home runs and 304 stolen bases.

Photo Credit: Hayden Schiff. Licensing for the photo found here.