Max Muncy’s one-out single in the bottom of the 10th inning drove home Mookie Betts and gave the Los Angeles Dodgers (57-29) a 4-3 extra-inning victory over the Cincinnati Reds (42-44) at Dodger Stadium.

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!

Sim Reds reliever and loser Cody Reed retired the first batter in the 10th inning, Chris Taylor. But then Betts singled and Reed wild-pitched him to second base. That set up Muncy’s heroics.

Los Angeles took the early 3-0 lead against Anthony DeSclafani, but the sim Reds offense came all the way back. Nick Castellanos’ two-run single in the sixth brought Cincinnati back within one run. In the top of the ninth, Shogo Akiyama’s clutch two-out single off Kenley Jansen drove home Tucker Barnhart to tie the game. Joey Votto followed with a double that moved Akiyama to third, but Phillip Ervin then struck out against Jansen to leave runners on second and third. Akiyama’s hit marked the second time Jansen had a blown save against Cincinnati this sim year.

Votto’s three hits led a 12-hit Reds attack.

After today’s sim games, the Brewers are back in a virtual tie for first place in the NL Central after falling to the Cubs at Wrigley Field. St. Louis also won, pulling within one game of the lead. The Reds are four games behind and in fourth place.

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

A-Pinch Hit For Desclafani In 6th Inning
B-Pinch Hit For Winker In 7th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Garrett In 9th Inning

C-Pinch Hit For Kolarek In 7th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Jansen In 9th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Pederson In 10th Inning

Standings following the June 30 games: 

The 2020 schedule has the Reds at Dodger Stadium Wednesday for the third game of the four-game series. Sonny Gray pitches for the sim Reds, and lefthander David Price will start for LA.

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.

The 2020 Minor League season is cancelled

While it’s not surprising to many of us who have been able to read the writing on the wall for months, the 2020 Minor League Baseball season has been cancelled. The Minor League Baseball board met earlier today and an official announcement is expected later today.

The 2020 Minor League Baseball season is cancelled

Four players thus far have opted out of the 2020 season

In the notes yesterday we had news that former Cincinnati Reds pitcher Mike Leake was opting out of playing in the 2020 season. Since then three others have joined him – Joe Ross and Ryan Zimmerman of the Washington Nationals, as well as Ian Desmond of the Colorado Rockies. The Minnesota Twins also took the option out of the hands of two of their coaches – Bob McClure and Bill Evers – and will replace them for 2020 after reviewing their medical histories. Both will remain in the organization and on the payroll, and may contribute in advisory roles for now according to La Velle E. Neal III of the Star Tribune.

Barry Larkin “Why is it on there?”

The National League MVP Award in 1995 went to Reds shortstop Barry Larkin. He, along with several other past MVP Award winners are asking for the name of Kenesaw Landis to be removed from the award that is given to the MVP each year.

Hired in 1920 as the sport’s first commissioner to help clean up rampant gambling, Landis and his legacy are “always a complicated story” that includes “documented racism,” official MLB historian John Thorn said.

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:

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.