Entering the game you knew it would be tough for Cincinnati as they faced off against Shane Bieber. And that’s exactly what it was as he picked up 13 strikeouts and allowed three runs over 8.0 innings while getting three home runs from his teammates as Cleveland avoided the sweep on Sunday afternoon against the Reds.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland (8-7) | 6 | 8 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (9-6) | 3 | 7 | 2 |
| W: Bieber (2-1) L: Miley (2-1) SV: Clase (4) |
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| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Offense
Cincinnati’s offense didn’t get much going early on. In the 1st inning Joey Votto singled, but he was stranded. The next inning saw a pair of walks, but Shane Bieber struck out the side to work around them. In the 3rd inning Joey Votto hit a ball down the third base line for a double, but he was once again stranded.
The best opportunity of the day to that point was in the bottom of the 5th when Mark Payton and Jesse Winker led off the inning with singles – with Payton going to third on the play and Winker moving up to second on the throw to third base. After Nick Castellanos grounded out to third base, it was Joey Votto time once again and he came through with his third hit of the day. Votto crushed a double into right field off of the wall to drive in two and cut into the Cleveland lead, making it 4-2.
The offense went quietly in the bottom of the 6th inning, and the same thing held true in the 7th. Tyler Naquin came through in the 8th with a long solo home run – his 6th of the season – to cut into the Cleveland lead, making it 6-3. But Shane Bieber struck out the other three hitters he faced in the inning, sending the game into the 9th.
Tucker Barnhart led off the 9th inning with an infield single and will henceforth be known as “Wheels” Barnhart. But pinch hitter Nick Senzel, Jonathan India, and Jesse Winker all struck out to end the game.
The Pitching
Jose Ramirez hit a solo home run in the top of the 1st inning against Wade Miley – the 1st run he had given up all season – to put Cleveland up 1-0. Miley settled in from there for a bit. He allowed just a single to the next 10 hitters he faced. But with two outs in the 4th inning, Cleveland put together back-to-back singles, including an infield single to extend the inning. Roberto Perez followed up with a 3-run homer that made it 4-0. Miley came back out for the 5th inning and worked around a walk with a double play to end the inning. That also ended his day, finishing with five innings, four runs, one walk, and five strikeouts on the day.
Sal Romano took over in the 6th inning with the Reds trailing 4-2 and hoping to keep it that way. And he did just that, working around a ground-rule double with a shutout inning. He came back out for the 7th and took a come backer off of his glove before recovering and getting the first out of the inning. The next batter, Yu Chang, hit a blooper into shallow left field. Jesse Winker overran the ball ever so slightly, allowing Chang to grab second base. After striking out Shane Bieber, Jordan Luplow homered to make it 6-2. A walk followed and that was all for Romano as manager David Bell turned things over to Cionel Pérez who got the final out of the inning very quickly. He did more of the same in the 8th, going 1-2-3 through the Cleveland order. Carson Fulmer took over in the 9th and picked up a strikeout in a perfect inning.
Key Moment of the Game
In the top of the 4th inning an infield single on a diving stop by Kyle Farmer with two outs put two runners on with two outs. Roberto Perez came through with the key moment in the game, slugging a 3-run homer to center field to make it 4-0.
Notes Worth Noting
Wade Miley was ejected from the game in the bottom of the 7th inning when he said something from the dugout after Jesse Winker was rung up on a strikeout where replay showed he fouled the pitch off. He had already been removed from the game.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Arizona Diamondbacks vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday April 20th, 6:40pm ET
TBA vs Luis Castillo (1-1, 7.04 ERA)
I did not like the game plan against Bieber. The Reds were over aggressive with way too many first pitch swings. You’re not going to ambush the reigning Cy Young winner by bashing him around in the first inning. The Reds best chance was to scratch out a couple runs, work Bieber’s pitch count and hope he only goes 6 maybe 7 innings and score runs against the bullpen. Indians bullpen wasn’t very fresh from the last two games.
Really?
Pitchers like Bieber are successful because they get ahead in the count. I submit ambush is the way to start on the the guy.
One third of the 8 was second string, then you throw in the pitcher, and that is four gimmes…bad lineup again on Sunday…it is like Bell punts on Sundays, especially after winning the first two
Tough day against Bieber but they got 3 on him. That Perez homer was a killer. Hope the scrappy Pirates can best the Brewers.
Hey- the Indians have a former Cy Young winner whose job is to stop the losing like he did today.
So I totally agree with you
No shame in the loss today. In fact a few time they made him look human.
Oh- and #19 had Bieber carry his gear to the bus after the game. That was a real treat!
And for those keeping score on me—I will take my helping of crow as I said I would now that JDV has pivoted from his first several game’s performances.
Got any salt?
Well admire you owning up here is the salt enjoy the meal and joey playing baseball.
Missed the sweep but St. L. and Milw. also lose.
That 3 hole hitter for the Reds is on fire. They should lock him up long term!
No don’t risk last few years underperforming.
No don’t risk last few years underperforming.
Cant win ’em all. The Indians are probably a playoff team.
Strong start for the Reds.
But, the reason to keep Senzel in CF is to let him play every day. Hes not playing every day in CF
Mason schrock played 2b and Kyle Farmer continued his streak of starting at 3b.
If Senzel is going to platoon in the OF with legitimate players like a former top 15 pick in tyler Naquin and Big FA signing Shogo…. why not have him play 2b and 3b too and be a supersub?
Hes a #2 overall pick and Naquin is proving you dont give up on first rounders. Kyle farmer cant hit and Mason schrock isnt an MLB player
Why did those 2 play over GG Senzel in the infield? If Senzel isnt your every day CF… hes an elite infield option and far superior than .600 OPS Kyle Farmer or mason schrock
+1.
That lineup and a Romano appearance too vs Bieber. No. Game over
Good comment. Senzel should be somewhere in the infield.
Senzel was 0-16 coming in. Nothing wrong with a mental day off against a RH ace like Bieber. Senzel isn’t exactly Cal Ripken either.
India looked really bad the night before. Again trying to get as many lefties as possible. Like all rookies, there will be ups and downs. India also has struggled the first year or two at every level…. even at UF.
Not having Moose hurt. That I’ll give you. The other two weren’t going to make a difference against Bieber.
Suarez is playing terribly, yet DB continues to run him out there. You cannot Senzel should be out if Suarez should still be in there
Suarez has a track record and Senzel does not.
How do you get a track record without playing time
@Corky
Of course, if Senzel starts against Bieber and goes 1-3 against him, would that not boost his confidence? A potential slump buster?
Guys like Senzel don’t like to hide behind the manger’s skirts when the competition is tough. I bet he was not pleased to sit. He only got one look at Bieber and struck out and folks want to use that as justification for why he didn’t start?
It is pretty much a guarantee Senzel and India will not get better not playing
Last season was a weird partial season but Suarez still put up an above average wRC+. I think Senzel will be fine but he should not have his name written into the lineup every game like a guy who has averaged 4+ WAR his last 3 seasons.
I know a lot of folks took this weird dislike of David Bell but he is by all accounts a player’s manager and has a good sense of when a guy is pressing and needs a day off. Trying to get a slumping, injury-prone guy an extra day is not the end of the world.
Romano now has a 5.11 ERA and has given up at least one run in 5 of his 7 appearances. His job today was to keep us in the game. He didn’t.
They never caught up to 4 runs anyway, but pitching Sal in a 2 run game is like taking your old lady to Burger King for your anniversary. Its just not the proper move for that occasion.
This game answers the Antone question too. Its a crime to have Miley end up with more innings throwing 86 mph then Antone at 98. Even if Antone had to get pulled after 3-4 innings its still better then the alternative. Antone could be our Corbin Burnes.
Miley has been pretty effective, though. Bieber was mostly around 93-94 with his fastballs. Sonny Gray about the same. 93-94 is, by itself, hitting speed in MLB now. Speed isn’t the only worthwhile tool for a pitcher.
One reason this loss is so tough is because of the last 2 wins and the overall performance of this team. Day off tomorrow to regroup. Let’s kick some Snakes starting on Tuesday.
Yeah, it maybe seems a little like the Reds let one get away they might have been able to win but then after flat out stealing a W on Saturday, who are we to complain??
The Luplow HR in the 7th was the big play for me. 2 outs, base open (1B) and down 2 runs after being down by 4, you can’t let yourself get beat on a 3-2 pitch. Got to challenge the guy with high heat or lose him to a slider or sinker in the dirt off the plate. One thing to absolutely not do is throw the same pitch at virtually the same speed and height but a several inches more over the middle of the plate as the pitch before he whiffed on.
The Reds keep losing the finale and then have an off day to stew on it. I don’t like those)) Atleast we stole that game yesterday and hung on in the first game of the road trip.
I understand that fans only think about today while the manager has to think about 162, BUT that was the B team lineup and the D team reliever Sal in a 2 run game. Moose is out so Senzel plays in the infield and you go with Fulmer and your A team bullpen with the off day tomorrow. Sal now has more innings then Sims/Garrett combined.
On Saturday, Antone threw 21 pitches but worked in 2 innings which adds wear. DeLeón threw 15 all in a single inning. I would like to think DeLeón at least, could have worked today, especially with an off day Monday. But we’ve got to trust that the team knows where the guys are physically and are taking care of their arms.
At least for the most part they’ve managed to gobble up waste time innings with Romano.
Is Garrett hurting? Hard to grasp how a guy who struck out 10 of 12 in ST is barely seen once the games count.
I said this in the game thread when we put out our B lineup vs maybe the best pitcher in baseball we were waving the white flag before the first pitch.Reds never gave themselves a chance offensively and if it weren’t for old Joey we don’t even come close.We may never have come close regardless of who plays but if Senzel and India aren’t every day players what are we doing?I know they appeared in the game and had 3 at bats and didn’t put the ball in play but that isn’t my beef.Nobody hits Beiber but don’t you go with your best.Both guys started opening day and are all the speed this team has pretty much.One guy is 24 and the other guy is 25 and now after what 15 games India hasn’t started 2 times and maybe 3 and Senzel hasn’t started at least 5 games.I don’t care how good Naquin has been and he has been good but we can’t figure out how to get both of them in the game with Moose out and Eugenio struggling.Today we use Shrock at second and Farmer at third for I believe the 3rd straight game.Good grief man they are bench players and have proven it over and over.I echo Old-School in that if Senzel isn’t your every day centerfielder that what is he? If India isn’t your every day second baseman then what is he? Bell is just clueless and after a great win yesterday in a game the Indians handed to us and we took it, we follow it up with just being dumb.
Bell can be a puzzle. Why Shrock and Farmer and not Senzel and India?
Look at the Box, the only ones who did damage, was the lefties. Schrock even got a hit, well they called it an error, but that was a tough call. If Moose was healthier He’d been in there over Farmer.
Start the best players to win. Use non-regulars where there’s injury or rest is needed. I’m not a believer in leftie/righty unless it’s proven a hitter can’t deal with a pitcher who throws from the same side.
With all respect to Bieber and his 13 K’s, this game could have also been taken by the Reds. Miley returned to his old self giving up a couple of dingers and 4 runs in 5 innings. Calling in Romano with the game still at striking distance in the 6th not good, his time in the bigs is long gone. Something gotta give with Suarez still hitting in the 4th hole.
The same people that wanted Joey Votto demoted from the top of the order want Suarez dropped. It’s a random 15 game stretch – it just happens to be at the front of the season. Chill out folks.
Except it’s what he dis over 60 games last year
He put up 104 wRC+ in 60 games. It wasn’t a great season but it wasn’t exactly a lost season either.
The Reds put up 3 on Bieber and had a base runner in 8/9 innings. I’m not sure how that’s a bad lineup against the reigning Cy Young in the AL. Especially when the two guys everyone wanted in (Senzel and India) were a collective 0-3, striking out all 3 plate appearances they had. I generally agree with starting your best players every day (Senzel and India are 2 of the best players IMO), and the Farmer move is baffling to me, but… How can you really complain when they put up those results and Max Schrock actually got on base twice? I don’t know that Schrock was the right call, but Senzel and India hardly made a factual case that it wasn’t.
Well thought out Rich, nicely done.
You right Senzel and India are 2 of the best players we have and the Reds scored only because of Votto and Naquin.Votto with 3hits and Naquin with a two out 8th inning homer off of Bieber down 6-2.Senzel and India got in and did just as you said 0-3 with 3 punchouts.Schrock/Farmer were 0-7 with 4 punch outs and just for more info Eugenio and Big Nick went 0-8 I believe it was.So we could say other then the first two guys that accounted for our offense that nobody else made a factual case that they should have started either.Its one game with the box score telling the story but you play your best players always.
“ you play your best players always.”
Unless—your initials are D.B. and your last name rhymes with—um—well
The Reds continue to give Romano a chance, and he continues to disappoint. How many seasons of poor performance does he get?
With that said, this game was going to be tough to win. Bieber is real good.
Doug tried to give Sal some good vibes with his article on the improved slider.
I hoped that it would work because you gotta root for the big guy.
But he ain’t cuttin’ it. At least he’s not being used where he can lose the game (looking at you R. Iglesias)
I would think there is someone at the alternate site, that could be better than Romano. It is time to bite the bullet and DFA
Romano is the pitcher that can give you multiple innings in blow out games as he did in the first 3 games of the season against the Cards.His job is to protect the rest of the pen and thats all.He has to show in those situations I just mentioned that he deserves
more and he hasn’t.We were beat before the game started and when Bell put him in he never expected him to hold them.He could have used anybody else because Monday is an off day but Bell is just Bell.