A pitching duel erupted in Milwaukee between the Brewers and the Cincinnati Reds. Luis Castillo tossed seven shutout innings and was matched by Brett Anderson before both teams handed the game off to the bullpen. It would go that way until extra-innings when the Reds bullpen – yes, the Reds bullpen – came out ahead, outlasting the Brewers bullpen as Cincinnati scored twice in the 10th to take the game and the series win.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (34-31) | 2 | 2 | 1 |
| Milwaukee Brewers (38-29) | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| W: Sims (4-1) L: Boxberger (2-2) SV: Garrett (3) |
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| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Offense
Neither team did a whole lot of hitting. Cincinnati got a single from Kyle Farmer in the 3rd and a pinch-hit single from Jesse Winker in the 7th, but that was all the team could get going until the 9th. Jonathan India walked against Josh Hader to lead off the inning, but back-to-back strikeouts left the Reds clinging to hope that Tyler Stephenson could come through. He never got the chance as India was caught stealing to end the inning and send the game to the bottom of the 9th.
Cincinnati began the 10th inning when Tyler Stephenson was hit by a pitch and Joey Votto followed up with a walk to load the bases – Nick Castellanos began the inning on second. Eugenio Suárez came up hoping to put the Reds ahead and he did just that, but not in a way he would have preferred as he was hit by a pitch to bring Castellanos in. After Jesse Winker struck out, Kyle Farmer plated a second run on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 Cincinnati. Mike Freeman, who had been brought in to pinch run for Joey Votto at second base earlier was picked off by the catcher to end the inning.
The Pitching
Luis Castillo is back! Or at least he was on Tuesday night in Milwaukee. He was cruising along until the 7th inning when he allowed two 1-out singles and then a 2-out walk to load the bases in a scoreless game. He then fell behind Jackie Bradley Jr. 2-0, but came back with three consecutive strikes to end the inning and keep the game scoreless. That would wind up being the final batter he faced, firing 7.0 shutout innings with three hits and three walks to go along with seven strikeouts. He also recorded 11 ground ball outs and just one fly ball out before turning the game over to Brad Brach. The reliever kept the shutout going as he picked up two strikeouts in a perfect 8th inning. Lucas Sims took over for the bottom of the 9th inning and walked Christian Yelich to kick the inning off before getting a fly out to left field and striking out Omar Narváez and getting a ground out to end the 9th and send the game to extras.
After the Reds scored twice in the top of the 10th the Reds turned things over to Heath Hembree as he looked to close out the game. The inning began with an 12-pitch strikeout against Jace Peterson that included roughly 57 foul balls (don’t check the math on this one). Jack Bradley Jr. worked a 6-pitch at-bat, but the result was the same as Peterson before him as he struck out for out number two. Daniel Robertson blooped a single into right field to plate the Brewers first run, but the ball got by Nick Castellanos and Robertson moved up to second base to put the tying run in scoring position with two outs. Hembree got a visit from Derek Johnson after that and like the batters before him, Luis Urias worked a long at-bat before drawing a walk on the 7th pitch.
That was all that David Bell needed to see and he went to the mound to bring in Amir Garrett. Milwaukee brought Tim Lopes to the plate and Garrett came through with a strikeout to end the game and seal the win and a series victory.
Notes Worth Noting
Mike Moustakas went 1-3 with a single in his first rehab game with Triple-A Louisville.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Milwaukee Brewers
Wednesday June 16th, 2:10pm ET
Tyler Mahle (6-2, 3.56 ERA) vs Freddy Peralta (6-1, 2.25 ERA)
Dang Doug, you had this bad boy teed up!
Kudos!
Fun couple weeks for Reds fans
Being able to pull out a win like this is a good sign.
In extras they had Williams and Hader. Minus Antone…we matched zeroes,eventually getting runs. Might be the Reds best win of this year
A pitching duel erupted?
Either that or it broke out
IT ERUPTED. Out of that volcano that had a meteor land in it on Monday (or was it over the weekend?).
Do you have someone you can talk to, Doug? It seems important!
He has all us wonderful RLN commenters to talk to whenever he wants
We probably lose without the ghost runner. Can’t deny the Reds have been doing well in extra innings this year.
How many of those have the Reds been visiting team?
I am impressed that the rule favors the away squad
Looked it up, we are now 5-0 in extras as the Away team. Also 3-2 at Home. 8-2 in extras overall.
Who cares?
Another great win this has been an enjoyable couple weeks !
Dough & RLN: do you know anything about this SS Alejo Lopez playing in Louisville? The guy has raked everywhere he has been it seems, but don’t see him on Reds top prospects list. If he is legit the Reds should call him to take Farmers role, and bench Suarez for Moose when he returns.
Step on over to redsminorleagues.com it’s a great site
Lopez is coming on this year but he hasn’t been a really shining prospect in the past.
Lopez is hitting .376 omg??? And he’s a switch-hitter! Maybe he’s just on a heater, but I’d DFA Freeman & Doolittle and call up Lopez and Dietz the lefty.
I know that he’s not a shortstop and he’s never been a shortstop. Which means right now he’s got absolutely nowhere to play in the big leagues.
I don’t think Alejo should be considered a shortstop. He played 3 games at shortstop in two seasons at low A Dayton and has not since. He is probably best at second but also plays a lot at 3rd and left field.
Wow, what a game! The Reds could have been no-hit and won this one as the two hits they got were inconsequential. Castillo indeed seems to be back, the bullpen gets better all the time, Moose will be back in a few days to replace Freeman on the roster and replace Suarez or Farmer in the lineup, and everything is looking up!!
The bullpen really has seemed to snap to attention since Tejay Antone went to the IL
Nowhere to go but up I suppose. Credit where credits due though, the bullpen performing goes a long way toward getting this team wins.
Wish Castillo got the W.
But a W is a Win.
7 straight road Wins thought saw end of game.
Hope keep that going.
Good job Reds.
agreed kevin
Good job Reds
Thumbs up Rojo.
Fun to see this team fight.
See young Guys Bloom and contribute as well.
Counsel made a huge mistake using Hader in the 9th instead of the 10th. I understand the logic of trying to win in 9 but when you have a guy that can strike out the side you use them in extras when you have a guy starting on second base. Roll the dice assuming you will score 1 in the bottom of the inning.
Not sure he could count on there being a 10th and didn’t want to lose in the 8th not using his #1 asset.
They found a way to win! Thats what good teams do! They’re getting contributions from all over and Bell seems to be pushing the right buttons!
I was amazed at how passive the Brewers hitters looked. Almost everyone but their catcher just seemed to be trying to work a walk. We weren’t hitting either, but atleast they were hacking away! Nobody in the division can match the Reds firepower on offense!
Thanks for the kudos to Bell (the only one to do so). I think he takes more heat than he deserves…at least some times. Also, as good as Castillo was, getting that strike in the 7th down 2-0 in the count, with runners on, was a real testament to his grit.
Check the game thread–there were some generally positive things being said about the manager’s decisions last night. Much more than usual, and much less crabbing than usual
Yes, the Brewers didn’t seem aggressive at the plate and wanted the walk.
No, YOU forgot to add the Win, Loss, and Save for the box line score in the game write up tonight before you left the parking lot in Dayton where you were writing the game recap from…..
Surprisingly, Reds have one of the best records in extras along with the worst bullpen ERA. Kudos to Kyle Farmer for getting the winning run in, GO REDS!
Have to admit that when the series started I was thinking win 2 out of 3 and move on to San Diego. Now I want them all. Team is playing very well getting contributions from the entire team. Go reds!!
2 hits in 10 innings and the win. Amazing. Big win. Another win on Thursday would go a long way towards making this a horse race. Go Reds!!!
A real positive performance by Luis Castillo. The Reds are slowly getting it together in mid-June. Staying above .500 is a key.
Possible sweep today is intriguing, but we already accomplished a great deal. Peralta will be tough, that’s for sure. The bats will need to wake up in a big way today.
Big time performance by Castillo. Need more of that from him. Nice to see Garrett come in and take care of business right away. Those two guys have struggled to this point, but have plenty of time to keep turning it around and end up with a solid season.
Improbable win for us but Castillo and the pen got it done.Great job of patience at the plate in the 10th to scratch out the 2 runs.Reds hitters will bounce back today cause Peralta is due a stinker.Dude’s hits per inning was just insane last time I looked so I expect us to get him early and sweep these guys.Wink and Naquin should return today so our lineup is deeper and better against the righty.Go Reds.Long season and 2 out of 3 is always good but when you play teams you are chasing picking up 3 games vs 1 is much much better.Go Reds.
Another pitcher’s duel on tap perhaps?
Today’s lineup:
J India (R) 2B
J Winker (L) LF
N Castellanos (R) RF
T Naquin (L) CF
J Votto (L) 1B
T Barnhart (L) C
K Farmer (R) SS
M Freeman (L) 3B
T Mahle (R) P
That was a superb game. You could tell 2 hitters into it that Anderson was going to be very tough to score on, and Castillo matched him. Aquino was a particularly bad matchup against Anderson, but even Castellanos looked uncomfortable.
The Reds got a break on an iffy called strike 3 late in the game to JBJ.
Once the Reds got 2 in the 10th, I figured that if the Reds lost in the bottom of the inning, I didn’t want to see it, and switched to the A’s-Angels. Still flipped back over about 23 times, though. The 12-pitch AB by Jace Peterson was an epic duel, but it made it tough for Hembree to get through the inning. I was surprised at how confident that I was in Amir Garrett, and he delivered.
The bullpen has been outstanding since Antone got hurt. Everybody in the bullpen needed to man up and get better, and they all did.
10-3 in June is getting it done.
The 17-3 loss to philly felt like 5 losses but pretty sure it only counted once in the L column.
Good starting pitching and a deeper balanced offense and improved bullpen all coming together.
Be greedy and sweep the Brewers and make June a historically winning month
The team seems to be reaching exit velocity………meaning, roles are being cemented so there’s less day to day scrambling with lineups and pitching matchups. Those are the teams that can string together winning streaks and winning months.
Have we had this much fun since, say, 2010?
Agree but Bell has a delicate time coming up weaving Moose back into the mix without creating instability you referenced which can result in a step in the wrong direction.
Good Reds win Tuesday. Maybe a bit of a playoff feel to it even. I like seeing those long faces from Craig Counsell. I am hoping that he sees something he really doesn’t want to see coming together in this Reds team. That’s hard to tell because he always wears his feelings on his face; but, just maybe? Now get greedy and bring home a sweep Reds
With the crackdown on ‘sticky substances’ well underway, it creates a lot of questions:
1. The Reds have been pitching better, not worse, while some high profile individuals (Corbin Burnes, Bauer, etc.) and teams are faring worse. Does this suggest the Reds will have a competitive advantage moving forward?
2. Tyler Glasnow blamed his forearm injury on not being able to use sticky stuff. Is it coincidence that TJ Antone’s forearm strain happened just after the crackdown?
3. Trevor Bauer posted a video of him sticking a baseball to his palm (facing down) using just rosin and sweat. Totally legal. He went on to ask ‘what level of stickiness is legal and what is not and who decides’?
4. Batting averages in the AL have shot up 10 points in the last couple weeks, barely budged in the NL. Will these changes cause an offensive eruption or no?
Trevor Bauer swore up and down he would never use tacky substance like Garret Cole and he did. Now we are to believe that was only sweat and Rosin? No sunscreen or whatever else? Rules are rules Trevor. Follow them. Maybe he is worried about his future 40 million.
Love point number two where Glasnow blames his injury on CHEATING.
Reds are going to see all RHPs in San Diego (Blake Snell is pitching today). Musgrove, Paddack, Lamet, Darvish, all very good, hard throwers with plus offspeed stuff. I suspect most of our guys would rather see them than a soft tosser like Anderson, who was on his game last night. Will be very interesting to see how Bell uses Moustakas, assuming he is activated. Maybe one start each at 1b and 3b to give the regulars a day off? Probably don’t want to overdo it and put him at 2b since he won’t be 100% mobile (and India is rolling). This also probably isn’t the series to go back to Geno at SS, if that is a consideration. Runs are going to be at a premium since SD is a very good pitching team with a mediocre offense, and we’re going to be starting two rookie pitchers.
had to get some sleep for my 4AM wakeup call so stopped watching after 6.
Watched 7th to 10 this AM.
Great win for the Reds.
So happy to see Bell let Castillo work his own way out in the 7th inning.
Bell made the right moves and sometimes the best move is to not make a change.
Close 2-1 games used to be common/normal in baseball. Great team wide pitching.
Offense did just enough. An entertaining game even without a lot of scoring.
Farmer is solid defensively at SS and does just enough at the plate, Farmer has better offensive and defensive metrics for everything over Suarez except for slugging.
Will be interested how he and Suarez are used with Moose returning in a few days like everyone else.
How much of the “better” pitching is due to better defense, fewer errors so that there are fewer “free” base runners to prevent from scoring.
Fun to watch this team
Agree! Sometimes Bell’s best move is when he makes no move at all.
Great Win! But how in the world does Freeman get picked off second base? Back in the day that would have gotten him a bus ticket to Louisville, if not outright released. Otherwise, the team looks great.
That was painful. Especially since Votto was removed for him
That was my thought entirely. That was a horrific mistake in a crucial moment. Thank Goodness Farmer came thru before. I was surprised he was not on that bus today.