The Reds came into tonight’s game losers in four straight games. They quickly fell behind 3-0 in the second inning.
The Reds did what they have done all year long: fight back. Eugenio Suarez got the Reds right back in the game with a 430-foot bomb. The very next batter, Aristides Aquino hit a home run to tie the game.
The Reds offense had plenty of chances in regulation, but just could not get another run across. The Reds bullpen however was spectacular. Tyler Mahle gutted through four innings, throwing 93 pitches to keep the Reds in the game. The Reds bullpen threw five shutout innings to get the game into extras. Amir Garrett and Lucas Sims got the Reds out of big jams in the 8th and 9th inning. Both situations the Twins had the go-ahead/winning run on third base with less than two outs.
Once the game got into extra innings, it seemed all but a foregone conclusion the Reds would come out victorious. The Reds entered play 8-2 in extra inning games. Nick Castellanos lead off by driving in the go-ahead run. Tyler Stephenson singled to move Castellanos to third.
Eugenio Suarez capped off his resurgent night with massive insurance run sac fly to put the Reds up 5-3.
That would be the end of the fun for the Reds. Sean Doolittle allowed two runs to score in the 10th to tie the game. Ryan Hendrix got the Reds out of that jam in the 10th and got the Reds through the 11th, but ultimately the Twins were victorious in the 12th on a Miguel Sano walkoff home run off the exhausted Heath Hembree. This was the longest baseball game of the season in MLB this season, and it certainly felt like it for Reds fans.
The Reds have now lost five straight games and fallen back below .500. This is coming on the heels of winning 6 straight games and a 13-3 stretch. The Cubs and Brewers both lost tonight, so the Reds fortunately remain 4.0 games back in the division.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins (31-41) | 7 | 13 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (35-36) | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| W: Shoemaker (3-8) L: Hembree (1-3) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Biggest Play of the Game
According to Fangraphs WPA statistic (winning percentage added), the most important play of the game was Sean Doolittle allowing an RBI double to Luis Arraez with 0 outs in the 10th inning, cutting the Reds lead to 5-4. That play decreased the Reds probability of winning by 24.6% (from 79.4% to 54.8%).
Positives
Eugenio Suarez reached base three times. He had a big 2-run home run to get the Reds right back in the game as they were trailing 3-0 at the time. He also had a sac fly in the 10th inning to give the Reds what they though was a huge insurance run.
Aristides Aquino hit another home run. He now has 4 home runs in just 25 at-bats this season. I would really love for Aquino to get a real shot at playing everyday. The current roster obviously does not allow that, but there is so much potential with him. The good news for the Reds is they have control of Aquino through the 2025 season. There is so much time left for Aquino, and if he can prove worthy to stay on the roster, he is bound to get a real shot at some point. I believe he will.
Jonathan India continued his incredible month of June by reaching base four times. India entered play on Monday leading NL 2B in OPS in the month of June at .959.
Tyler Mahle started the game off strong with a 1-2-3 first inning, but the second inning was a struggled. He allowed a leadoff homer to Nelson Cruz, and the Twins ended up sending 9 batters to the plate that inning. It was just one of those nights where nothing came easy for Mahle, but Tyler kept fighting. He was able to get through four innings, which was huge to keep the Reds in the game. He threw 93 pitches in four innings and had 8 strikeouts. I think Mahle needed every pitch he threw tonight to keep the Reds in the game. The Twins seemed to have a good read on Mahle, but he was able to dink and dunk around the Twins lineup to survive.
Josh Osich made his Reds debut and was huge tonight. He pitched 2.1 scoreless innings releiving Mahle, and most importantly DID NOT WALK A BATTER.
Brad Brach pitched another scoreless inning. Brach now has a 2.70 ERA/3.32 FIP on the season.
Amir Garrett got the Reds out of a big jam in the 8th inning. He came on with runners on 2nd & 3rd with just 1 out. He struck out the Twins leadoff hitter Arraez. David Bell wisely called for an intentional walk of Josh Donaldson. Garrett then got Trevor Larnach out on a ball that hit his cleat.
Ryan Hendrix rebounded well from his brutal outing last Thursday against the Padres. Hendrix got the Reds out of Doolittle’s jam in the bottom of the 10th, and then pitched a scoreless 11th where the runner of course started on second base.
Negatives
Jonathan India made two outs tonight on the base-paths. It’s hard to have one ounce of negative energy directed his way, but that was a killer tonight.
Sean Doolittle coughed the game up for the Reds after they took a 5-3 lead in the top of the 10th.
If we're counting ghost runners as inherited runners, Sean Doolittle has now allowed 12 of 14 inherited runners to score this year (85.7%).
— Matt Wilkes (@_MattWilkes) June 22, 2021
Not so random thoughts……………..
The Twins gave a wonderful tribute to David Bell‘s brother, former Red Mike Bell.
Take seven minutes to watch a truly beautiful tribute to Mike Bell. ??? pic.twitter.com/IbHgjcf3Ak
— Bally Sports North (@BallySportsNOR) June 22, 2021
There was obviously a lot made about Lucas Sims not going back out in the 10th inning. I like everyone else would have wanted to see Sims pitch the 10th if he could. Sims did throw 20 pitches in the 9th. His season high is 32 pitches. I have no idea what is too much for Sims. You have no idea what is too much for Sims. The one thing that I do know is the Reds can not under any circumstances afford to lose Sims. I’ll trust Derek Johnson on that call, as painful as it might be in one night. Hopefully we will get some insight in the postgame. The real problem for the Reds is that they don’t have someone better than Doolittle, not if Sims could have been pushed two innings.
Bell also decided to pinch run for Winker to start the 10th. The move paid off initially as pinch-runner Freeman scored easily on a Castellanos single. However, Winker’s spot in the lineup came up one more time. It was on the second time in 11 extra-inning games this season for the Reds where the game didn’t end in the 10th. The chances of Winker’s spot coming back up is slim, but it did sort-of burn the Reds tonight. Freeman did move the runner over to third to lead off the 12th, but the Reds could not get him in.
Up Next:
Reds at Twins
Tuesday, 1:10 PM
TV: Bally Sports Ohio / MLB Network (out-of-market only)
Wade Miley (2.88 ERA) vs Bailey Ober (3.71 ERA)
There’s a lot that could be argued about tonight’s game management, but at the end it didn’t go in Reds favor. Bell could have left Osich to go longer as well as Sims, or he’d also bring Santillan instead of Hembree in the bottom of the 12th and then reshuffle the rotation, but under no circumstances he should had bring Doolittle. I bet there should be a FA or in the waiver wire much better than him now.
Unless Sims said his arm felt like it was about to fall off (in which case he shouldn’t be pitching again for quite some time), there is absolutely ZERO reason to think he couldn’t pitch another inning without damaging his arm. Recall, they were being very careful to limit Antone — refusing to use him in situations were where all wanted him to pitch — while other pitchers were permitted to throw far more pitches. And who got hurt? The guy they were being so so so careful not to overuse. The other guys — the ones they’ll actually allow to throw 40 pitches or pitch on consecutive days — they’re all perfectly healthy. They’re not very good, but healthy.
I just don’t understand the mentality of “we can’t use a guy to help us win this game because we have a hunch it could *possibly* cause him to be unavailable in some hypothetical future game.” What’s the point of having decent pitchers if you’re afraid you’ll ruin their arms by allowing them to pitch enough innings to actually make a difference? Should they start having Winker play a just couple times a week because it’ll increase the chances he’ll be healthy in August? Why does this “we can’t risk an injury” logic only seem to apply to pitchers?
You don’t understand the mentality because you and the rest of us aren’t responsible for the 162 game season. Nick alludes to this, and it’s important to remember that Bell almost certainly is getting input from Johnson about pitchers and pitching changes. We simply don’t know much about the day-to-day condition of the players, and Johnson and Bell do.
That may very well be true, but where is the question to Bell? Why not Sims for more than 20 pitches?
You may be right, but I’ve watched this game of baseball consistently since the mid 70’s. So if the players are much better athletes, and we have much better programs etc., why is it that pitchers can’t pitch very much compared to the previous decades in this game? The game has had 162 games a season for a lot of years now, and that of course is prior to the 70’s even, which is when I started watching.
The real comment is many of us are sick of the babying of players now days, and then the excuses of why it is happening.
Well said J….The only person that you can count on, can only go 20 pitches after several days rest? Something’s not right about that.
If you’re teaching guys to throw max effort with max spin, then it defeats the purpose if they aren’t available for for half as many innings.
Pitchers are generally throwing harder–often much harder. For all I know, the conditioning programs that produce that sort of velocity reduce durability, but, whatever, injuries to pitchers are commonplace, and it’s reasonable to infer that increased velocity is part of the reason. Another question would be: why would Bell not use the pitcher with a better chance (in our opinion) to save the game? Not too many options: he’s too stupid to know (the favored explanation here, improbable though it may be), or he’s trying to lose (even more improbable) or–drum roll–he knows what’s going on with the health of his pitching staff.
You mean bases loaded Sims? Bell had no good options left. Bell is not the problem, the lack of talent in the pen is. I’m not even a Bell fan, but you can’t expect to win with those guys on a consistent basis.
Well said, MBS.
The tribute for David Bell’s brother was ?? warming,, however David is not a major league manager in any reasonable sense, his decisions have probably cost 5-6 wins this season, however, he’s cheap, just like the owner……
Back off brother. Dead wrong to interject those comments. WTF is wrong with you?
Not knocking the freeman for winker substitute. Freeman is a speedster. Doolittle is expected to get the three outs. He is very quickly about to be a Nick Krall problem as David Bell doesn’t handle DFA’s. Positives from this game. 1. Antone reportedly is back tomorrow, rested, therefore instant upgrade. 2. The reds also saw a lot of the MIN bullpen. 3. Its still June and a win tomorrow makes it .500 into a homestand. I’ll take it. 4. Not clelbrating an injury to any player but broxtons hand is broken so he will not play today.
And 5. My typing on the phone skills are non existent so i apologize for the typos
🙂 Been in a situation myself the last several days where I have had to use a laptop’s built in key board and trackpad. I 1000% feel and share your frustrations and pain with the phone typing which must be much worse than using this mess I am still using this AM.
Two more positives: Suarez and Garrett.
A road we’ve been down several other times this year. It didn’t mean anything then and it won’t this time. Trade them both if you can.
Those two have so much red ink in the ledger that they need many more positives just to reach neutral again
There are allot of Garrett apologists. He is not dependable and is not a good pitcher. The horrible bullpen will keep this team from contending.
Both positives in this game, though. And the Reds need them both playing well. Playing well will, by definition, start with one game.
A SS and 2 serviceable bullpen arms and this team is 6-2 on the current road trip. Instead 3-5 and back below .500…
If you aren’t going to spend money Bob and for the life of me Bell if you aren’t going to play Shogo then please Krall trade him for an arm.
“if you aren’t going to play Shogo then please trade Krall for an arm.”
Ftfy
Too much left on Krall’s contract. No one would want him
Also in the positive category, we dispelled the myth that Shogo can’t hit a left hander.
If you are using that as dispelling that myth, then should we use the next AB to create a new myth that Shogo can’t hit a right hander? Shogo is just not very good, and while I disagree with Bell on most things, I can’t argue with his playing time for Shogo.
A repeat of Thursday. Leading by two runs with three outs to go, then nothing. The ultimate result of going cheap with the bullpen in the offseason. Ineffective management from ownership to the playing field. Disappointing because the talent is there.
Mahle is nasty, but he could stand to be more pitch efficient. He’s only gone 6 innings or more in 5 of his 15 starts this season. Asking any bullpen to cover innings 5-9 (or in tonight’s case, 5-12), is a lot. To be clear, I know that Mahle isn’t this team’s most pressing issue. Of course the bullpen is the biggest concern, and it must be addressed if the Reds have any shot at contending this season. But only getting 4 innings out of the guy who is supposed to be your 2/3 starter makes it tough to win.
Agreed re: efficiency
Once he learns how to better pitch to weak contact and not rely on the strikeout he will get better. He is one player that I think is smart enough to figure that out.
Definitely. I’m a huge Mahle fan and I want him with the Reds long term. Just think a 4 inning start is hard to overcome.
Or maybe, just maybe, we let the kid throw a 110 pitches or so a game, and find out that he truly can be used for more pitches. Nolan Ryan wasn’t so pitch efficient either, but then again, guys were allowed to actually throw more pitches back then, and weren’t babied.
Agree Mahle’s short start was a secondary factor in what happened later
Mahle’s having gone only 4 innings was a primary factor, in my opinion. It was his short start that forced the Reds to pitch 2/3 of their bullpen in the game. No major league team has ever been 7-8 quality, interchangeable pitchers deep in their bullpen.
In the old days, often referred to above and before agents and arbitrators became enamored with a quality start (a piece of dung statistic), starting pitchers routinely handled 7-9 innings. Bullpens were rested because no BP pitcher was used on many complete game nights, and only 1 or 2 on most other nights. Using 5+ BP pitchers was a rare exception. Nolan Ryan AVERAGED 320+ innings per year for 10 straight years and nobody today consistently throws as hard as he did 30 years ago. Many in that era were on four day rotations. You get 200 innings out of a starter now and he’s on a pedestal, and we’re not all that far away from 175 innings being the threshold of greatness.
The game has changed, and not for the better. It’s a game of throwers, not pitchers, and sluggers, not hitters. Miley is a refreshing exception.
I have seen enough of Doolittle. There has got to be several people in the system who can do better. I went to bed when he came in as I knew what would happen. XDA him now and hope someone picks claims him to cover most of his salary. Have Finnegan in uniform this afternoon.
DFA not XDA
XDA sounds good enough—they should do SOMETthing lol
I also question the positioning of Reds outfielders, the double to start the 10th was a high fly ball that bounced on the warning track. Why was Naquin playing shallow, that ball should have been caught and Naquin didn’t come close. The same issue almost burned the in the 11th. We can talk all we want but the bottom line is, this is the worst coached baseball team I have ever seen. The biggest problem is Bell period.
Good point…no reason to play shallow there…let the one run score. That said, maybe that’s the position to play that hitter…not knowing the Twins players.
Batter doesn’t matter. No doubles defense, should always be the play in order to keep the tying run from getting to 2nd.
…sigh…
I was going to quote the title—almost
“Cincinnati Reds lose 5th straight…the bullpen blows”
Then I realized that last night it was only one particular reliever that merited the designation.
By replacing the word bullpen with Doolittle—we have it!
Doolittle do what Doolittle do
Which is allowed inherited runners to score
BP gave up 2 in the 10th and 2 in the 12th. Keeping with the theme, there were at least 2 pitches who did not come through. The offense is every bit as much to blame.
DFA Doolittle. As the one Reds FA signing of the offseason he has not been worth even the little amount they paid him. He’s been bad in general but especially bad at allowing inherited runners score. Option Hendrix, who I believe has some stuff to work with but needs more time in AAA. Option Hembree (if he has options) as well. Call up Alaniz, Diehl, and Riley O’Brien for the bullpen. O’Brien can work as a long man if needed. Move Solomon to the 60-man to go along with Doolittle DFA to clear the room on the roster for Alaniz and Diehl. The Reds have got to try something, even if it only amounts to shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic. The rest of the team keeps on fighting only to be undone by the bullpen. The Reds management/FO owe it to the team to try to find better options.
“The rest of the team keeps on fighting only to be undone by the bullpen. The Reds management/FO owe it to the team to try to find better options.”
+1
I mean, is there much to lose by looking for internal solutions? They have brought guys up but now that they’ve auditioned, audition some others.
Some quotes from Bob and especially Krall recently seem to hint that there aren’t many relievers to be had out there right now unless you have unlimited dollars to spend
+2
I’m on board with those moves. DFA of Doolittle is the main move that needs to happen. He has been awful all year. He was awful in Spring, but somehow made the team. Was it was because they gave him a contract before they saw him pitch?
Yes it’s the sunk cost fallacy which the Reds ownership believes in like the world believes the sun is hot
Agree!
Agreed
Doolittle must be released . He has one pitch , a 92 mph fast ball that has no movement .
Bring up Dauri Moreti from AA. Surely he could do better!
The movement it has is towards the outfield with great exit velocity
Yes he can and don’t call me Shirley!
From buyers to sellers again, 5 games later? Sure seems like it.
The team is bipolar—at least it’s making many fans act bipolar lol
Ah, but which came first?
Yeah, how many of us here thought Doolittle was actually going to get the job done in the bottom of the 10th?
*crickets*
Not a fan of that move.
Great point Klugo, the problem is why couldn’t the people who are getting paid to make these decisions figure that out. Red fans have suffered through some rough times recently, but for me this year has been the worst. It has gotten to the point where every game I just sit back and wait for Bell to do something that doesn’t work. Last night was possibly his worst game ever and that is saying a lot.
Bell has done plenty wrong this year, but what did he do wrong last night that made it his worst game ever? The bullpen did pitch 5 scoreless innings from the 5th. Maybe he could have let Mahle go another inning, or Sims another one, but after 20 pitches that is a stretch too because that’s when Sims normally breaks down and starts walking batters. I don’t blame last night on Bell. It was the roster.
Just to name a few, how about not pinch hitting for Heineman but, at the same time pinch hitting for Aquino or pinch running for Winker. I think we all agree that the roster is limited but, a good coach finds a way to succeed with what he has. As for Sims, he had not pitched the last 4 games and with the day off Wednesday and Antone coming back today he could easily be rested until Thursday. Another factor, the team had lost 4 in a row and really needed a win. Sometimes you have to go for the win when you get the chance. He didn’t do that last Thursday and, How well did that work out?
For starters, he started Heineman over Akiyama. For finishers, bringing in Doolittle with the lead in the bottom of the 10th. I dont know if it was his worst game and I think Bell has done more than a fine job this year, but as soon as I saw Doolittle, I knew it was not going to be good. He had to know that, too. C’mon. That was awful.
Regardless of the meager assets available to pitch, spotting a reliever 2 runs heading into the bottom of the 10th should be a near LOCK for the win. That’s exactly what the probability graph in the article illustrates. I get that the Twinkie’s “ghost runner” has a high likelihood of scoring.
I’m just frustrated that even our “sweet spot” of extra-inning games failed us last night. Makes it hard to watch.
It’s super simple, our bullpen will prevent us from being good. We will continue to be mediocre, unless we bring in new arms in the bullpen.
Bell burned through his entire pen in a game that has a DH.He used some guys multiple innings and some guys for 2 outs.Some threw over 20 and some less then 10.I dare say that has more to do with mixing and matching then it has to do with the health of any pitcher but what do I know.Sims is the only one that has a chance to close out a win and he was used in the 9th of a tie game but if he is hurt or limited to a number of pitches he must be saved to close.Saturday’s game was tied in the 8th and he was not brought in after 2 days of rest so that would tell me he was being saved to close if we took the lead.We can go back to Thurs game when he was unavailable to see not having him to close may have cost us that game.Bell is much smarter then I am for sure but I would just love to hear why Sims was used in a tie game rather then to close or even better why he can only throw 20 pitches if that is the case.Just looking for some possible reasons rather then guessing.Part of my ranting is the fact that we all know the blame falls on ownership and we all know they will not do anything about it.Bell has done some good things and we can all say well he is just trying to use a bunch of non major leaguers to get the job done and give him a pass.I am done regardless as I said last night.Old guys like me will end up having a heart attack staying up till 2am watching the same old insane approach we have seen for years.
Bell is chasing bomb craters in his bullpen management. The quantity of quality in his pen selection is not up to the task which faces him and them. He seemed to have hit on some winning combinations on the back end of the home stand and against the Brewers but maybe that had more to do with the opposition (Rockies and weak Brewers offense) than improvement by the Reds.
After the Reds did not score in the top of the 12th, I knew I should go on and Clete but since I had nothing special to do today (Tuesday) and could sleep in, I stayed up for the bitter end. That’s on me but how Reds got there is on them from the top of the organization right on down to the players.
Only Bell, Johnson and Sims himself know if he had anything left to take to the mound in the 10th inning. If he did, there is no excuse for why he wasn’t out there, be it for a batter, 10 pitches, whatever it was he had to give. After the Thursday debacle, this was a game the Reds needed to close out, especially given the opponent and they needed just 3 outs with a 2 run starting cushion to get there.
Eight guys were used out of the pen to record 7.1 innings of work, 21 outs, requiring 124 pitches if my quick counts are accurate. Now consider that two guys threw 50 of those pitches and recorded 10 of the outs.
So, 6 guys threw 74 pitches to record 11 outs. That works out to ~12 pitches per pitcher for 1 2/3 outs each. In a game with the DH and 3 batter minimum rule (even with its caveats), this takes some real trying (by the mgr) or really bad pitching to do (or both).
Enough. Like I said in my first sentence, I should have followed my first impulse and Cleted
As soon as they didn’t score in the 11th, I was out. What is “Clete”?
A RLN born idiom thanks to Mary Beth Ellis and her grandfather, Clete
https://www.redlegnation.com/2021/05/05/baseball-is-life-when-to-clete-out/
Even Hembree or Hendrix. Anyone but Doolittle. We had a two run lead! Go for the win!
Bell was trying to cash in on the lefty vs. lefty angle. the first 3 Twins and 5th scheduled hitters were all LH batters. The leadoff batter doubled in the 1st Twins run of the inning. They pulled the 2nd guy for a RH pinch guy who was IBB. The 3rd batter (a LH hitter) sac flied the tying run home. So much for the best laid plans of mice and men.
It seems to me a lack of intensity by the manager, with three outs to go, to use the best pitcher available and nail down the win(s).
It seems to me that tinkering with the lefty/lefty angle has cost the Reds a number of wins that will keep them from the playoffs. The reality of the Reds left handed relief pitching has been evident since April.
DB has consistently demonstrated by his decisions that he believes matchups are more important than talent in any situation. Exhibits A-F are his insistence on starting Scott Heineman over Naquin or Shogo simply because the opposing starter is a lefty.
And that will only get a team so far. Give him the talent that we want—he will likely still behave in favor of the matchup.
The only time recently where he hasn’t is during the Brewers (?) series where Doolittle got 2 lefties out, gave a hit to a righty, and a lefty was due up next. And Bell lifted Doolittle after the 3 pitch minimum to let Sims face the lefty—and the Reds won the game
We all know Doolittle has had trouble pitching with runners on base this year. That’s another reason to be careful how to use him in a game with a runner starting the inning at second. Just makes one wonder about Sims, only 20 pitches, knowing Antone would be back today. Go for the W! I would have rode Sims to try and stop a now 5 game losing skid. He have us the best chance to win the game, (IMO). Hopefully things are better today, Go Reds!
In Spring Training the relievers should all be stretched out to three innings. It is ridiculous that they are conditioned to go one inning. Sims should have pitched in tenth.
Owner to cheap to DFA Doolittle. Diehl is a lefty in the minors doing well and Alaniz is doing great as well. Problem is they arent on the 40. Doolittle is though. Bob is paying him to much to DFA him. I guarantee you if he was DFA’d nobody would pick him up. He is garbage. Heineman is a 40 spot. He has 2 hits and is way overmatched at the plate. He isnt a major league player. Beau Taylor is a 31 year old journeyman catcher at Louisville. He is on the 40. No team would want him. DFA him. There is 3 spots open. Start removing the crap and promote people to find the answers that are needed. This is getting rediculous and I dont know any organization that would have Doolittle on their team after what he has shown. I would put the batboy in to pitch before Doolittle.
Is Derek Johnson involved with any of the BP decision making?
That is a very good question, that i have been wondering myself. For his sake I hope not. I have to think that Bell is a manager that may listen to the input of others but makes most of the decisions on his own. I think he wants to be noticed way to much. The bottom line is whatever system they are using hasn’t worked since Bell arrived. I really want Bell to succeed because I have been a Reds fan for over 50 years but, this is getting hard to watch. Despite, that I will be watching again today and hoping for a win.
That is a very good question, that i have been wondering myself. For his sake I hope not. I have to think that Bell is a manager that may listen to the input of others but makes most of the decisions on his own. I think he wants to be noticed way to much. The bottom line is whatever system they are using hasn’t worked since Bell arrived. I really want Bell to succeed because I have been a Reds fan for over 50 years but, this is getting hard to watch. Despite, that I will be watching again today and hoping for a win.
Opportunity knocks here, guys. Let’s answer the call with crooked numbers.
I didn’t see it … did TySteve get hosed on that call?
Little TOOTBLAN for Da Wink … we’ll forgive him.