Two big offensive innings helped the Cincinnati Reds (43-45) snap a three-game losing streak and defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers (58-30) by a 7-3 score 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!

After being limited to one hit in two of the first three games of the series, sim Reds bats remained largely silent until a three-run fifth inning. Starter and winner Wade Miley led off with a single against Los Angeles starter and loser Dustin May. An out later, Shogo Akiyama walked, Joey Votto singled to load the bases, and Eugenio Suarez delivered home two runs with a single. Mike Moustakas capped the inning by scoring Votto from third on a sacrifice fly.

Leading 3-1 in the top of the eighth, the Reds left little doubt about the outcome of this one by scoring four more times. The first six sim Reds batters in the inning reached base, with the big hit coming from Akiyama, facing former Reds left-hander Alex Wood. With the bases loaded, Akiyama hit a slow grounder to third base that Justin Turner errored by throwing the ball away at first base. The play was scored as an infield hit with one RBI for Akiyama, with Turner’s error allowing the other two runners to score and Akiyama to wind up at third. Phillip Ervin then capped the inning with a sacrifice fly, scoring Akiyama, who had four hits to break out of what had been his first mini-slump of the sim season.

Cincinnati benefited from 10 walks issued by Dodger pitching. Akiyama and Votto, the top two hitters in the order, reached base five times each between hits and walks. The sim Reds touched up their former teammate Wood for four hits and three walks in only an inning and two-thirds of pitching.

The victory allowed the Reds to avoid a four-game series sweep at the hands of the Dodgers.

The Milwaukee Brewers put a bit of distance between themselves and their closest competitors by taking three of four from the Cubs, who now sit two games behind the NL Central division leaders. The Reds are five games behind and in fourth place.

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

B-Pinch Hit For Miley In 6th Inning
C-Pinch Hit For Winker In 7th Inning
E-Pinch Hit For Garrett In 8th Inning
F-Pinch Hit For Sims In 9th Inning

A-Pinch Hit For May In 5th Inning
D-Pinch Hit For Kelly In 7th Inning
G-Pinch Hit For Hernandez In 9th Inning

Standings following the July 2 games:

The 2020 schedule has the Reds moving to Chase Field in Phoenix Friday for the first game of a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Luis Castillo, author of a one-hit, complete-game shutout his last time out against the Washington Nationals, pitches for the sim Reds. Right-hander Zac Gallen will start for the D-backs.

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.

Two Cincinnati Reds players have tested positive for COVID-19

In case you missed it earlier, two Cincinnati Reds players have tested positive for COVID-19. Neither player arrived in Cincinnati as the players reported yesterday to prepare for the upcoming season. The identity of the players is not yet known, as teams are not allowed to release that information. The players themselves can identify if they choose.

Two Cincinnati Reds players test positive for COVID-19

The Cincinnati Reds will be a playoff team in 2020

Prediction: The @Reds will make the @MLB postseason in 2020. Some quick thoughts here. ?@MLBNetwork? ?@Mooose_8? ?@SonnyGray2? ??@Tucker_Barnhart? ?@BauerOutage? ?@Amir_Garrett? ?@Lorenzen55? pic.twitter.com/u0RW5kx0wx

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) July 2, 2020

Jose De Leon is rocking a strong mustache game

Those glasses are crushing it, too.

My mustache and I are ready! Baseball is back! #OnAMission pic.twitter.com/q1th1ucxLP

— Jose De León (@JDL_87) July 2, 2020

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

Since Melvin was the victorious Redleg Nation commenter/manager today, he has priority for Friday’s lineup. 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.