Pittsburgh Pirates 6, Cincinnati Reds 1 in Strat-O-Matic 2020 season simulation game 55

05/27/2020

Final	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	R	H	E
Pirates	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	6	7	0
Reds	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	8	1

A five-run 10th inning explosion by the Pittsburgh Pirates (24-31) offense against relievers Pedro Strop and Michael Lorenzen broke open a classic pitching duel and sent the Cincinnati Reds (28-27) to a 6-1 loss at Great American Ball Park.

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!

Five of the first six Pirates batters reached in the 10th inning. Three doubles, a triple and two walks did the damage. The sim Reds had a chance to put a dent into that lead when they loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the inning. But Pirates reliever Keola Kela got Joey Votto to ground into a game-ending double play.

Eugenio Suarez continued with the hot bat. His 17th homer in the fourth inning gave the Reds their only lead. Sonny Gray, who was in charge for most of the game, allowed a one-out double by Kevin Newman, who then scored on a triple by Adam Frazier to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the sixth. Gray pitched out of trouble and maintained the tie score.

The sim Reds had a chance to win it in the bottom of the ninth, when Suarez and Phillip Ervin both singled with two out. But Mike Moustakas grounded out, leaving them on base.

Despite the loss, the sim Reds have won eight of their past 11 and 11 of their last 15 games.

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

B-Pinch Hit For Musgrove In 8th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Brault In 10th Inning

A-Pinch Hit For Gray In 6th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Garrett In 8th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Lorenzen In 10th Inning

Standings following the May 27 games:

All of the NL Central teams other than Cincinnati won today, dropping the sim Reds into fourth in the tightly fought race.

NL Central	WON	LOST	PCT	GB
Cardinals	32	25	.561	0.0
Brewers	29	27	.518	2.5
Cubs	29	27	.518	2.5
Reds	28	27	.509	3.0
Pirates	24	31	.436	7.0

The 2020 schedule as currently constituted has the Reds playing the final game of the three-game series against the Pittsburgh Pirates Thursday at Great American Ball Park. Trevor Bauer will pitch for the sim Reds, while righthander Mitch Keller pitches for the Pirates.

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.

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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.

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:

Commenter/ “Manager”	WON	LOST	PCT
Jon Davis	6	1	.857
Peter Onte	2	1	.667
BK	7	4	.636
James Owens	3	2	.600
Redsfan4life	3	3	.500
Gonzo Reds	2	2	.500
Doug Gray	1	1	.500
RedsEuphoria	1	1	.500
Tomn	1	1	.500
AirborneJayJay	0	1	.000
Jeff	0	1	.000
Mark Moore	0	1	.000
Tom Mitsoff	0	1	.000
VaRedsFan	0	1	.000
Don	0	2	.000
Melvin	0	2	.000

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.