Tyler Stephenson doubled home Phillip Ervin in top of the 10th inning to lead the Cincinnati Reds (34-36) to an important 7-6 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers (35-34) at Milwaukee’s Miller 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!

Ervin led off the top of the 10th inning with a triple against Brewers reliever David Phelps. After Freddy Galvis struck out, Stephenson struck his double — the biggest hit of his still-young sim Reds career.

The game started poorly for the Reds, as starter Sonny Gray didn’t have his good stuff. Milwaukee led 5-1 after five innings, and Gray was out after four. Cincinnati’s comeback started in the sixth, and it was pretty much all due to porous Brewers defense. Eugenio Suarez led off with a single, then Mike Moustakas hit a fly ball to right that was dropped by right fielder Christian Yelich, putting Reds runners on second and third with nobody out. Two outs later, Stephenson hit a grounder to third baseman Brock Holt, who kicked it, allowing Suarez to score. Then Curt Casali, pinch-hitting for Cody Reed, singled to knock in Moustakas.

Cincinnati came all the way back in the top of the seventh, thanks to a three-run homer by Ervin off Brewers reliever Freddy Peralta to take a 6-5 lead.

Milwaukee responded in the bottom of the eighth, as the first three hitters who Amir Garrett faced all reached him for hits, tying the game at 6-6. But Michael Lorenzen, who has had a rocky year in relief, had perhaps his finest outing today. Entering the game with runners on second and third and nobody out and the game tied, Lorenzen slammed the door against the heart of the Brewers batting order. Lorenzo Cain grounded out with the runners not advancing, then Luis Urias hit a fly ball that was not deep enough to score the run from third. Yelich was walked intentionally, and Keston Hiura grounded out to end the inning.

Lorenzen also pitched the bottom of the ninth, holding Milwaukee scoreless, and received credit for the victory.

Shogo Akiyama extended his hitting streak to 19 games, best on the sim Reds this season. Ervin and Galvis led a balanced Reds offense with two hits apiece.

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

A-Pinch Hit For Gray In 5th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Reed In 6th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Winker In 7th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Strop In 8th Inning

C-Pinch Hit For Supak In 6th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Holt In 8th Inning
G-Pinch Hit For Peralta In 8th Inning
H-Pinch Hit For Phelps In 10th Inning

Standings following the June 12 games:

The 2020 schedule as currently constituted has the Reds in Milwaukee Saturday for the second game of a three-game series at Miller Park. Today’s Redleg Nation winning commenter/manager Redsfan4life will announce the starting pitcher for the Reds later Friday, while right-hander Josh Lindblom will pitch for Milwaukee.

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.

More on the Cincinnati Reds Draft

Over at RedsMinorLeagues.com Doug Gray has provided full scouting reports, videos, stats, and quotes from all six of the players selected by the Cincinnati Reds in the 2020 Major League Baseball Draft. So if that’s the thing you are looking for more information on, here’s the link. If you’re interested in just a bit of a recap on the draft by the organization, then check out the piece here at Redleg Nation from this morning.

About that NBA bubble plan…..

Remember how quickly Major League Baseball players shut down the idea of playing in a “bubble” in Arizona or a combination of Arizona and Florida? Well, it seems that the NBA, who decided that they could have a bubble in Orlando at one of the Disney resorts didn’t exactly get full approval of that plan from the players and there could be a snag according to Howard Beck, the Senior NBA Writer at Bleacher Report.

There's growing concern re NBA's bubble plan. Players want more freedom of movement while in Orlando. One agent estimates that 2/3 of the top 40 would refuse to play under the proposed restrictions. https://t.co/IrM5MHPu5e

— Howard Beck (@HowardBeck) June 12, 2020

It seems that Major League Baseball may not be the only league with a hiccup or five to get through in order to get back to playing.

“It wasn’t just a 2-man sign stealing show in Houston”

Alex Cora isn’t backing down from his involvement in the Trash Can Sign Stealing for the Houston Astros, but in speaking with Marly Rivera of ESPN he wants to be sure to remind everyone that it wasn’t just him and Carlos Beltran that were involved.

If there is one thing I am absolutely sure of, it is that it was not a two-man show. We all did it. And let me be very clear that I am not denying my responsibility, because we were all responsible.”

That bus that just drove by? Alex Cora just tossed everyone under it.

How are the simReds performing?

The Hitters

The Pitchers

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

Redleg Nation commenter/manager Redsfan4life will have priority on the lineup for Saturday because he was the winning manager Friday. 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.