After a rain out last night the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals will play two games today in a day-night split doubleheader. The Cardinals took game one, 5-4, as both starting pitchers struggled to get anything going in the game. First pitch for game two is scheduled for 6:40pm.
Starting Lineups
St. Louis Cardinals
|
Cincinnati Reds
|
| Tommy Edman – 2B | Jonathan India – 2B |
| Paul Goldschmidt – 1B | Tyler Stephenson – C |
| Tyler O’Neill – LF | Nick Castellanos – RF |
| Nolan Arenado – 3B | Joey Votto – 1B |
| Dylan Carlson – RF | Eugenio Suárez – 3B |
| Yadier Molina – C | Kyle Farmer – SS |
| Paul DeJong – SS | Aristides Aquino – LF |
| Harrison Bader – CF | Delino DeShields – CF |
| J.A. Happ – SP | Sonny Gray – SP |
Starting Pitchers
Sonny Gray
To say that Sonny Gray is pitching well right now would be an understatement. He’s allowed four combined hits in his last two starts to go along with 11 strikeouts over 13.0 innings. He’s really picked up the amount of cutters he’s thrown in those two starts.
Gray has dominated left-handed hitters this season, holding them to a .194/.284/.314 line this season. Righties have found more success, hitting .276/.347/.433 against him. He has had struggles at home where his OPS is 115 points higher than on the road (.744 at home) and his ERA is 4.75 (2.96 on the road).
Pitch usage from 2021
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Cutter | Slider | Change | Curve | |
| Velo | 92.4 | 92.5 | 84.5 | 82.1 | 88.0 | 79.5 |
| Usage | 25% | 29% | 3% | 16% | 4% | 24% |
J.A. Happ
On the season as a whole, J.A. Happ has a 5.76 ERA, but since joining the Cardinals he’s posted a 2.22 ERA in five starts. His hit rate has nearly been cut in half, while his home run rate has gone from terrible to about league average. When he was still with the Twins, Happ faced the Reds on June 21st and gave up three runs in 4.2 innings with five walks and two home runs allowed.
Right-handed hitters have hit .288/.344/.533 against Happ this season. Lefties don’t get many opportunities against him, but ones that do have hit .276/.321/.429 in 113 plate appearances against him. The home and road splits don’t hold as much value given that he’s been in both leagues this year, but his road ERA is 6.36 in 11 starts this season.
Pitch usage from 2021
| 4-Seam | 2-Seam | Change | Slider | Curve | |
| Velo | 91.0 | 88.9 | 86.3 | 83.0 | 76.5 |
| Usage | 56% | 14% | 12% | 17% | 1% |
When and Where
- Game time: 6:40pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: Bally Sports Ohio, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 77°, sunny, 2% chance of rain
NL Central Standings
Playoff odds via Fangraphs
*standings as of the start of the day*
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff % |
| Brewers | 81 | 52 | 0 | 100% |
| Reds | 71 | 62 | 10.0 | 51.0% |
| Cardinals | 67 | 63 | 12.5 | 5.7% |
| Cubs | 58 | 75 | 23.0 | 0.0% |
| Pirates | 48 | 84 | 32.5 | 0.0% |
Satchel Paige said, “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”
That’s probably pretty good advice, but if the Reds look in the rear view mirror, they had better pay attention to the warning: “Objects may be closer than they appear.”
Reds, please just focus on this game, and try to not give up a lead in the first inning.
First six in the lineup (excepting Suarez) might be productive. Other than that?? Hope we get the “good Sonny” today.
Speaking of technically looking forward for the moment, AZ leading the Pads now 6-3 with SD’s 9 hole to beleading off the 8th with their 4th reliever facing AZ right now
SD down to their last 3 outs needing 3 to tie and the #4 to lead off their 9th with AZ batting against pitcher #6
6th pitcher needing 8 pitches to load the bases hitting 2 batters and giving up a run … now facing #7 no outs bases loaded
Aquino and Deshields in lineup – unbelievable ???? Is Bell on Mars ?!!!
Oh yea – forgot Suarez on third and batting 5th
Wild card ain’t no possibility long as this guy making these kinds of lineups – bush league – nepotism runs rampant in this organization
Lol Geno with a bomb
This game kicks off 3 straight games to mindfully discuss facing starting LHP
Who is #29 on the roster today for this game? I didn’t see it above.
Alainz I think
OK – figured it would be a relief pitcher.
Who now becomes the apparent designated innings eating in a blowout pitcher!
Maybe DeShields is the spark we need lol
Every pitcher Cy Young (lefties especially). Every batter Babe Ruth/Ty Cobb/Pete Rose/etc. In the field, nothing but Gold Gloves.
It may be a short night for me even despite the 7 innings.
Calming down – solo HR’s rarely beat you.
That’s the way to start it RoY!!
India needs to get going again. His last two weeks are really not where he needs to be if the Reds are to make the post season.
There we go.
YESSSS!!! Got it back and another to boot.
and the court mandating no smack talking of suarez is enacted
Jobu must have woken up Geno’s bat. This is the T-1st we all wanted to see. Happ won’t last long at this rate.
K-R-A-P … but them’s the rules.
Need to get one or both of them in now to atone for that near-miss.
Thank you Rattlesnakes 8-3
wow, garbage there… Votto should have been allowed to score.
Maybe … it’s not like he’s greased lightening out there.
ball bounced around everywhere out there. I can understand the suarez being placed on second but the rest of that call is wrong. Joeys moving on contact, would be halfway to third by the time the ball connected with the wall.
This is Joey we’re talking about. Idk?
Yeah, BoR … you just don’t know since play stopped. Unfortunate to say the least.
You had one job Kyle …
Let’s see if AA can pick him up somehow, someway.
Just call it a double and I think Joey scores? Why call it a HR and stop all play when you have review? Maybe he doesn’t score, but he should’ve on a double. That sucked
Alright, young Mr. DeShields … time to make your statement.
I will take a walk or a hit.
Young man will fit right in.
All that and the only benefit is we jacked up Happ’s pitch count (which is a good thing). At least our guys are seeing the ball and making contact. You have to hope that little non-HR call fires them up a bit.
Disheartening.
It should be 4 nothing. We did get thirty pitches out of him. The lead as well. Batted around and now everyone has seen him once. Gotta salvage the game
Go sit down Neck Tattoo!!
We have won all year despite Krall’s insisting certain guys must play and Bell insisting he will play everybody.In crunch time late season games the other pitcher will find your weak hitters and make them win the game.We have plenty to choose from after our first 4 or 5 guys every night.Nothing will change so its up to them to get make it happen.Lately they haven’t been able to and thats it in a nutshell.
Roger, not necessarily disagreeing, but do you have a source/link for this? I think many of us would agree that Suarez for example in playing more out of contract than performance, but has there been any reporting on who is really making those calls?
Thanks
OK, Nick. It’s up to you now. Make it happen. Make them pay. Help chase Happ.
Reds need to put this game away against Happ before Shildt removes him.
GRAND SLAM BLASIANOS
Atta boy, Nick. Big hit.
Grand.Freaking.Slam!!!!
Major Blastellanos.
Reds Announcers: J.J. Happ has been a changed pitcher since he came to STL
Reds: No, he hasnt
They really need to make Castellanos an offer he can’t refuse.
Schildt needs to get hit with a delay of game penalty. That’s just ridiculous whining.
My wife says he needs to go take a chill pill.
this is simply to get more time for the Bullpen
Yep – you called it.
This is some serious chicken – poop, Bush-league stuff right here.
Like Larkin said – pure Tony LaRussa BS.
+1,000
sorry to ask but “watching” on computer. What happened?
Not a fun night to be Phil Cousey … that much appears to be clear to me.
The Irony is Nick gave the bat to a fan already, the bat was out of there either way
If I was Castellanos, I bet during my next at-bat, that doggone thing would slip right out of my hands and helicopter right into the Cardinals dugout.
Innnnncommmmmiiinnnng!!!!
That’s funny lol
Castellanos is living rent free in the Cardinals heads all season.
Joey should use Nick’s chipped bat that The Hulk taped up.
And Cardinals fans wonder why people hate their team
No, they don’t … they are generally just that arrogant 🙂
Good point
Next Cards batter gets plunked!!!
If it’s Neck Tattoo … hit him twice.
+1000
I mean the hated Cards manager’s name says it all… take out “Lo” which he is and what four letters do you have left?
Might not need to plunk anybody at this rate.
Murder in progress…. Call the FBI
+500
Like I said our first 4 guys have to do it.This time it was them and Sonny.It just is what it is and has been.Throw in Wink and play TySteve every day and you get 5 guys.Bench the guys that play third and get Barrero up and mix and match at third with Shrock and Farmer and the lineup is better,get Senzel up here in put him in center with Naquin and you have a deep lineup every game and I mean every game.Then you can play with the big boys cause our starters are good and our pen is better.
If Senzel’s knee is sound, I can’t see a problem with any of that. It all makes perfect sense.
So, none of it is likely to happen.
Totally agree Roger.
OK fair to say this particular LHP just didn’t have it today and Casti proved it even using a defective bat … 2 more LH starters on deck so the civilized informed discussion continues
who are the pitchers for the DET weekend?
Reds.com says Alexander v. Vlad, Boyd v. Mahle, and Mize v. La Piedra
+100
I Sadak, in addition to his robo-arm gear, still has oral diarrhea …
And Sir Strandsalot reverts back to form. Aided by that high “strike” no dobut.
Here’s the thing, even the .4oo+ OBP batters with productive outs still FAIL over half the time. Pointing out individual negative outcomes w/o additional relative context is just superfluous knee-jerk complaining and uninteresting
I’m with you mark. Thanks for all your comments. True Reds fan
Welcome to the HR parade Kyle Farmer!
My wife is now saying, “In your face!” … presumably to Schildt and the Dirty Birds.
FBI looking for a corn farmer that has been building bombs
+100
That’s pretty funny BoR
It would seem the Reds offense has some pent up aggression. Not mad about it.
That would seem to be the case … a LOT of pent up aggression. Hope they can carry some up I-75 to Motown.
Motown is coming down here without a DH
My bad … I see it now
Is this a 9 inning game??
Seven
It might take 3 hours at this pace though
7
Thanks guys. I thought so, but on game day it looked slated for 9. Thanks again!
Late tuning in to the second game. This is more like it. Nine hits and eight runs in just two innings. Bout time.
Hope the bats stay hot for the next several weeks and the pitching is strong. Need to put some serious distance between us and the Padres, Cardinals, and Phillies while we still can.
6 RBI’s for Nick on 2 HR’s … and yes, it was a Grand Slam for the second one.
Sweet. We need for him and India and Votto to all get rocking all again. Looks like they may have gotten started.
I forgot in all that it’s still the 2nd inning with only 1 out …
Long break for Sonny……
Nice job desheids
Welcome to Cincinnati
This is quite the offensive outburst. Still the 2nd inning, no less!
We needed this one bad! The key guys in the pen will be rested.
I haven’t checked, but I think Milw has 10 more with St. Louis and the Brewers are shooting for the best record in the NL. We’ll be 2.5 up on Philly. They have a schedule as easy as the Reds so they’re probably our biggest challenge.
Maybe Sonny can go 7?
Actually we’re off tomorrow. Guys might need work. They should’ve pitched Lorenzen and/or Givens the first game.
I think we still want Alaniz eating some throwaway negligble leverage innings here
Does anyone remember the texas Baltimore 30-3 game? Lets try for that
So it’s the 3rd inning now, right? Just checking.
Nice highlight reel catch there. Would be a tough way to get injured though.
They said Nick has the 2nd highest home OPS in mlb (Vlad Jr). I don’t know if he’ll want to leave that. I think the Reds might have to bump him up to $90 for 4 years or something, but I think he comes back. Or hoping.
I’d wager somebody is going to give him a really fat contract and he’ll take it. It’s been a good ride with him. Let’s see how far we can take it.
Career ops B- C+. Road numbers this year B- C+. Idk? That doesn’t seem like $30 mil/year to me, but I thought it was crazy to pay Anthony Rendon that much.
He will definitely opt out…why take the risk? He has had a great season who knows what will happen next year…he could get hurt or simply not have good year. I mean that is the whole purpose of a player option.
Once he opts out there is not much chance the Reds will out bid their competition.
I will say this though, the Reds offense is likely to be absolutely miserable without him. The Front office must find some way to replace his production. I am not confident it is up to the task.
Worst case for Casti is a $22mil neighborhood QO from the Reds
Love for him to stay.If Reds could unload some money then it might work.Two of these 3 would have to go in Shogo,Suarez or Moose.Maybe could throw in a starter to move one of them.We will see.
Roger I agree. I mean trade Sonny or Mahle if it means unloading two of those contracts. If they don’t they will end up having to trade some pitching anyway to replace Nick’s offense.
Worst case scenario for me is Nick ends up in a Cardinals uniform.
The 3-2 decoy kind of worked … not. But it definitely clipped his shoe.
Cardinals play the Brewers this weekend. Padres play the Astros. If the Reds can take care of business against the Tigers we might be able to get up by a couple of games.
Detroit have a couple of lefties going this weekend..so there is that.
Catching the Bernies is just shy of impossible. So if they beat down the Dirty Birds while we take care of business against the Motown Kitties, I’m fine with that. Plus if the Bernies can actually get the best NL record, they’d play us in the first round (assuming we win #163).
Well, now … that’s an interesting development. A mental error resulting in only one out instead of two.
Time for Farmer to hit the green.
Too bad this isnt a nine inning game. It would be 30 – 3 with my math
+100
Nick with 6 RBI’s. Farmer with 3. AA walking 2x tonight.
Weird, weird night.
3 BB’s for AA … weirder still.
Yep its a weird one but everybody is getting in the act could be more weirder
Now get some guys the rest of the night off and maximize the refreshing off time
DeSields looks like he’s having fun out there. Definitely covering a lot of ground (looks like Nick isn’t quite used to that).
2nd deck
Geno’s really back this time.
That didn’t hit the yellow line
Suarez a homer and 2 doubles in the doubleheader. Keep it up Geno, Reds need it.
Suarez trying to make that for sure out of here Hoffman to finish it I think
Pretty safe bet on one more set of AB’s for each of us. Game is pushing 3 hours now. I can only imagine how long it would go if it were a 9-inning affair.
I’m happy with this outcome … that much is certain.
but 9 innings it would be 30-3 lol
Yes … yes it would have been.
Welsh talking about how exciting it would be for the Reds to inject the “speed game” back into the mix, but he doesn’t know how that gets done. Larkin with the quick quip, “It starts with personnel.” Absolutely priceless comment – you’re going to have to dump some older, slower players and let the newer, faster kids run and play.
They could do it selectively at the bottom of the order with Naquin and DeShields. There are certain advantages to gambling stolen bases with the 7 hole and 2 outs trying to work around your pitchers making outs or bunting … trying to use the pitcher to be the third out, stuff like that. The risk is injuring ankles, hands, knees and jamming joints
I’m definitely liking Larkin in the booth. They guy knows the game very well and he seems to be getting more comfortable as the season goes on.
Catch you all on Friday. Bring on the Tiggers!!
a glorious victroy…. retake sole ownership of WC2
Reds bounce back and there were no walks by our pitchers tonight which well is the amazing stat of the night and you heard it first from the old guy.
I just hope we see Larkin as field manager next year. Won’t happen because Bell is solid with the owner but I think Barry could make this team into a very solid fundamentally sound championship team.
Never ever going to happen under tinker bell. I know a couple dudes on here are fans of tinker but I remain Unpersuaded by their repetitive support. Tinker would have been run out of NYC after one month of his nonsense.