Tonight the Cincinnati Reds will take on the Los Angeles Dodgers on the road. The game will begin at 8:05pm ET and will be on national television through MLB Network.
Cincinnati Reds (1-2) Starting Lineup
- Dee Strange-Gordon – SS
- Scott Heineman – LF
- Nick Senzel – CF
- Aristides Aquino – RF
- Alex Blandino – DH
- Tyler Stephenson – C
- Jonathan India – 2B
- Cheslor Cuthbert – 1B
- Max Schrock – 3B
- Jeff Hoffman – SP
Reserve players on today’s roster:
Pitchers
Catchers
Infielders
Outfielders
Los Angeles Dodgers (2-0-1) Starting Lineup
- Chris Taylor – 2B
- Max Muncy – 1B
- Justin Turner – 3B
- Will Smith – C
- Matt Beaty – RF
- Gavin Lux – SS
- Zach McKinstry – CF
- Luke Raley – LF
- Zach Reks – DH
- Julio Urías – SP
Where to watch/listen/follow the game
The game will be live on the Reds on Radio Network. In the greater Cincinnati area the game will be available on 700 WLW AM. The game will also be available to watch on MLB Network as well as MLB.tv if you have a subscription.
Reds links and news
Nick Castellanos expected to play Friday and Sunday
Quick update on Nick Castellanos from David Bell, who expects him to play on Friday and Sunday. pic.twitter.com/7Mv7zUq71M
— Redleg Nation (@redlegnation) March 3, 2021
Lyon Richardson impressed David Bell
If you watched the game last night then you were probably impressed by prospect Lyon Richardson. He fired a perfect inning of relief and picked up two strikeouts. But it wasn’t just the home viewer that was impressed – Manager David Bell was also impressed. Over at RedsMinorLeagues.com this morning I wrote about Richardson and how different he looked on Tuesday night than the last time he was on the mound in a game.
An interesting read on the shift
Russell A. Carleton wrote about the shift over at Baseball Prospectus this morning. He found, and pointed out finds by some others, some very interesting things. The shift leads to more walks, and depending on the handedness of the batter – more or less contact made. It was a fun read, but you’re also going to need to have a subscription to Baseball Prospectus to read it.
Aaron Boone undergoes successful heart surgery
Earlier today it was announced that Aaron Boone, former Reds infielder and now New York Yankees manager would undergo surgery to receive a pacemaker. At 6pm ET it was announced that things went as expected and he was out of surgery and in a recovery room.
Final: Reds 4 – Dodgers 4 (TIE)
There may be no crying in baseball, but there are ties in (spring training) baseball. The Reds move to 1-2-1 on the spring with the tie.
The Highlights
Tejay Antone dominated in his 2.0 innings of work that followed starter Jeff Hoffman’s 2.0 innings. Antone came out firing strikes and didn’t look back as he allowed one hit, no runs, no walks, and struck out five of the seven batters that he faced. Cionel Pérez fired a perfect inning with a strikeout in the 5th, and Art Warren threw a shutout inning in the 7th to preserve the tie.
The reason that the game was tied in the bottom of the 7th inning was because catcher Deivy Grullón, a winter waiver wire pick up, crushed a game tying 2-run homer in the top of the 7th inning. Alex Blandino and Tyler Stephenson both added doubles early in the game. Scott Heineman went 1-2 with two stolen bases and he scored a run. Dee Strange-Gordon went 1-3 with a stolen base. Infielder Max Schrock singled and drove in a run out of the 9-spot in the lineup. Prospect Alejo Lopez went 1-1.
You can see the entire box score for the game here.
Tomorrow’s Game
Another night game on tap as the Reds host the Kansas City Royals at 8:05pm ET. Sonny Gray is expected to start the game for Cincinnati.
I don’t understand why they ended the top of the first with only two outs. Am I missing something
This spring you can “roll the inning”, which is basically just ending it early. They want to protect pitchers arms.
Why keep track of wins and losses in spring training then? Dodgers (insert favorite word) out of first two innings when 2 runs could have easily become 5 of 6. That’s just an (insert favorite word) rule change in my opinion.
They shouldn’t keep track of wins and losses in spring training.
Hopefully Aquino does have another option, because he has no shot at real playing time this year as a 5th OF. I am thinking Heineman is a better 5th OF for the Reds. He, like Aquino seems to be an excellent athlete, but with the added bonus of being able to play 1B.
I’m liking Heineman so far.
Aquino changed his stance and is getting on base. I thought for sure he was hit by a pitch, sure looked like it. Stayed in and got a single. Heinamen looks ok, but he aint no outfielder. Watched a guy score from third on a short fly ball. Mental error, yes, Spring training, yes. But still, should have thrown home. And, btw, who’s to say Aquino cant play first? He certainly has the size for it.
Senzel will be out two weeks he fouled a ball off his foot.
Who hurt you?
Are you sure that was confirmed? Just because it was obvious he fouled it off his foot doesn’t mean he actually suffered a ball off his foot even if he will miss a league mandated period of time away. Wink wink
Aquino has abandoned the wide open stance
Yes I noticed that too… I wonder how it will affect his hitting.
It could cut down on strikeouts by not reaching for the outside pitch.
Antone looks strong, as he did last year.
He has my vote to be a starter
He was dominant. If he continues the way he looked tonight, I am with you on him being a starter.
I like him as a starter as well
Even before tonight’s two masterful innings I wanted Antone to be the other starter. If he pitches like this all season I’ll be like Trevor who?
As they say in Major League two. ” That last pitch was beautiful”
It looks to me like the Reds have a good utility man in Strange-Gordon. He has some speed, gets out of the batters box quickly and can be a pinch runner in late innings.
I’m really pulling for him too. Not because of what Larkin said but I think he would be a nice player to have on the team overall.
I liked what Cionel Perez showed, as well as Warren. Antone was lights out.
Nothing but snickers from the peanut gallery this winter about the Reds moves or lack of moves but they might have found a few diamonds in the rough. Still early, but it will be interesting to see what this pitching staff looks like when they return to Cincy.
Pitching was never the problem. The Reds were never going to replace Bauer (kind of hard to replace a Cy Young winner), but it was well known the Reds had a few really solid options in the minors who could potentially step in and hold their own.
What the Reds DON’T have, despite promises from the front office, is a starting-calibre shortstop. And that deserves all the derision it has received and more.
Thought Antone and Pérez really looked good. I think Stephenson is going to hit, could be big for the offense.
Scott Heineman? I looked up his MLB Stats, very impressive, but only 84 ab over the last 3 years. Doug, any info on this guy?
Correction, Stats on Reds Home page of Scott Heineman, are WAY different than stats on MLB page.
I was just looking at the Box Score this morning… and it lists that Aquino was “out at 3rd” on a ground rule double? What happened?
Or was that just their way of dealing w/ the Dodgers ending the inning for their pitcher as I saw up the thread?
Inquiring minds want to know. I do believe it is within the Reds base running prowess to make an out on a ground rule double, but want to to know how!
I think it’s just the called inning nonsense they are allowing this year in ST. Why even call them games. They are just scrimmages at this point. Really stupid and I obviously don’t like it.
They’ve literally always been scrimmages.