Cincinnati Reds players and fans hope the team will get back on the winning track in the first game of a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park, beginning at 9:45 p.m. Eastern time.
The six-game winning streak came to a rather harsh end over the weekend, with the Reds losing the final two games in Phoenix by a combined score of 15-3. Cincinnati in recent years has not done well on the West Coast, and a quick rebound would be a very positive step for a team whose collective identity is still being determined.
Starting Pitchers
| Name | IP | ERA | FIP | K% | BB% |
| Wade Miley | 6.0 | 0.00 | 1.65 | 28.6% | 4.8% |
| Aaron Sanchez | 5.0 | 1.80 | 1.55 | 20.0% | 0.0% |
Both of these starters had very good first starts of the season and will be trying to follow up with another effective effort. Miley, currently slotted as the fifth starter, has an opportunity to enhance his standing. Both Jeff Hoffman and Jose DeLeon had disappointing second starts. Miley has a more established and consistent career record than either of those two, and hopefully will assume a leadership role in the rotation. An effective start tonight will pretty much preserve his position in the rotation when someone has to go to make room for Sonny Gray.
Righthander Sanchez has a career record of 34-33 with a 3.97 ERA. He profiles as a middle- to back-of-rotation starter who the Reds should get opportunities to do damage against.
Bullpen
Cincinnati’s bullpen is 2-0 with two saves and a 5.00 ERA in 36 innings. The only relievers unlikely to appear tonight are Cam Bedrosian and Carson Fulmer after 1.2 and 2 innings pitched Sunday, effectively. As long as Tejay Antone is not being used in the starting rotation, I would love to see him used in high-leverage, late-game situations.
Starting Lineups
| Reds | Giants |
| LF Jesse Winker | RF Austin Slater |
| RF Nick Castellanos | 2B Donovan Solano |
| 1B Joey Votto | LF Darin Ruf |
| SS Eugenio Suarez | 3B Evan Longoria |
| 3B Mike Moustakas | 1B Wilmer Flores |
| CF Nick Senzel | C Buster Posey |
| 2B Jonathan India | CF Mauricio Dubon |
| C Tucker Barnhart | SS Brandon Crawford |
| P Wade Miley | P Aaron Sanchez |
Giants manager Gabe Kapler has loaded his lineup with righthanded batters against the lefty Miley. Only Brandon Crawford bats from the left side.
Only Nick Castellanos and Mike Moustakas have faced Sanchez, with career batting records of 3-for-15 and 0-for-1 against him, respectively. The opposite is true for Miley, as most of the Giants have faced him. Evan Longoria has three homers against him as part of a career 8-for-33 performance. Buster Posey is 10-for-26 against Miley.
Additional insights into the statistical history of the players in today’s game is available all season long at BaseballSavant.com.
News and Notes
Why is it so difficult to watch Major League Baseball games?
If you haven’t read it yet, take a look at Doug Gray’s article on this topic. Check Reds Twitter during any game and you’ll see a stream of messages from frustrated fans who are unable to watch the games on their streaming services. Doug’s article takes a close look at why this is the case.
Giants have some guys in lineup known for punishing LHP … Ruf, Flores.
Longoria and Solano have gotten off to good starts.
Miley might be grinding if he is getting squeezed by the home plate umpire.
Still, another winnable series.
Added bonus … switching over to MLB.tv and listening to Kuiper and Krukow.
Stone cold broadcasting legends.
Go Redlegs.
I just the Extra Innings package! I’m ready to roll!
Watching Milw/Cubs for a second and it just struck me that you could compare some of their pitchers to ours.
Peralta – Mahle = Both throw too many pitches, but K alot of people and have promising futures if they can cut down on their pitch counts
Burnes – Antone = Obviously Burnes already took off and Antone hasn’t, but both have crazy dominant stuff and came from the pen.
Woodruff – Castillo = Cy Young type stuff, but haven’t quite made that leap yet. Woodruff seems closer at this point to me, but they’re both 28 and their lifetime stats are super close:
Woodruff 28, 3.61 era, .230 batting average allowed
Castillo 28, 3.68 era, .222 batting average allowed
Its interesting! I might slightly prefer Woodruff because he’s always throwing 98+ like Gerrit Cole while Castillo is a smaller man and his velocity is more up-n-down
I like Mahle’s potential much better then Peralta’s though. Peralta has always walked half the park. Their pitching is kind of scary though although I like our lineup much better.
Burnes is on a roll dating back to last season. Future CY Young award winner IMO.
Good for you indy,I had that alot of years befor I switched to mlb.t.v you will like it
Would love to see Bell put Senzel at the top of the lineup. Senzel, Winker, Castellanos, Moose, Suarez, JV, India, Barnhart, P
What does it take to get Votto moved down in the lineup? Put him in the 7 hole until he puts it all together.
What would it take to win the lottery? I’m starting to think the odds are about the same. Everyone will start going on about EV and BABIP, ignoring the fact that JV’s BA has declined in each successive season since 2017. Would be nice if he had a real bounce back season but the odds aren’t in his favor. Bell isn’t managing. He’s coddling a Reds’ legend and it’s embarrassing both of them.
If the Giants can figure out that Buster Posey needs to bat sixth, why can’t the Reds figure out that Joey needs to be at sixth or seventh?
Buster Posey put up a .688 OPS in 2019 and hit 3rd and 4th in 74% of the games he played in. Votto’s never hit that poorly, or even remotely close to it.
Point well made, Doug. But the reason the Giants could move him down is because other players were performing better that he and could replace him. Is that not the case with the Reds and Votto this season?
I’ll give him through April to show he’s still got it but after that if he’s not improved but still batting 3rd the Reds won’t even sniff a wild card.
Now—if Joey does turn it around by then, I’ll be quiet.
The Reds need to win tonight. A 3-game losing streak would be concerning. Win tonight and hold onto the division lead. Psychologically, I would benefit them greatly. And with a .162 hitter batting 3rd, for nostalgia purposes, what could be better. Maybe Joey will get his 1st XBH or at least a couple of singles.
This has been said before but stop only looking at Votto’s stats and watch where the ball is going. He has been stinging the ball, just hitting it at guys. That will correct itself.
John C., that’s sounds like many of the comments made about the Reds last year.
Not when he follows the shift like an actor reading a script. He’s hit a bunch of balls hard, but only one where he varied it up and the SS had to dive in the OF to stop it. You put the 3B about 3 steps to the left of the standard SS spot. You put the SS near the 2B bag and put the 2B in short RF. Votto will most likely find you. What happened to the Pete Rose specials? He built his career on pounding the ball into each gap and occasionally over it.
They have to drop him and rest him frequently. No other option
He need to figure out how to increase his launch angle while maintaining his contact rate. Pull it in the air, while on the ground to the left is the recipe he should be pursuing.
I’d disagree. Stop looking at where the ball is going and that he’s “stinging” the ball. Look at the results. Move him. Once the results manifest, move him back up, if needed. Not that difficult.
well I guess Joey’s homer is useless at a meaningless time yada yada yada
Eleven (11) straight scoreless innings and counting!
That’s over. Da Wink!
Thank God!
Pleeeeease bring on the universal DH. Our pitchers can’t bunt for the 10th year straight. Arroyo could bunt I think, but he was it.
Homer could bunt…..but you’re right as a whole.
Winkerrrrr!
Yes, sir! Winker is my 3 hole hitter, with Naquin or Senzel leading off.
Nah- Winker has the wrong name to bat third
Maybe we just need a good seamstress to change the letters on the Jearsey
Da Wink.
Might be undisputed best NL leadoff hitter before season’s end.
He might have a run for his money with Naquin, “good problem to have”
Guess who just picked up Winker on my $100 fbb team! Man he really looks locked in! Both Jesse and Tucker took balls just a wee bit inside and that patience paid off!
Joey? Stings another one into the shift again. Feel bad for the guy. He really is stinging the ball, but if he can’t beat the shift then it doesn’t matter.
A great ball player once said “You gotta hit ‘em where they ain’t “
Would Ted Williams have done as well with “The Shift”?
I bet he would have just put the ball other places.
He def wasn’t hitting .400 with half the league throwing 96 + the shift
That would be Wee Willie Keeler. When I was a young lad in 5th or 6th grade I bought a paperback at a book fair that had a bunch of short stories about baseball players. One of the stories was about Willie Keeler. Votto seems to do the opposite of Willie. He hits them where they are.
Pitchers Ted Williams faced threw 81 MPH.
Someone needs to teach Sadak how to pronounce the word “eschew.” He uses it regularly but hasn’t pronounced it correctly yet.
So you’re saying that you eschew his pronunciation of eschew
Gesundheit
Lol, nice
Couldn’t resist. 😉
Ok Doug…..you may have me on Miley. SF has a ragtag lineup, but he looks good! He’s always a little in or a little out….nothing down the middle. Castillo, Mahle, and Antone hitting 95-99 regularly then you throw in a guy like Miley and it could screw them up for a while.
A junkballer with great location is very effective. He will probably have a few clunkers when his control is off, or an ump that won’t give him the corners. Let’s hope he can you the good stuff 6 out of every 8 starts.
E3…pitiful attempt by Joey….
Now the changed it to E6….disagree
no damage.
Votto? He made the play in the 1st inning, but I’ve never seen a guy so awkward at 1B. You watch him play 1B or run the bases and you think he’s just learned the game.
Unfortunately, I agree. He is not good defensively. And that’s bad for a first baseman.
The Reds will soon need, in my opinion, a lefthanded smooth fielding 1st. baseman who can hit, either by drafting or trade.
terrible footwork. He feels the need to put his foot on top of the base, instead of wedging it between the ground and base.
Votto Water Bomb
O M G
Just when I think you couldn’t possibly be any dumber, you go and do something like this… and TOTALLY REDEEM YOURSELF!
Line from a comedy…..not calling Joey names
“Samsonite”! I was way off!
Like Lazerus returning from the dead … Votto.
Launch angle ….pull it in the air folks!
Votto hits it in the cove!
They’re giving Joey 400 feet on that one. Isn’t a cove shot much further then that? I know Barry B did it all the time, but isn’t it still somewhat rare?
They used to have a sign up there with the number of splash hits….not sure if it’s still there
There were 85 to start the season.
Miley is at 73 pitches … gets through the 6th inning … a lead, a big ballpark … good opportunity for Sims and/or Garrett to get in a nice, clean outing.
I think they said he’s done? Surely Bell wouldn’t pull him on a 2 hit shutout with 73 pitches?
So the got a net up there down the right field line. I guess they feel the need to protect that empty void out there.
Need to turn in. Tomorrow begins early for me. These West Coast games are killers. I hope to wake to good news.
India is he all good?
Left game after hit by pitch.
Cmon man? Doctor Doubleswitch at work. Rookies?
Good Point Thanks for the reminder lol
Lol. He must get paid by the doubleswitch? Actually I’ve been defending him this season so far and I was about to rip him for pulling Miley at 73 pitches, but why wait til guys get on base? Antone is better then Miley at this point. Bell always seemed to bring in Lorenzen with men on and thats a problem because he’s usually a high wire act with guys getting on. I’m sure relievers would rather start the inning clean.
Yea Idk mayb he does lol.
Think he likes keeping bench involved.
Bell was that type of player.
So guess maybe thinks, helps keep everyone focused.
Not saying I agree, with how he manages a game.
Just feeling I have, with Him being a bench backup, type player himself.
Sorry Cowboy but Belt doesnt have anything on Lance Berkman. Berkman lived to destroy Reds pitching.
Why would you bring that pain to all of us tonight
For real.
If you are old enough to know … you know.
Berkman is 1st ballot Reds killer.
I still have nightmares.
I don’t think there is a person in here that doesn’t want to see Antone go a 3rd inning.
I want to see him finish it. Go four innings and begin to build a pitch count so he can slide into the rotation soon.
Hung a few curveballs tonite, but he’s electric. That ball Longoria hit is back of the pen in gabp.
Can we be absolutely certain no Giants players are hanging out on Redleg Nation right now?
You could always use the “ban” button
I have used it thrice today on here, and another time over on twitter dot com today.
Joey is smoking the ball. Long HR to right and screamer to LF is more like vintage Joey
Thought that was a sure hit off the bat. The gods owe him about a dozen Texas Leaguers
Opposite field hitting will weaken the shift.
Brilliant work Tejay!
What a contrast from Miley to Antone, it’s unfair. I almost feel bad, but then I remember SF teams demoralized many a Cincy playoff team.
That’s for sure. A sweep now would be nice.
Yay! Antone batting for himself!
That was an excellent call, Tom … on Antone attempting to see things out.
Only if it works!…haha
I’m loving this. 4 inning saves have been dead since the 70s I think. Stretch him out and he can only go 3-4 innings then thats far superior to 4-5 innings of DeLeon or Hoffman
Antone going for the rare 4 inning save?
FWIW…Sims is warming, not AG
Long AB mayb got to Antone a little bit.
Fouled pitches off in his AB.
Good to see Antone get to 60 pitches and get the chance to finish. But it is the right move to bring in Sims. Antone clearly lost a bit late.
Agree
Just researched Antone’s game logs from last year. He only made 4 starts and only went 5 innings once. Only twice past 70 pitches. He’s a work in progress as a starter, but Tampa has given the blueprint for several years now. He goes 3-4…..maybe 5 and go from there. They won’t be lapping the bases like DeLeon or Hoffman
That’s because they weren’t preparing him as a starter. The guy’s thrown 150 innings in three different minor league seasons. If they actually build him up, like they do everyone else, he’ll go deeper than 70 pitches/5 innings. But last year that didn’t happen because they never built him up.
Win Good job reds.
Onto the next game.
One inning and game at a time.
#ATOBTTR
Couple of HRs … good SP outing … easy peasy against a bad team.
Good win.
Castillo and Mahle for a chance to win the series. Thats not bad!
Good work by the pitchers tonight. Give Bell some credit for sticking with Tejay for extended innings, and not going to an automatic closer. Hopefully, he will keep a hot pitcher in the game instead of 1 inning per pitcher.
Great work Reds and good thing TJ had a solid outing lest all the hindsight managers here wudda blasted Bell for pulling Miley at 73.
The Ted Williams shift is without a doubt the most famous shift of all time. I am feeling like a real old timer since no one seems to have ever heard of the Williams shift. I don’t know what Joey should do, I couldn’t hit little league pitching. But, it is possible to hit into the shift, and to do it extremely well.