Tonight the Cincinnati Reds will host the Kansas City Royals at 8:05pm ET. After two straight televised games, radio is the only option to follow along tonight. Tonight’s contest is scheduled as a 9-inning game.
Cincinnati Reds (1-2-1) Starting Lineup
- Jesse Winker – LF
- Joey Votto – 1B
- Eugenio Suárez – 3B
- Mike Moustakas – 2B
- Tucker Barnhart – C
- Alex Blandino – SS
- Tyler Naquin – CF
- Jose Garcia – DH
- Mark Payton – RF
- Sonny Gray – SP
Reserve players on today’s roster:
Kansas City Royals (3-1) Starting Lineup
- Kyle Isbel – RF
- Andrew Benintendi – LF
- Jorge Soler – DH
- Ryan O’Hearn – 1B
- Hanser Alberto – 2B
- Edward Olivares – CF
- Emmanuel Rivera – 3B
- Lucius Fox – SS
- Sebastian Rivero – C
- Danny Duffy – 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. There is no television broadcast available.
Reds links and news
Shogo Akiyama is back
Outfielder Shogo Akiyama is back in Goodyear and with the Reds after his wife had a tree fall on her in a local park and she had to be hospitalized. She is back home and going to be ok.
No DH and no expanded playoffs
Evan Drellich of The Athletic reported late last night that for the 2021 season the National League will remain without the designated hitter and that the playoffs will not be expanded. There are no further discussions on the topic planned between Major League Baseball and the Players Association according to his report.
An interesting “B-Game” on Saturday
Big day on Saturday in Goodyear….. that no one will get to see because it's on a backfield.
But a "B-Game" is set to feature Wade Miley, Tyler Mahle, Hunter Greene, Nick Lodolo, Lyon Richardson, Graham Ashcraft, and Reiver Sanmartin for the Reds.
For Cleveland: Shane Bieber.
— Doug Gray (@dougdirt24) March 4, 2021
Interview with prospect Michael Siani
David Laurila of Fangraphs spoke with center field prospect Michael Siani for an article he published this morning. Known more for his defense than his bat, Siani talks a little bit about how he’s undersold in that regard.
Final: Royals 5 – Reds 3
Some errors late in the game gave Kansas City the advantage over Cincinnati late in the game as three errors led to three unearned runs in the 7th and 8th inning.
The Highlights
Sonny Gray got his first start of the spring and gave up just one hit in his 2.0 innings. That hit was a long solo home run. Noé Ramirez followed up with a perfect inning that included a strikeout. Vladimir Gutierrez and Ryan Hendrix each tossed a shutout inning with a strikeout. Brandon Finnegan was charged with an unearned run in his inning of work that saw two strikeouts – and it’s worth noting that he hit 95 MPH on the stadium radar gun. Prospect Tony Santillan was charged with two unearned runs in his inning of work while striking out two batters. The best showing of the night may have been from prospect Dauri Moreta who struck out the side in the 9th inning. Cincinnati combined to strike out 12 Royals and they didn’t walk any of them.
At the plate it was a good night for Eugenio Suárez, who went 2-3 with a run scored. Mike Moustakas and Alex Blandino went 1-3 with an RBI. Tucker Barnhart also went 1-3, doubling, scoring a run, and driving in a run.
You can see the entire box score for the game here.
Tomorrow’s Game
Cincinnati will host Arizona in another night game on Friday at 8:05pm ET.
…too many errors. I wish I could see what Finnegan looked like. Brantley sounded like he felt really positive about him. Suarez got a couple hits…
The errors were made by Finnegan, by Narciso Crook (an outfielder playing first base), and by Errol Robinson (a shortstop playing left field). Not really much to worry about. I read where Robinson’s error was a “four-base error” — a Little League home run. Don’t know if that is true, but I would like to see the replay.
People forget about Santillan, but I am predicting a big step up for him this year.
It’s true on the Robsinon error. While the game wasn’t on TV, one of the Royals beat writers had video of it (it came from one of their biggest prospects, which is probably why he was recording).
Your right about who made the errors and yes it is a spring training game but only 2 hits and 3 errors in the last 6 innings.We have seen this so many times so lets hope we don’t see it much this year.It is a product IMO of how this team views hitting.The all or nothing approach we have at the plate hopefully will change if its true the ball will now not carry so far.Good to see Eugenio with two hits.Finny with good velocity and he can help if it stays that way.
Finnegan regaining his velocity and confidence could be a big help for the bullpen. His career splits are almost the same against righties and lefties.