Jonathan India and Joey Votto’s three combined homers powered the Cincinnati Reds to their fourth consecutive win, 6-2 over the New York Mets at Citi Field.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (55-49) | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| New York Mets (54-48) |
2 | 8 | 0 |
| W: Gray (3-6) L: Castro (2-3) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
India smacked homers in the first and ninth innings, and Votto hit another in his series of historic home runs in the sixth inning. Meanwhile, Cincinnati pitching shut down the home team, limiting the Mets to only serious threats in the first and ninth innings which resulted in one run each.
The Reds are growing in confidence and swagger, so do not discount this team’s chances. The bullpen appears improved to the point that it might be considered somewhat dependable. I’m not telling you this team is definitely going to the post-season, but they look like a team that can take advantage of a weak schedule that got a lot weaker after today’s barrage of trades of major-league mainstays by non-contending teams.
The Milwaukee Brewers continue to show that they also mean business. They fell behind 4-0 in the first inning in Atlanta tonight, but then scored the game’s next eight runs. At last check, they led the Braves 8-5 in the seveth. If that result holds up, the first-place Brewers will maintain their seven-game lead over second-place Cincinnati.
As this article was posted, the San Diego Padres’ game against Colorado was just getting started. Pending that result, the Reds are currently within 4 1/2 games of the second wild-card berth.
The Offense
The Reds literally could not have taken a quicker lead than they did this evening …
AMBUSH!! ?@JonathanIndia jumps all over the first pitch of the game and puts the @Reds up 1-0 ? pic.twitter.com/GtRwSdg8Qp
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) July 30, 2021
Then with the score tied at 1-1 in the fifth, Jesse Winker delivered:
Jesse Winker delivers and gives the @Reds the lead ? pic.twitter.com/nlZUNavv8Y
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) July 31, 2021
An inning later, Joey Votto made some more history …
JOEY IS VOTTOMATIC!!
Votto extends his @Reds franchise record to SEVEN straight games with a home run ? pic.twitter.com/x5R1pKEoAc
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) July 31, 2021
He is the first Cincinnati Red ever, and only the eighth player in Major League Baseball history, to homer in at least seven consecutive games.
Pinch-hitter Aristides Aquino knocked in the Reds’ fourth run with a ninth-inning sacrifice fly, and then India sent Mets fans to the Citi Field exits …
That's home run number ?? on the night for @JonathanIndia
When you've got hair like this, it only makes sense to show it off with a nice trot around the bases ? pic.twitter.com/sWqCZGMhgf
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) July 31, 2021
… with a two-run shot for a 6-1 lead. Those runs turned out to be important as Amir Garrett struggled close the door.
In July, Votto has an otherworldly line: .326 / .450 / .764 / 1.214. Of his 29 hits, 16 are for extra bases, and he has 25 RBI. It is mind-boggling for a 37-year-old player who has been in clear offensive decline for years to explode like this. It will be great if this can continue until the Reds return home to see what sort of response Votto gets from the home crowd.
India’s three hits were all for extra bases. His July line also not too shabby: .330 / .473 / .545 / 1.019. For fans who wondered how the Reds would be able to deal with the loss of Nick Castellanos, this is how.
.@JonathanIndia grew up a Mets fan and then tallied his first career two homer game in his first trip to Citi Field.
What a night and what a story for Jonathan and his family ?@Reds | @JimDayTV pic.twitter.com/R9sR6I3VnF
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) July 31, 2021
The Pitching
Sonny Gray looked very close to a very early shower in the first inning. The first four Mets batters reached, and memories of his most recent start in which the Cardinals knocked him out in the fourth came flooding back. But to Gray’s credit, he struck out Michael Conforto and then induced an inning-ending double-play ball from Jonathan Villar. After that, he was the Gray we’ve come to expect. He retired the last 11 Mets hitters he faced, and 13 of the last 14. Over six innings, he allowed only five hits and walked one, while striking out seven.
Michael Lorenzen blew the Mets away one-two-three in the seventh and looked like peak Lorenzen. Mychal Givens followed him to the hill and worked his way out of a two-on-and-one-out jam by retiring New York’s best RBI hitters, Jeff McNeil and Pete Alonso in the bottom of the eighth. Amir Garrett was very shaky in the ninth, but managed to close it out.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds at New York Mets
Saturday, July 31, 7:10 p.m. ET
Wade Miley (8-4, 2.86 ERA) vs. Rich Hill (6-4, 3.95)
Joey vs Rich Hill is going to be difficult (1-10 with a single). Let him bat leadoff and give him the best chance to make history! Of course everyone is paid to win, but they have a WS every year. Historic records being toppled does not happen every year.
Colts fans will NEVER FORGIVE Bill Polian for pulling starters when we were 12-0 and trying to go unbeaten. If you have a chance for history then you take it!!
That would be cool and part of me would like to do that like you. The top of the order is working pretty well together right now though and we’re on a roll. Personally I wouldn’t want to tinker with that being in the situation we’re in. Good thought though. By the way I live in Indy and know what you’re talking about. 🙂
I agree – leave the front of the lineup alone. The Reds just need to knock Hill out of the game early and get to a RH reliever. JV’s odds go up significantly. I’d like to see him get it but I’m concerned about his comment about trying to hit HRs. Moving past Bonds and joining Junior would be a nice notch on the belt.
If Votto says he’s trying to hit home runs I have virtually no fear he will turn into Suarez. 🙂
Big difference between saying your trying to hit home runs and striking out when you don’t Joey is walking still and getting base hits on top of hitting home runs. Not too worried at all.
I told you guys a while back my gut feeling was that Votto had a lot more left in the tank than most people thought and was still capable of some special things. Of course I’m wrong a lot like everyone else but I’m glad I was right this time. In my mind I didn’t expect a home run barrage. It’s pretty fun and special. 🙂 Good win too. Let’s keep it going.
India should be NL Rookie of the Month
Joey will be Player of the Month
Very well managed trade deadline for Reds. Didn’t give the farm away, but upgraded the bullpen effectively. Position player wise, we didn’t need trades, just to get healthy with Moose, Senzel, and Castellanos.
Fun watching Reds baseball again.
Agree. I still think we have a problem with LH relief pitching. Lodolo in relief later on might help.
I still want to see this guy we got from the Yankees before drawing Judgement. Supposedly a big portion of his ERA was from one game and the .44 drop after a clean inning leads me to beleive he hasn’t been used alot in New York.
Agree he needs a change of scenery chance. I have little confidence in either Doolittle or Garrett.
Doolittle is changing his pitching approach and is battling near 4. AG hasn’t changed a thing in his time in the bigs and is getting worse results each year as guys lay off his slider. For 2021, Doolittle is the keeper and AG May be a waiver decision when everyone is healthy
Tatis exits game with significant appearing wrist injury after head first slide
Now saying shoulder injury was aggravated
The way India has played this year, that’s how I was hoping Senzel would play when he got to the big leagues, but it never has happened. Injuries have been a big part of that. Wondering if Senzel will ever play a full season? How will he play if and when he plays a full season?
I feel the same way. The rest of this season will seal the deal on Senzel one way or the other in my opinion.
If they had let Senzel play infield and kept Turner Ward’s hands off of his swing, we may have indeed seen it
Think the way the schedules are set up down the stretch, Reds have a better chance of catching someone in the AL West. Going to have to become a Giants fan, since they are 10 games ahead. Want them to beat up on the Padres. Have to give credit to the Brewers. Playing well and they got some reinforcements. Adames has been huge for them, Escobar homered. That series right after the break might be the difference in the end.
The Reds got moved to the AL? 😉
Suarez, was….Suarez. Naquin was…naquin.
Big hit (1 per gm) or X(mult)…birds of a feather.
They will be the downfall.
Prove me wrong
I would hope that neither Suarez or Naquin start a game after Moose and Senzel re-join the team. They should be nothing more than back-ups down the stretch run. Especially if the team calls up Barrero.
Naquin has left the door open lately for Senzel. I don’t know if Moose is the answer at 3B. I prefer Lopez, Schrock or Farmer with Barreo at SS and Farmer at 3B. Depends on whom of Lopez, Barreo and Schrock step forward with the bat. I guess some might throw Moose in the mix also.
Suarez was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run. I’ll take a .333 avg., .500 obp., every game, if that’s Suarez being Suarez. No one needs to prove you wrong. You did a good enough job of it.
also 2k. Did you mention? He has work to do.
Not perfect but was productive today, we will take productive
Wow someone defended the Highway man Suarez. Batting I73. Close to being the worst all time. He is sabotage in the lineup.
No more waver trades this year, the trading is done for teams. However I see there is a caveat regarding salary dumps.
You can put a player out there on wavers in August and see if another team picks him up, I think if they pick that player up they have to pay his whole remaining salary?
Would anybody take Geno, the real interesting question at this point is if the Reds fell hopelessly out of it in August, would the Reds dare place Votto on waivers and would another team pick him and that remaining salary up?
Really interesting scenarios unfolding. Hoping the Reds can have like a 21-8 August and forget about that conjecture above…They need seven out of these next eight.
Neither of those things are going to happen so that’s why nobody is talking about it.
And in Votto’s case, his 10 and 5 rights would prevail over a waiver claim unless I am mistaken. However, I believe such a situation came up several years back and this was how the precedence works.
Votto in no uncertain terms is being trades exposed to waivers or anything else. The man wants to retire a red. We are running with this
In 2018, people said Votto’s decline was all age related. I kept trying to tell you guys that it was all about his approach, and maybe 10% age. The power-sapping crouch, the extreme choke up, the inside-out swings on inside pitches, and last but not least, numerous awful-looking check swings, game after game.
He went from 2017 MVP (shoulda been) to “why are you still playing?” He carried on that nonsense for the better part of 2 years. Twice he abandoned it, with fine results….until he finally gave it up all together.
Welcome back Joey!
He was the 2017 MVP in my book, as you say
Politics…
I’d say the situation is 6 of one and a half dozen of another. Whatever Votto is doing technically and tactically is because he has come to terms with the fact he can no longer consistently prevail in extended plate appearances by spoiling close pitches until he draws a walk or gets a mistake pitch he can do damage with. This makes what he is doing no less of an accomplishment though.
Vottomatic is back and Great to see.
India Is just Great for a rookie
Gray Pitching well is Huge imo.
Need a good and Healthy Gray.
I was at this game. It was fun. Going tomorrow as well. Hopefully it will be fun too.
+100
Bring us back another winner!
Not that it matters, but if the Reds were in the NL East, they’d be tied for first place with the Mets right now.
Then again, if they were in the NL West, they’d be in 4th place.
Still, 4 games back from the Friars, who have to play the Dodgers and Giants 19 more times, as well as a series against the Astros. And they just lost their best player to a shoulder injury. Compare to the Reds who play a bunch of .500 or worse teams outside of one more series against the Brew Crew.
At this point, it’s Wild Card or bust.
Oh, and the Reds also have 3 against the Dodgers. Still a relatively soft schedule, especially when compared to San Diego.
Padres lost. Three back in the loss column. Let’s keep it going.
Tough decisions ahead when all those players in IL return: Hoffman and Brach shall be DFA to open the spots for Sims & Antone. Shrock and Freeman shall be optioned/DFA to open the spots for Senzel & Moustakas. Feliz shall be DFA after reactivated. Warren will remain in IL until roster expansion. Still two more spots shall be opened for Castellanos and Blandino, so at least one more BP spot will be erased (Doolittle?) plus one OF spot (Naquin or Shogo).
Garrett.
“Tough decisions ahead” is very true, but the bigger thing to me is how will be Bell use them? Senzel seems to get hurt every time they put him in CF? He tries to catch everything, but there is a reason guys pull up or turn and play them off the wall. 3B seems like the safest bet, but Geno/Moose aren’t going anywhere. Blandino is better then Freeman as a utility player so that helps.
The bullpen is where it gets tricky. All of our lefties are backend talent-wise imo. AG, Justin Wilson, and Doolittle. Bell gets so caught up L/R, but Antone, Givens, Cessa, HH and Lorenzen are all better then our lefties. Sims, Tony S., and Warren probably are too.
Bottom line when they get back Antone & Sims thats a top 10 bullpen easily! The depth would be unreal! No more forcing borderline guys like Brach, Osich, Hendrix, etc for 3 games in 4 days.
Blandino isn’t coming up under those conditions. I hope not at least. Looks like they have one of two choices from what I can see. Either keep 14 pitchers and cut Akiyma or go down to 13 pitchers and 13 position players.
Castillo, Gray, Mahle, Miley, Guitierrez – SP
Antone, Sims, Lorenzen, Hembree, Givens, Cessa, Wilson, Garrett, Doolittle (14th) – RP
Barnhart, Stephenson – C
Votto, India, Farmer, Suarez, Moustakas, Senzel – Infield
Castellanos, Winker, Aquino, Naquin, Akiyama (13th) – Outfield
I don’t know who the last man out is as far as pitchers go. My vote is Garrett or Doolittle but who knows? This is a tough situation the FO has put themselves in. It probably has a lot to do with why Barrero hasn’t been and probably won’t be called up. Unless Senzel goes back to the minors there’s no place for him. It’s also probably why Senzel can magically all of a sudden play SS in their eyes (when I thought he most likely could anyway lol) as he would be the only backup. So again for those who would like Barrero up looks like they have to choose either Senzel or him. It will probably be Senzel as he has more versatility which is another reason why we don’t need Akiyama as he (Senzel) can play outfield as well. Lorenzen can be an extra pinch hitter. If it were me and I could I’d have to cut Akiyama. It would be tough to do so but they have to bite the bullet somewhere. This would be the best we can put out there until September which will probably include two of either Lodolo, Greene, or Barrero. If I’m not correct about any of this somebody tell me. I’m sure you will. haha
Forgot about Warren and Santillian in September too so none of the “youngins” may see action this year. All this only works this way of course if everybody is healthy.
They’re not eating $8 mil for Shogo next year. They should, but they won’t. I would think their relievers are good enough to go with 13? You can’t use 3-4 in an inning like LaRussa loved to do. I really hated that pompous orifice! He’s the poster boy for baseball’s “7th strike your out” DWI plan.
You are right about Lorenzen. He gives them flexibility if he hydrates properly! You’re right on Barrero too. I would’ve called him up before Geno went 6 for 50 or whatever, but its too late now. He’s boxed out by big salaries (and bonus baby Senzel) so it wouldn’t matter if he hit .500 at Louisville. He can help in September.
I think Akiyama could be the player to be named to the Yankees for Cessa/Wilson with the Reds paying half of what is owed Shogo.
Agree on Garrett. He needs another pitch . Maybe a change up.
He is like Suarez in that there is no improvement over a large sample size.
Does Garret have options? If so, I can see him heading down.
Nope. Nobody in the pen has options.
Garrett was shaky last night, and got off to a bad start this season, but he has been solid for quite awhile and he’s left-handed. I wouldn’t be too quick to jettison him.
Why do they need to keep Blandino?
Bullpen help
The knuckler is real
Barnhart went to the mound to chat with Gray in the 1st. Sonny looked at him straight in the eyes and actively listened while Tucker said what he had to say. “I got you. I got you. I got you”, he says as Barnhart finishes. It was all over for the Mets after that. I can’t tell you how much I respect Sonny Gray’s maturity, professionalism, leadership, and toughness. I love watching him compete.
I would really prefer the Reds win the NLC, and I haven’t lost hope yet. But has anyone else seen the Padres schedule over their final 27 games? Absolutely brutal for them. It’s not hard to see the Reds overtaking them for that final wildcard spot, assuming no more horrible injuries.
I think we just might be able to but we’ll have to put the pedal to the metal to do it and not mess around in any way in any game. Go all out to win….. every game. We’ll see what Mr. Bell does.
What Bell has done to this point has been very good. At beginning of the season many on here me included thought we would battle the Pirates for 4th place in the division and would be overachieving to play 500 baseball. We have not only done much better then that but have done so while dealing with a number of injuries to key players. While many comment and second guess our Manager daily his
Methods have been very effective thus making this team a joy to follow. Keep doing what you do Mr.Bell and get us in the post season.
I wonder if Bell is getting blamed for decisions coming from ownership. i. e. playing Suarez and not giving Lopez a chance. Sometimes he over manages and at other times he doesn’t play some on the bench enough to keep them fresh, but I agree overall Bell hasn’t been that bad as a manager.
I think Bell has been better than “not bad” considering the injuries and the F O wanting to play Geno at all costs. Bell is a serious candidate for M O Y. Also, look at the job he’s done pushing both India and Stevenson into the limelight. You can’t give credit to Bell for the performance of these two rookies, but he has put each of them into a position to excel, and both have. He has also done a good job with patch work b/p, until significant trades were made at the deadline.
Alan Horn the reds make much more money when the team is winning and in contention. Playing time based on who is making the most money on a guaranteed contract is not very practical in my mind. Suarez is a player that 160 games ago was a very good productive player. If he can regain that form which he demonstrated for quite awhile he would be a huge help to the team.. Lopez while having a nice year was recently promoted from AA to AAA. Do I think the rope given Suarez is a bit long at this point, yes. But it is not the crime some make it out to be. Suarez power numbers have provided over 50 RBI’s. Yes he has stranded many runners but he has a track record of performing at this level. Very tough decision for Bell or many managers out there. Overall Bell is doing a very nice job with the hand he has been dealt.
Jim T, I agree it is about winning and Suarez doesn’t fit into that equation. There is a point you can’t play someone for their production in past years. Production usually drops for most around either side of 30. On the other hand, look how Votto has bounced back. Votto is not the norm. He is just an exceptional hitter who changed his hitting philosophy. Suarez still tries to pull most pitches and his head and upper body are coming off the ball. I would like to see him correct that.
It’s not impossible, but it won’t be easy. Going to take us winning and the Bernie’s pulling a few Cub moves to make it work.
Reds have won 4 in a row but Brewers did the same…. 7 games deficit remain but with less to play … We could be talking about to start a countdown from here?
I’m not counting. Just win series. It’s tough to win every game. I appreciate this Red’s season, so far.
Great job by Krall, Bell, the starting pitching, and position players…..and Alan Zinter. This team hits and getting some good balls to the opposite field. Bullpen looks deeper and some healthier players will mean added depth. Hopefully, the Reds can take this series and get to Monday at least 6 over .500.
The Reds will then play 20 games in 20 consecutive days before their next off day and then the Brewers for a potentially huge 3 game series @ Milwaukee. They still play 34 games against the Twins/Pirates/Cubs/Marlins/Nationals/and 2 against the White Sox the last 2 games of the year who wont be playing their playoff regulars. Reds could go 24-10 against those teams and play .500 against everyone else and end up 91-71. The path is there to 90 wins. I cant see 3 West teams winning 90+and the Brewers SP while talented- are in uncharted waters with innings mileage.
The Reds need a SS badly and not because of Farmer’s recent performance. Enquirer is reporting he has a sports hernia and is dealing with chronic recurring pain. He’s going to need regular rest and recovery, particularly with 20 games in 20 days coming up Aug 3-22. It would appear this is where Senzel could help the Reds- Play CF 2-3x a week, play SS 2x a week so Farmer can stay healthy. Barrero also looks ready to share time with Farmer at SS or step in full time if his injury worsens.
If the Reds are to make a run, it will be with all 26 hands on deck- positional flexibility and depth, a deeper and better bullpen, strong bench and strong SP.
Go Reds
Tigers in the 34 too.
Sounds like Farmer may need a 10 day IL stint. Hard to take him out when doing so well lately. That would be the time for Barrero hopefully.
Great to watch a game in the Eastern time zone after that stretch in Wrigley. So much fun to watch the Mets fans stream out after India cranked his second HR. And that post-game interview with Day was excellent.
Felt odd to see Farmer having an “off night” at the plate. I guess we’ve come to expect he’ll produce how he has over the past week. He’s playing with a lot of intensity and through who knows how much pain.
Good night for the guys in L’ville. Still wondering when Castellanos comes back. That would be a major upgrade if he can return to form.
While Farmer didn’t get any hits, he stung the ball twice, So he’s still seeing it good IIMO
The three top nlw lost last night. Nothing is written yet, specially when they have games to play against each other. Then it’s the scenario of injuries for everybody. . I don’t even discard Cards yet.
SF is receiving astros
SD will play vs a very good pitcher tonight.
LA has not announced pitcher yet.
Let’s see.
Great win and thanks to the Mets manager for leaving the young lefty in the game in the 9th after Eugenio singles.Ty Steve follows with a double,AA with a sac fly and then India’s bomb and its ball game.Guess our guy isn’t alone in head scratching moves on how to use relievers especially when you are in first place in your division.Votto is amazing and that doesn’t even describe what he has been doing.Still concerned about Garrett.Gets the first 2 guys with a 5 run cushion then allows 3 straight to reach.Hard to understand that.Guy has the stuff but he knows you can’t walk guys and he still does.Lets get another win today.
Roger every time a RP gives up runs it doesn’t necessarily mean it was a head scratching decision.
You right but would you have left a young lefty in to face 4 straight right handed hitters in his 2nd inning of work?That was my point.First 2 reach and are at second and third with no outs down and you leave him in to face AA and India.That was a head scratcher.Glad he did.
Farmer is, and has done a great job at short all season. Hes the starter, and should remain so the rest of the season. Leave Barrero down until the September call up. Then, if the injury becomes to much for Farmer, which it won’t, Barrero can get some playing time. Hopefully, the Reds will be smart, and hang on to Farmer for the foreseeable future.