In the Cincinnati Reds first postseason appearance since 2013 they got a start to remember for the rest of the franchise history. Trevor Bauer set a franchise record for strikeouts in a playoff game, fanning 12 in 7.2 shutout innings. But Atlanta starter Max Fried matched him in the runs allowed category through 7.0 innings of his own before handing the game over to the bullpen. From there it became a relief battle between two bullpens that came into the day absolutely rolling.
It was the Braves bullpen that won out, eventually, but the Reds have no one to blame but their offense, who failed miserably time after time after time when they got men on base throughout the afternoon before Freddie Freeman walked off the game with a single in the bottom of the 13th.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (0-1) |
0 | 11 | 1 |
| Atlanta Braves (1-0) |
1 | 6 | 0 |
| W: Minter L: Garrett |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The game got out to what felt like a great start for Cincinnati. Nick Senzel led off with a single on the first pitch. He moved to third base on a single by Nick Castellanos a few pitchers later. And then what has seemed to plague the offense all year happened – Nothing happened. A runner on third base with no outs and the heart of the order couldn’t move him 90 feet.
Trevor Bauer answered with a quick, 7-pitch inning. He didn’t get it as easy the next inning, as a 1-out error by Joey Votto put Ozzie Albies on first, and he’d go on to steal second base to put the go-ahead run into scoring position. Bauer locked in, though, and struck out Adam Duvall and Dansby Swanson to end the inning.
Nick Senzel tried to get things going again with a 1-out single. On a pick off attempt, he dove back to the bag and appeared to jam his shoulder that left him rubbing his left shoulder for a bit and warranted a visit from the training staff. After about a 45 second conversation, Senzel remained in the game and would move up to second base on a passed ball. But like his counterpart in the previous inning, Max Fried worked out of things, getting a fly out and then striking out Joey Votto looking to end the inning.
Trevor Bauer kept things rolling along in the 3rd inning as he struck out the side on 17 pitches, pushing his total to five on the game and Votto’s error aside, keeping a perfect start in tact. Max Fried wasn’t perfect, but he kept his quality outing going with a quick 1-2-3 inning of his own in the bottom half of the inning.
The 4th inning began for Atlanta with Freddie Freeman taking a slider off of the knee to put a runner on 1st. Bauer came back to strike out Marcell Ozuna and then got Travis d’Arnaud to pop up on the infield on the first pitch of the at-bat. He fell behind Ozzie Albies 2-0 on two straight fastballs out of the zone before battling back to even the count, but Albies beat out an infield single to put runners on 1st and 2nd. That brought up former Red Adam Duvall, and Bauer sent him back to the dugout with his bat in hand after leaving him looking at a called strike three to work out of a jam.
Cincinnati went rather quietly again in the top of the 5th, with Max Fried finishing the inning with a pitch count of just 50. Trevor Bauer went about trying to match the left-handed starter and got a strikeout and two ground outs in his half of the inning, finishing with 69 pitches as the inning ended.
The Reds got a 1-out infield single from known speedster Nick Castellanos, who busted it down the line to beat the glove toss to first base by a few inches. Joey Votto followed with a single to left field, but Castellanos was thrown out trying to go 1st to 3rd on a perfect throw by Adam Duvall. Eugenio Suárez came up with two outs and he took strike three on a curveball that had been confusing Reds hitters all day.
Roñald Acuna Jr. led off the bottom of the 6th inning with a thunderous double off of the center field wall, putting the Braves in a good spot to take the lead with the middle of their order coming up. Freddie Freeman grounded out to second base, but moved Acuna over to third base with one out to set up a plethora of ways for Atlanta to take the lead with Marcell Ozuna at the plate. The Reds brought the infield in, but it didn’t matter as Ozuna popped up to catcher Curt Casali for the second out. Bauer then battled back to strike out Travis d’Arnaud and let out a scream as it happened as he was about as fired up as one could possibly be.
Aristides Aquino led off the top of the 7th inning with a single into shallow left. Jesse Winker was then hit by a pitch to put the Reds in position to try and get a run and take the lead. Kyle Farmer came up and grounded to third, leading to a force out at second, with Farmer beating the throw to first by inches. It didn’t matter as the TOOTBLAN (thrown out on the bases like a nincompoop) of the century took place with pinch-hitter Matt Davidson at the plate, as Kyle Farmer took off for second base about three seconds later than he should have for a steal and was caught in a rundown, ultimately leading to Aristides Aquino being tagged out on his way home in a rundown that resulted from Farmer trying to keep the play alive long enough.
Trevor Bauer just kept on rolling along. In the bottom of the 7th he got Ozzie Albies to pop up to Kyle Farmer and followed up with two more strikeouts, giving him 11 on the day as he kept the game scoreless.
Max Fried was replaced to begin the inning, with Atlanta going to Chris Martin to face Tucker Barnhart. The new Reds catcher flew out after working a full count. Nick Senzel followed up with a fly out to right field. Nick Castellanos then grounded out to third on a nice sliding play by Austin Riley to end the inning.
Cincinnati stuck with Trevor Bauer to begin the 8th inning. He came out and got Nick Markakis to ground out to begin the inning. Austin Riley battled, but struck out on the 6th pitch of the at-bat. That was the final pitch for Bauer, who left the game after 7.2 shutout innings of 2-hit, no walk, 12 strikeout baseball. David Bell went to the mound and took the ball, then handed it over to Raisel Iglesias with one out to go in the 8th to face off against Roñald Acuna Jr. and the move paid off as Iglesias fanned the Braves young superstar to send the game into the 9th all tied up.
Mark Melancon took over the 9th inning for the Braves and went 1-2-3 against the Reds 2-3-4 hitters, setting up Atlanta for a potential walk-off opportunity. Raisel Iglesias returned for the bottom of the 9th and led off the inning by walking Freddie Freeman to bring up Marcell Ozuna, who led the National League in both home runs and RBI, while also finishing 3rd in average. Ozuna would walk back to the dugout after swinging through a 99 MPH fastball from Iglesias. Travis d’Arnaud then saw three pitches, including a 98 MPH fastball he looked at to end the at-bat and he too walked back to the dugout with his bat in his hand. Ozzie Albies saw five pitches, but swung through a 98 MPH fastball to end the inning and send the game into extras.
The struggles for the Reds offense continued in the 10th as they went in order with two strikeouts and a ground out. Cincinnati turned to Lucas Sims for the bottom of the frame and he got a chance to face the player he was traded for, Adam Duvall. It was a winning match up for the Braves as Adam Duvall didn’t swing once and walked on 6 pitches. Dansby Swanson grounded one to shortstop, but hustled down the line to avoid a double play – but the lead runner was erased on the play for the first out of the inning. With the runner going, Nick Markakis hit a hard grounder at Joey Votto who could only step on first base, placing a runner at second with two outs. Sims came through with a strikeout to end the Braves threat and send the game into the 11th.
Will Smith returned to begin the 11th and got Tucker Barnhart to strikeout before the Braves went to Darren O’Day. He struck out pinch hitter Shogo Akiyama for the second out of the inning. Nick Castellanos wasn’t having the submariner’s games and doubled down the left field line. Joey Votto was intentionally walked to bring Eugenio Suárez to the plate to try and play the righty-vs-righty match up. O’Day walked Suárez to load the bases. Atlanta went to their bullpen to bring in lefty Tyler Matzek for face lefty Mike Moustakas. Advantage Braves, as Matzek struck out Moostakas on three pitches.
Michael Lorenzen took over for Cincinnati to begin the bottom of the 11th inning. Lorenzen fell behind 3-0 to Roñald Acuna Jr., who got the green light on the 4th pitch and he popped that one up on the infield to help moves things along. Freddie Freeman worked a full count before striking out on a change up down and away for the second out of the inning. That brought up Marcell Ozuna, who struck out swinging on a 98 MPH fastball up in the zone to send the game to the 12th.
Aristides Aquino led off the top of the inning with a single. That brought up Jesse Winker to face the lefty Matzek and Winker came through with a single to put runners on the corners – and one of those runners wouldn’t be Winker, who was replaced on the bases by Travis Jankowski. Kyle Farmer came to the plate and would strikeout on a 98 MPH fastball that was at his eyes. That brought up Tucker Barnhart in a lefty-lefty match up. Barnhart squared around to bunt several times, drawing balls to get to a 3-1 count. A fastball came and Barnhart was on top of it, but pulled a liner foul to get to a full count. He would foul off another fastball to extend the at-bat. With Jankowski stealing, Barnhart chased a 99 MPH fastball well outside of the zone for the second out of the inning. Freddy Galvis came in to pinch hit for Shogo Akiyama to avoid another lefty-left match up and try to finally get a hit when they needed it. Galvis didn’t swing once and struck out on four pitches to end the inning.
Michael Lorenzen returned for the 12th and gave up a leadoff single to Travis d’Arnaud, who was then pinch run for. It wouldn’t matter as Ozzie Albies grounded into a force out on the first pitch he saw – but did beat out the return throw to first base. Lorenzen proceeded to strike out Adam Duvall for the 2nd out of the inning. With Dansby Swanson a the plate, a pitch in the dirt bounced off of Tucker Barnhart’s chest put Albies at second base with two outs. It would be inconsequential, if not adding stress, as Lorenzen struck out Swanson to end the inning.
After Nick Castellanos struck out to begin the 13th, Joey Votto lined a single into right field and moved up to second base on a wild pitch to Eugenio Suárez. He came through with a line drive single into left field, but Votto had to hold up to make sure the ball got through and only advanced to third to put runners on the corners and Atlanta went to the bullpen once again, bringing in A.J. Minter to set up a lefty-lefty match up with Mike Moustakas. After a long at-bat, Moustakas took ball four well inside to load the bases for Aristides Aquino with just one out in the inning. The Punisher did no punishing this time, ultimately chasing a pitch out of the zone to go down swinging. That brought up Jose Garcia with all of the pressure in the world on him – he was the final position player on the bench. Garcia swung at the first pitch, shattered his bat, and the Braves got a force out at second base to end the inning.
Archie Bradley entered for the bottom of the 13th and gave up a leadoff single to Nick Markakis on a grounder. He was then pinch run for. Bradley fell behind 3-0 to Austin Riley, who then singled on a liner past a diving Kyle Farmer to put runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs, bringing Roñald Acuna Jr. to the dish needing a hit to likely win it. Bradley shattered his bat, but the only play was at second for a force out, leading to runners on the corners and one out.
With Freddie Freeman due up, manager David Bell went to Amir Garrett to set up a lefty-on-lefty match up. The Reds also played a 5-man infield, bringing in Nick Castellanos from the outfield and put him at third base, sliding everyone else over. Freeman came through with a line drive single up the middle to walk it off for a Braves win.
Tomorrow’s match up with be do-or-die for the Cincinnati Reds, who will send Luis Castillo to the mound to face off against Ian Anderson and his 1.95 ERA in six starts this season.
Notes Worth Noting
Trevor Bauer set a new playoff franchise record for strikeouts in a game, breaking the record that was previously at 10, set by Homer Bailey in 2012 when he struck out a bunch of San Francisco Giants. Bauer fanned 12 in his 7.2 innings – a record that, ideally, he’ll break the next time out.
That wasn’t the only history made by Bauer, though. He also is the first pitcher in history to record 12 strikeouts without a walk and allow two or fewer hits in postseason history.
Trevor Bauer is the first starting pitcher in #Postseason history to record 12 strikeouts, zero walks and two or fewer hits?? ?#RedsOctober #GoodVibesOnly pic.twitter.com/OcANrMUjLq
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) September 30, 2020
The game was the first one in playoff history to reach the 12th inning without a run being scored.
The total number of strikeouts in the game set a new record. The previous record was 34. There were 37 in this game.
Cincinnati went one for eleventy-billion with runners in scoring position in the game, and the one didn’t result in a run. We did not confirm the eleventy-billion number with Elias, but it sounds like it’s correct.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Atlanta Braves
Game 2 – Thursday, September 30th at 12:08pm ET
Luis Castillo (4-6, 3.21 ERA) vs Ian Anderson (3-2, 1.95)
Next to no chance of winning tomorrow.
They had their chances today. The chances blown by baserunning errors bother me the most.
Still just need 2 wins and if they can keep generating those opportunities they’ll have a shot.
2nd worst loss in my life as a Reds fan and I’m 54.
You could easily pick out 5-6 stupid things Bell did without even really analyzing the game.
Why pinch hit for Casali or Senzel? Why pull Winker?
Senzel? Top draft pick and great potential as a hitter. If he’s healthy then you play him. PERIOD!! A healthy Senzel that is ready to go and getting benched or pulled is like ignoring a Unicorn in your backyard.
Also letting Freeman beat you is insane. Ozuna is good, but FF is a HOFer. Open base…no brainer. Cmon? Overmanages then thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room when anyone else would do the obvious. I’m not even a manager basher. I don’t think they matter that often. Usually?
They only need one run to win. Makes no difference if it’s a home or a single. Arguably the best hitter and MVP candidate in the league at the plate and instead of walking him you pitch to him? Makes no sense. Makes no matter that he hits better against righties, the guy is a complete player and was up there to get a hit, or a fly ball and NOT STRIKE OUT. Stupid, stupid move. Not to mention the weird caught stealing nonsense with Aquino on 3rd. I blame that one on Bell too.
I can not figure out the sense of pitching to Freeman at all. It’s extra innings. It’s not like you’re afraid of giving up MORE than 1 run. The only thing I can imagine is Bell was thinking Freeman isn’t great against LHP and that’s presumably why he brought in Garrett. But even then, you still have to pitch AROUND him. You can’t just toss one over the plate.
AND YOU HAD HIM AT 2 STRIKES WHEN YOU THREW THAT GARBAGE!!
You not think Ozuna is HOFer, but he’s had a pretty fabulous season this year. Therefore, whats the ‘best’ match up. One strike away.
Yeah … Acuna stayed in the game and moved the winning run over, setting things up for Freeman.
Pinch-hitting and platooning are what is done with AAAA and slightly better MLB guys.
This team does not have much of a future if Senzel and Winker aren’t every AB guys.
They ARE every AB guys—the problem is that the manager is oblivious to it
Why was Kyle Farmer even starting today? We had two more capable shortstops to offer there. Again he was playing the little league game gotta get everyone an at bat. Blah…
The clutch hitting hurt the chances so much and I don’t know what happen with the double steal. Just really disappointed. By the way I would have put Bradley in too in the last inning so I can’t blame Bell for that.
Bauer, Iggy, Lorenzen, Sims did a nice job keeping one of the strongest offensive teams at bay. It just stinks to lose especially in extra innings. I was worried from the moment we hit extra innings that the Braves would win.
Well lets hope we can somehow pull a rabbit out of a hat and win tomorrow. Love Castillo hopefully he can have a great start and somehow the Reds learn how to clutch hit
Ugh. That hurt….bad. (insert crying emoji here) But what an amazing performance by Trevor Bauer. DADGUMMIT!
Base open with the walk off run on 3rd base and you pitch to the MVP. And not just “Let’s pitch around this guy and see if he’ll chase something sloppy.” No, a 2 strike underhand meatball right over the plate. Unbelievable.
Hope no one had any hopes of re-signing Bauer. If I were him I don’t even think I’d show up to the ballpark tomorrow.
“When the HRs don’t show up, this offense isn’t that good.”
“Especially on the road.”
Plenty of folks have said it for 60 games at RLN … in Game 61, it showed. Big time.
Surely there is a moderated approach to “swing for the fences or take a walk” … but we aren’t going to find out as long as Zinter is the batting coach.
Get’em tomorrow or go home for the winter.
We’re on our third hitting coach in three years, do you REALLY think its the coaches swinging and missing or hitting weak pop ups and grounders off their fists?
Honestly there was a fair amount of small ball being played with lots of base hits. problem was we couldn’t get that clutch hit as this team always has had issues with for a long time.
Fans have complained about the Reds’ hitting coaches for the last 20 years at least. It’s not the hitting coaches, it’s the hitters.
Good pitching will beat good hitting most of the time. Good pitching will beat bad hitting, especially when combined with poor fundamental baseball, much more of the time.
I don’t think I have ever watched a more I fundamentally unsound base running and plate disciplined professional baseball team than the Reds today.
The pitching on both sides has been great; however, the manager decisions have also been terrible. Just another prime example that analytics are a tool to be used rather not purely a decision maker.
As I’ve said time and time again,..this is the worst hitting team I’ve ever seen in my 6 decades of watching MLB!!!! THE WORST!!!!! Not a clutch hitter on the team. Weak sticks. They are very close to setting an all time record for THE WORST team batting average in MLB history. I see where the 1910 Chicago team finished the season at 212 (which is what the Reds started this day at). Luckily, the 1888 Washington team finished their season with a whopping 207 average. So,..these Reds “may” end up as the 2nd worst in history because of them. Embarrassing.
Basically the same team they will be running out there next year if Castellanos doesnt opt out.
The Reds had the lowest batting average in major league history this year.i have said for years that the Reds farm system was devoid of hitters and that they would never be good until they corrected that problem. Instead the Reds under Jocketty continually drafted pitchers, but their three best starters cane by trades— Castillo, Gray, and Bauer. They should have drafted hitters all along. They would have done better. It is going to take several years to draft enough hitters for this franchise to become good again.
Galvis’ at bat had me screaming at the TV “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING ON??!!” TWO hittable fastballs in the zone he spits on!
A team full of homerun hitters with low batting averages. Of course it came down to needing just a single. They are who they are. Bell did a lousy job managing. He just cant help himself by taking out the wrong hitters.
I agree and starting Farmer at SS… What was that about?
Inept offense, questionable base running, and overmanaging…the season trend continues….and they still should have won. It is really disappointing to see MLB hitters not be able to, or better yet, not attempt to move runners, or knock in the run from 3rd with less than 2 outs. instead of #getthehitting….#findsomeoffense.
Not just the youngsters. Votto probably left a run on the field in the 13th when he got a terrible jump off of 2nd. Maybe Freeman drives in 2 and it doesn’t matter but how bad is the coaching when a 37 year old Joey Votto isn’t in the right headspace on the bases?
Votto should have been ran for in that situation but alas, Bell had already burned thru the bench with unnecessary moves in the early innings. Bell has to go!!!
This game shows the major problem with this offense all season; a complete lack of situational awareness. I can’t believe I was agreeing with A-Roid that there’s a time and place for bunting. Both teams were dreadful! #modernbaseball
Highly offensive outing. As in futile and frustrating.
Can’t believe we have such trouble stringing together hits, driving guys in when given the opportunity, and scoring at least a couple runs!
What a waste of elite-level pitching.
Well, tomorrow’s another day …. Elimination game for the Reds.
Reds LOB: 13
I guess we’ve seen the last Bauer as a Red game. If only we’d seen the last game with Bell as manager. My personal vote for worse move of the game was pinch hitting with Galvis for Akiyama. Shogo was the hottest hitter on the team in September. If the Reds don’t turn this series around and Bell comes back next season, I’m done.
Bell burned Davison for Casali, during the baserunning debacle, with Farmer and Aquino…
Pinch hitting for Casali and pinch running for Winker were the two worst for me bc both were completely unnecessary and took out two of the best hitters on the team. Bell has done this repeatedly over the past 2 years.
I feel like Coach from Letterkenny. Embarrassing! (Kicks trash can)
Now I know what Joey meant when he said they are a freakin nightmare…
This is comment of the night!
I got a nickname for David Bell: Tinker-Bell.
He tinkers wayyyyy too much with the lineup
This is a perfect nickname
Ha! Stealing.
I called him that earlier this year and got reprimanded by Doug
A lot to unpack about this game. The players failed, plain and simple, to scratch a run across when given the chance. Thats #1. Bell did the chess match thing he likes to do, which can be strange sometimes. The expanded rosters allow you to do that though, so I do what I can to not to get too worked up over it. Senzel and Winker PH are ones I’d put under a microscope, the latter I’m kinda back and forth on. I’m still confused about the phantom double-steal or whatever that was, and I’d like to hear an explanation for what happened there.
*PR for Winker
Not walking Freeman is another non-move that was significant. I think I’m more inclined to pitch to Ozuna and set up more outs, including the double play home to 1st – especially with a 5-man infield. That was the situation he was saving Garret for, however, and he wasn’t able to execute.
Clevinger and Lamet out for the Pads. Cards up 3-0 immediately. Hate them if you want, but they’re pros. They don’t have clown shows every other day like this team under Bell. You have to beat them because they won’t gift wrap it for you.
The look Suarez gave Votto after Joey robbed him of that rbi. It was quick but telling.
We’re done tomorrow. Nobody has Bauer’s kind of stuff and Atlanta can normally hit. We used our bullets pitching wise. Gray is good, but they’ll score atleast 3-4 and we’ll do nothing as usual
Padres needed a run with Tatis on 3rd and Hosmer hits a sacrifice fly. Fundamentals is contagious. Except in Cincinnati.
Castillo starts tomorrow
This was their season condensed into one long frustrating game. Great starting pitching, lack of ability to score without a home run, poor base running, a Votto fielding error, blind platoons and a few questionable decisions by Bell. They could still win the series but not likely in a way that is different from their usual approach. Hopefully, they will decide to make some adjustments in the off-season because they can’t trade all of their position players.
This is insightful and i agree with it.
Exactly ! And the need to start off with Bell being the first move …thinks he’s smarter than everybody else – worst manager in MLB
You described this team perfectly… Its been this way all year I don’t know why we thought it would be different.
The Braves begged and pleaded with Reds to win the game, but they refused.
+100 But doesn’t it seem like in so many of these extra inning games, the losing team blows chance after chance then the winning team scores on its first really legit chance or alternately gets a solo HR still with nothing cooking.
The Reds put up more zeroes than the Japanese Navy did at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
What has more zeroes in it? The Reds line score today or Trevor Bauer’s paychecks next year?
10B for Bauer next season! For sure the Reds are out now.
Padres, single, single, sac fly…..novel idea…
Freddy Freeman .423 with risp this year
Nice one Bell! The analytics guy that doesn’t understand stats
Dusty would have walked him.
Dusty drove me nuts at times, but he’s 10x better then Bell
Dusty is advancing, found a 2-0 series lead he could not lose.
Well, that was just the type of game we wanted and needed and we still couldn’t beat them. Sure Bell couldve walked Freeman and I probably would’ve kept Lorenzen in the game. I mean he was stretched out. But this one isn’t on the pitching or Bell. The bats have to get that done.
I find it hard to imagine we hold this team to one run tomorrow and we just cant seem to score. So…
But hey, tomorrow is another day. #GoodVibesOnly
Fool me once shame on you. Fool me like 29 years in a row then shame on me. Old-timers know whats going to happen. Latos was storming around on the mound and Dusty left him in when everyone said take him out. Its not 2nd guessing
For some reason I didn’t give a rats backside about the Reds during the Junior/Dunn years. I watched some games, but I expected them to lose 8-5 most of the time and I missed more then I watched. That was easier because they suck and they underachieve. Thats not fun to watch.
Ive ripped bell alot. I think bringing in ag to face Freeman was the right move. Bradley had to come out. Reds r first team with 11 hits an not score in postseason history. Votto should of scored. I start gray tomorrow
I still think I walk him, but its not the worst move I’ve seen from Bell for sure.
This is precisely why I was surprised Gray started Sunday. In an elimination game I would much prefer having him out there – but not on short rest after that Sunday start.
Castillo starts tomorrow
You walk FF 100 out of 100.
FF .423 with runners in scoring position
Ozuna 0-5 with 3 Ks and hits into alot of doubleplays
Ozuna nearly won the triple crown this year. The idea that it was some easy answer to the question of do you walk Freeman to load the bases or not is crazy. Can you make the argument to walk Freeman? Absolutely. But to pretend it’s such an easy answer to load the bases for a guy who hit .338 and led the National League with 18 home runs and 56 RBI is some next level galaxy brain kind of stuff.
There was no good answer to the problem there. All answers were bad.
Yeah, no Doug. I know you like to flip over backward to defend Bell and the Front Office, but walking Freeman is exactly the move you make with one out.
Yeah, no, Hanawi – you and many others seem to confuse me “flipping over backwards to defend” someone with “Doug can rationally understand that there could possibly be a reason the move that was or wasn’t made could actually be something you could defend even if said move didn’t work out”.
Cmon Doug? Ozuna has had 2 great years and a bunch of .810 ops years. You can’t let FF beat you. You can’t pinch run for Winker to get the 2nd run when 1 will likely win while then letting Joey beat you. Joey will absolutely beat you on the bases or defensively.
Bell also manuevered himself into Barnhart vs lefty twice. He’s HORRIBLE
Come on Indy Red Man?
Ozuna hit .338 and led the league in homers and RBI THIS FREAKING YEAR. You either face that guy or you face Freeman. Stop acting like the choice was between facing Ender Inciarte and Freddie Freeman. You either had a choice to face like the best hitter in the league or that other guy that’s probably the best hitter in the league.
You can complain a lot about David Bell. This ain’t it.
Pick the other 17 then. FF is a HOF and Ozuna is not a HOFer
Maybe u give Bradley an inning instead of worthless Wade Miley and he’s not so rusty. Archie hadn’t pitched in 10 days
Who put on the clown show with the 1st/3rd steal? That might work in high school
You know what, you win.
I don’t care. Complain away if it makes you feel better.
We’re on the same side. I agree that Ozuna is no day at the beach. Bell just drives me crazy. That was the least of the stupid stuff imo.
I’m taking tomorrow (and the Reds season) off to cool down so good luck and thanks for your hard work.
So you have two elite hitters to contend with, but the chance of a force out at every base or a double play, or neither of those situations? It’s absolutely clear what the right decision is in that situation.
There was one out. Freeman and Ozuna both dangerous hitters. You had a base open. I think you walk Freeman there and get to Ozuna with bases loaded to get a force at any base. But you can take your chances with Freeman there and if you get him out, then walk Ozuna to get to D’Arnauld. But you don’t want to have to face both of them. You don’t know what Bell would have done if he got Freeman out. I hope he would walk Ozuna at that point but now sure what the analytics would have driven him to do.
Trevor Bauer will sign with the Angels for about 35 million a year. I don’t think Castellanos gets a better deal, so he stays. My guess is that David Bell is back because we just don’t know what we’re doing.
Could have not made it into playoff. Bell must be amazing manager to win with all these terrible players. Maybe need to breathe .
Could be worse, I suppose. We could be Twins fans.
(They’ve been eliminated already.)
That’s only because they already played two games… We only have played one. I will say thing I am praying to Jobu tonight and the Reds better too. Must wake up bats.
David Bell is a little league coach who thinks every player has to play.
The Braves lineup didn’t change durning the game
The reds used 15 position players.
Comically bad coaching by Bell. Wish he’d get the boot but since the Reds squeaked into the playoffs With a roster that should’ve had no trouble getting in he will be kept
Like I said if you really broke this game down then you could find 10 stupid things Bell did.
Why did Bradley disappear for 10 days? Hadn’t pitched since 9/20. Why? Of course he wasn’t sharp. Give the guy some work at some point along the way. Common sense. He’s a more proven pitcher then Antone or someone like that. Give him some work? He got Miley in for an inning the other day. No excuses for that stupidity
Kinda ironic you talk about stupidity and whine about pitching moves when the offense couldn’t score a run in 13 innings
Thats for your one incorrect comment this year! Appreciate it!
If you watched the game then you could’ve taken note of Bell pulling Casali and Senzel and the high school double steal clown show taking us out of another inning. Not pinch running for Joey The Slug. Take your pick, but you have to actually watch the game instead of pulling a Votto
I concur with all you say, Indy. Bell has made stupid moves all year long, and he made several today. But he will be back. Bauer will be gone. And Nick will not get a better offer from anyone, so he’ll be back too. I wish somehow we could unload Votto and Suarez, but alas,…we are stuck with them. At least Votto is not choking up and squatting any longer at the plate, and because of that he is hitting some better. But Suarez is still a strike out king. Today at least he put a bat on the ball a couple times, which is unusual. I know he lead the League in strike outs last year, but I don’t think that’s the case this year. I suspect he’s right up there with the leaders though. Oh well. Reds do have pitching. I hope they don’t trade too many away. Now they just need to get some hitters!!! But you are right. The Reds do not learn. New manager. New hitting coach. New 3rd base coach. And some new everyday players. And unload some of the choke artists. Jmo.
Frustrating to have excellent pitching and not having the ability to score a run when it counts. The same thing happened against the Giants 8 years ago in game 3.
I was late to the show due to some family commitments and arrived just as extra innings were starting. Thus if the Reds do not manage to push this series into the third game, the signature moment of the series is going to be the Barnhart PA in the 12th. He looked like a Little Leaguer at the plate dancing around (presumably) faking a bunt in hopes of distracting the pitcher. Incredibly it worked to get him to a 3-1 count. Then in striking out over the course of the next 3 pitches, he swung at an apparent ball 4 not once but twice. Litttle League after all.
That was painful, JW
Once upon a time, hitters understood they owned the pitcher on a 3-1 count. They understood to be looking for a certain pitch in a certain location and take the pitch if it wasn’t there, especially if it looked like a called ball.
Per the MLB gameday diagram, the pitch TB fouled off at 3-1 for strike 2 was a ball. It was located whether by luck or design where it wasn’t going to be put into play fair unless it was popped up. (should have been ball 4)
Then at 3-2, the Braves went down and away in the zone and forced another foul off. TB had no choice here but to swing; and, he fouled it.
For strike 3, again by design or luck, the Braves pitch ended up getting Barnhart to expand his zone horizontally by going down and away off the 3-2 pitch except the pitch was clearly outside (ball 5).
My sense was the batter was up there the entire AB just looking to avoid GIDP and hoping he might back into driving in the run in the process. The closest he came on the “RBI” was almost getting a wild pitch on one of the called balls.
If Barnhart is back with the Reds next year I will scream!!! Give Tyler at least 60 games at catcher next year to ease him in and learn, then take over as full time the year after.
Too many of the Reds look like Little Leaguers out there all year. Too many called third strikes where they didn’t appear to have a clue. Or swinging at pitches 2 foot out of the strike zone.
Bad thing is there is not a strong free agent class out there. They will have to trade some assets to get better hitting.
HOT TAKE, but I’m gonna defend Barnhardt here. He couldn’t execute the bunt because the pitcher was throwing them 2 feet above the umpire’s head. The next pitch he got was exactly what he was looking for, a fastball up middle in the zone. He hammered it, and it went just foul. It was one of the best situational at bats of the game, when you compare other batters’ approaches (Galvis, WTF???). He just couldn’t execute.
The pitch he “hammered” foul at 3-1 was the pitch that he could not have put into play as a fair ball except as a pop up and it was out of the strike zone. He chased a pitcher’s pitch when he could have had a walk and did the same thing 2 pitches later for strike 3 which was also out of the strike zone.
I don’t think he was actually going to bunt except maybe on the first look at 0-1; and, I don’t think there was an ice cube’s in an inferno of Aquino scoring on a safety squeeze which is what it would have been. So, I doubt it was called from the bench.
If he just brings in the outfield that’s a shallow line drive out and no tag. Live to face another batter. OVER MANAGE
Alternately some teams place an OF in the position of the roaming “short fielder” in slow pitch softball instead of placing a guy standing at 3B to keep the runner closer. Not voicing a definite opinion here, just saying there are alternatives which other teams have been known to use in this situation. Presumably the Reds had some data to drive the decision they made.
was going to comment on this as I think they had 5 infielders, if they have standard OFers pulled way in at reasonable positions – that is a line out to CF, right? what analytics shows you that leaving CF wide open is less likely to lead to a run while holding a runner at third ?
But I know that is pretty knit-picky, it seems most advantageous to walk Freeman on so many levels like so many others have noted
Ppl say poor Bauer. No rich Bauer at least 35 million next your no knows maybe 40
I don’t seem to recall many times if any this entire year where the Reds scored a runner from 2nd base with a single. It always take 2 singles or a double to score a Reds runner from 2nd base. Worst 3rd base coaching I’ve ever seen. Cowardly. Won’t ever send a runner home and make them make a play, just to see that runner die at 3rd base. Course Votto is the worst base runner I’ve ever seen!!! But the Reds NEVER score a runner from second with the single. They don’t ever even try. Something is not right about that. Same as taking 3 straight strikes right down the middle of the plate and never swinging (ala Galvis). It’s a cowardly thing. Too chicken to even swing at a pitch,..or send a runner to the plate. Non aggression. Fear.
It was either last year or 2018 and Votto was on 1st at GABP. The hitter hit a shallow fly to CF that the guy caught waist high and VOTTO WAS STANDING AT 2B??????
I had the MLB package last year. Worst baserunner in mlb PERIOD. Worst defensive 1B in mlb PERIOD
And yet Votto made a terrific diving stop late in regulation to take away a hit. Still, Not a good game from him. And before you blame his baserunning, take a look at the 3B coach, who is supposed to be screaming at him.
A pathetic display of baseball fundamentals. Bauer was awesome. It’s a shame his performance was wasted.
If u walk freeman u leave Bradley to face ozuna. Dnt see ag pitching to ozuna with based loaded. I blame the offence we’ve watched it the whole yr. Not goin to blame the loss on bell. His pitchers got 36 outs.
Why didn’t he give Bradley some work and maybe he wouldn’t have been so shaky in the first place? Its not even 2nd guessing either? You know Bell is going to take out hitters that he’ll need later. He’s done it all year. Yeah he doesn’t hit or pitch, but he is supposed to have an idea who can and can’t on his own team.
I don’t understand how you can’t put some blame on Bell. He took out two of their best hitters (Casali and Winker) based on this year’s results for no discernable reason. Zero. They then had Barnhart and Garcia up in key situations instead.
Sort of a Reds juxtaposition in my mind of being no-hit by the Phillies in the first game of the 2010 playoffs, and today being unable to score one run in 13 innings.
So I stayed sober during the game but had 6 pack afterwards and here is how I feel if we run out Bauer….Castillo…Gray…..and can’t win 2 out 3 we have a problem the way I feel is we taxed their bullpen and they got 2 shi!!! going against our 2 All-Stars if they lose they deserve to
Yes, it’s the Braves series to lose
Unless the Reds can get it together tomorrow. Then it will be the Reds series to win.
I guess the post-season experience made the difference, 1-12 w/RISP and 13 LOB says it all. Tough call tomorrow since bullpen is very limited, even if Castillo comes sharp they have to score some runs.
If Castillo is on through 6 or 7 innings and the bullpen is needed late in the game, that could mean a reliance on those not called on in yesterday’s 13 inninger.
I noticed the TV commentator (don ‘t know who he was) trotted out the “deuces wild” comment for a 0-2 count with two outs. Not really. How about 2 in, 2 on, 2 out, and a 2-2 count. That is deuces wild.
Just me being picky.
Bell removed seemingly every single player from the game.
However there is one move he did not make, and that’s what cost the Reds the game. Votto, who is probably their worst base runner, didn’t score from second on Suarez single.
Winker isn’t allowed to run from first base, but Votto is from second?
The logic just doesn’t make sense! Garcia was available and he would have scored on that play.
Also, how many times did the Reds fail to get the runner in from third with less than 2 outs? I count at least 4 or 5 but I can’t remember.
Not for me to do, but an interesting stat would be how many runners, this season, have been left on third base after having gotten there with less than two outs compared to the Cardinals.
Give Bauer what he wants…it’ll only be a one year comittment!