Tyler Mahle threw nine shutout innings for the Cincinnati Reds, but like much of this season for the Reds, even that was not enough. The Reds offense got 10 runners on base through the first nine innings, but could not get any of them around to score. Cincinnati had multiple balls hit that would have been a home run at Great America Ballpark, but Chase Field plays different.
After Mahle sent the game to the 10th inning, TJ Friedl came through with a pinch hit double to put the Reds in front 1-0. Friedl got to third base on a wild pitch, but the Reds stranded him there.
The Diamondbacks got their free runner to score in the bottom of the 10th off Alexis Diaz, but he was able to strand a runner on third base with only 1 out to get the game to the 11th inning.
Kyle Farmer came through big time in the 11th. Diamondbacks pitcher Ian Kennedy had just struck out Joey Votto, and a promising inning with runners on 2nd and 3rd base was looking dicey. Farmer ripped a double, his third hit of the night, to give the Reds a 3-1 lead.
Luis Cessa pitched the 11th inning. He was one out away from his first save with the Reds, but threw two wild pitches to allow the Diamondbacks to tie this crazy game.
The Reds scored two runs in the top of the 12th inning, thanks to an Albert Almora RBI triple and an RBI on Jonathan India’s first hit since returning to the lineup.
Joel Kuhnel got the job done for the Reds in the bottom of the 12th, retiring all 3 batters without allowing the ghost runner to score. The Reds have now won three straight games, and they are 20-17 since May 7th. The Reds also secured their second road series victory of the season.
| Final / 12 innings | R | H | E |
| Arizona Diamondbacks (29-35) | 3 | 5 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (23-39) | 5 | 13 | 2 |
| W: Cessa (3-1) L: Poppen (1-1) S: Kuhnel (1) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Biggest Play of the Game
According to Fangraphs WPA statistic (winning percentage added), the biggest play of the game for the Reds was a Kyle Farmer’s 2-RBI single with 1 out in the 11th inning, giving the Reds a 3-1 lead. That play increased the Reds probability of winning by 24.6% (from 55.4% to 80.0%).
Positives
Tyler Mahle was just incredible. His final line on the evening: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 12. The zero walks is just incredible. I’m not sure enough people realize how big of a loss Mahle will be if the Reds do decide to trade him in a few weeks. Mahle’s FIP for the season is now down to 3.69.
Tyler Mahle of the @Reds is the only MLB pitcher in the modern era to throw 9.0+ shutout innings with 12+ strikeouts and no walks on the road and yet not get the win.
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) June 15, 2022
Tonight is the seventh time since 1990 that a Reds pitcher has thrown 9+ innings and received a no-decision.
Tyler Mahle (tonight)
Mike Leake (9/6/2011)
Travis Wood (7/10/2010)
Aaron Harang (7/23/2007)
Aaron Harang (5/15/2007)
Brett Tomko (7/26/1998)
John Smiley (9/27/1996)— Matt Wilkes (@_MattWilkes) June 15, 2022
What more can you say about Kyle Farmer? Another 3 hit day and the game winning hit. Farmer now has a .778 OPS on the season.
Jonathan India made his return to the Reds lineup. He was of course hit by a pitch in his first plate appearance, and then once again in the 8th inning. He is clearly already in mid-season form. India got a hit in the 12th inning – a big insurance RBI single.
Mike Moustakas had a great night at the plate. He had 2 hits, one of them a 417 foot double, but also made a 404 foot out earlier in the game.
Nick Senzel had 1 hit on the night, but also made 356, 395 and 407 ft. outs. Chase Field is tough for hitters. Senzel had 4 hard hit balls according to Statcast.
Senzel's ball would've been gone in 19 parks.
Moustakas's ball in the next AB would've been gone in 25 parks.
No runs.— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt) June 15, 2022
Joel Kuhnel pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the 12th inning for his first career save.
Negatives
The Reds blew a pretty good chance in the 7th inning when JR House sent Kyle Farmer home with just 1 out. Farmer was out by a mile, taking away a chance for Albert Almora Jr. to bat with runners on 2nd and 3rd with 1 out. Both the TV and Radio liked the decision, but I thought it was too aggressive with Farmer running and Almora, who has done a nice job making contact sitting on deck in a 0-0 game.
Not so random thoughts……………
The big controversy of the night was David Bell not having Nick Senzel bunt in the top of the 9th with runners on 1st & 2nd, with 0 outs in a 0-0 game. There are two thoughts here: Senzel has 0 sacrifice bunts in his big league career, so it’s likely Senzel is not a good bunter and Bell was concerned if he could actually get the bunt down. The other thing is that Mike Moustakas was the next batter. Moustakas in his Reds career is batting .167/.289/.241 in 128 plate appearances vs LHP. Bell did have Matt Reynolds on the bench who actually pinch-ran for Moustakas in the 10th inning.
Up Next:
Reds at Diamondbacks
Wednesday, 3:40 PM
TV: Bally Sports Ohio
Luis Castillo (3.23 ERA/3.32 FIP) vs Zac Gallen (2.95 ERA/3.68 FIP)
I was a fan of the send at the time….half a day later…not so much lol.
Oh yea, see you all in half a day lol
I was a fan too. When it took 2 perfect relay throws to get you by an eyelash, it’s worth the gamble.
He certainly wasn’t out by a mile. I thought his foot got in there and was worth a challenge .
Yes, the play at the plate with Farmer was MUCH closer than it initially appeared. So, he was not out by a mile in any sense of the term. He was called out, but he MAY have JUST beaten the tag. We will never know, and thankfully it does not matter now.
Never know what is going to happen on a play at the plate since the rule changes because most catchers are reluctant to risk a “free run” by blocking a runner even in situations where the letters of the rules say they are allowed to do it.
I support Bell for the most part. The lineup construction is fine. I don’t have a problem with his bullpen usage. Good leadership. Players respect him and play hard for him.
My main issue with Bell is his play calling. I think he is way too conservative. Especially in a game like this. You knew after the first inning this was going to be a low scoring affair. You have to do whatever you can to get players off first base to take the double play out of the equation. More bunts and steals are needed if we are going to compete in the future. We are not going to hit a lot of home runs anymore with the financial situation so we have to rely on other ways to score
I like bunts and steals, but they are worthless strategies–losing strategies–if you don’t have players who can execute them.
I don’t like all changes baseball has made over the years, but much less sacrifice bunting is a big positive. Especially with the DH (which I don’t like), there should almost never be a sacrifice bunt (giving up an out) in the first five innings of a game. However, in the 9th with Senzel, that’s one of the few situations I was pro-sacrifice. Even if Senzel isn’t known to be a good bunter, he could have given up one strike trying to get the bunt down. However, it worked out in the end. I was not able to watch any of the extra innings, but woke up to good news this morning.
Mahle is now 3rd in the NL in K’s and 8th in innings
This is his track record.
He gives you 30 starts and 180 innings and 200k’s
Hed be in the top5 Cy Young if he pitched in Arizona or SF.
@Old School very good observation about where he pitches his home games at.
Good observation. SF will get him and will have similar success as Ghausman.
I believe it is also the 7th straight game he has gone over 100 pitches.
It is Derek Johnson’s fault that Mahle pitched 9 scoreless innings!
Maybe he stopped listening to DJ.
What a game by Mahle. Really nice to see the number of walks come down. I had been leaning towards keeping Castillo as the anchor of this young pitching staff, but Mahle is coming on strong. Old school’s observations about IPs and home ballpark are spot on.
Get an extension hammered out now.
Yeah, but an extension means Mahle pitches half his games in GABP.
I think Mahle would be the cheaper extension.
This. The $, as well as the durability.
I don’t agree much about the play at home throwing Farmer out because watching the replay I think he is tagged just when he makes contact on the plate so he was safe…
If Mahle is traded at deadline please that will be at least for a #1 or #2 prospect ready to reach the majors preferably an OF or a C..
Friedl has some hits in the last games good sign…
Drury’s hitting streak is over…
Interesting post game quotes after the game. One from Bell how he would remember the look Mahle gave him making eye contact with him in the 9th inning letting him know he wanted to stay in and Bell said he would remember that look forever and how cool that was.
The other was from Mahle himself on the game Garcia called.
“…the sequences he was calling…was the greatest Ive ever seen by far. It was the greatest game I think Ive ever seen called. Keeping them off-balance, going in, out, up ,down. That was really cool”
Looks like Mahle has himself a personal catcher now. I’d like to see some tangible explanation on the effect 1 catcher vs another has on a pitcher. Is it real or just perceived by the pitcher and translates into confidence for the pitcher. Whatever it is, Garcia gave that to Mahle. Last year you had Barnhart and Miley and prior years it seemed Castillo had vastly different splits if Curt Casali was catching him(good) rather than Barnhart.(bad)
Good observations, Old-school.
Unfortunately its always the guys that hit .160 that call the best games. He’s one of the worst hitters I’ve seen in a while
That…and they were playing Arizona. But if he mentally believes Garcia made a difference, then it most likely did. 90% of this game is half-mental.
makes sense.
Cessa spikes two sliders to blow the save…and gets credited with the win?
Make it make sense, baseball
Happy for Mahle. I hope he keeps this up and is extended instead of traded. For my money, it is also amazing what a couple of young comers like Greene and Ashcraft are doing to wake up the competitive drive in the rest of the rotation pitchers.
0.5 games out of fourth and 1.5 games out of third in the division. And we’re still far from healthy, though the health is trending upwards …
Go Reds
Alot of decisions to be made. They really can’t afford to lose both Castillo and Mahle imo.
Moose and Senzel actually hit the ball pretty hard last night. I was hoping they’d bite the bullet on Moose and cut him loose early like they did with Shogo, but they do need power if Bell can keep him off 3B and they won’t eat that much $ anyway.
Lastly Almora Jr. was a nice find! He’s had a few hiccups defensively which is unusual for him, but he’s normally silky smooth in the OF and a pesky hitter. Either 4th OFer or starter batting 8th-9th
If the ump didn’t give Davies that pitch 2 inches off the plate to righthanded hitters I think it would have been an entirely different offensive game for the Reds. It’s a ball and he called it a strike all night long. I don’t want to hear about “as long as it’s consistent…” or any other excuses. A strike is a strike and a ball is a ball. These hitters are elite at knowing the strike zone and shouldn’t have to modify all that training on the fly because an ump is incompetent. Roboumps can’t get here fast enough. There are so many balls/strikes calls every single game I watch that literally change the game. Every. Single. Game.
Great win for sure but Tom said it best the other day Reds lack players that can provide the big hit or big pitch.Last two games shows what can happen such as Drury’s 3 run homer and Mahle pitching his best game ever perhaps.Both are under 30 so there is hope.
I do not have any issue with being aggressive on base paths. In fact, more aggression needed. Would love to see Bell put pressure on defense with stolen bases, hit and runs, bunt, especially against shifts. Maybe, even safety and suicide squeeze plays.
Reds are 13th in MLB in stolen bases this season. They have a couple of guys, Senzel and Friedl, who are fast enough to be serious threats but don’t get on base much. Some of the other guys, like Farmer and Pham, are decent situationally. Stealing is great when it works and when the other team tries it and it doesn’t work. My sense is that with the Reds’ personnel, 13th in MLB isn’t bad.
Pleasantly surprised when I saw the final score this morning. Very surprised to see it took 12 innings. Extremely surprised with Mahle’s stellar performance.
Onward to the day game, even though I’m planning on mowing the back yard for part of it.
You were better off seeing the score this morning than having to live through the 10th and 11th innings. The Reds played well on offense in the extra innings, but the Reds pitching (wild pitches) and defense let the ‘Backs stay in the game.
In the bottom of the 10th, the Reds went from 1 run ahead with one out to having the winning run against them at 3B with still one out.
In the 11th without a ball being put into play, the Reds went from 2 runs ahead, 2 outs with opposition runners on the corners to a tie score and the winning run against them in scoring position. How? A wild pitch with an error on the cover attempt at the plate scoring the ghost man and allowing the runner on 1st to advance all the way to 3rd, a second wild pitch to score the tying run, a walk, and following a stolen base.
It was Little League 101 all over again.
I get the feeling that Farmer is one of the leaders on this team. He plays hard and seems like a friendly southern guy like Jeff Brantley, but also a grinder and doesn’t make many mistakes. I would consider playing Farmer in the OF or DH occasionally while they evaluate Barrero, but I wouldn’t trade him off unless someone really antes up.
Does anyone really trust the Reds to win trades involving proven talent for potential…i.e. unproven? I don’t. I remember pulling a Fred Sanford heart attack when they dealt Josh Hamilton for Volquez. We could’ve atleast went to the NL Championship with Hamilton.
The sadly ironic thing about Farmer is that even as he is proving he belongs in general, we see almost daily that the clock is striking midnight on him as an everyday SS defensively. There were a couple of more instances last night.
Whether it is Barrero or somebody else, no later than 2023, they need someone else at SS. Maybe Farmer becomes a 3B or LF or perhaps the DH vs LH pitching and all around super sub?
Agree with Indy and Jim. I do wonder if his uncharacteristically sloppy defense might be the result of some nagging injury. He played with a strain part of last season.
I wouldn’t say Farmer was out “by a mile”. Little closer than that. Martel made a great throw on the relay.
Reds have a propensity to hit into DPs so if it’s the 1st to 6th inning, let Senzel hit. However, top of the 9th in a scoreless game, two on, nobody out, gotta drop a bunt there.
Steve I have no issue letting Senzel hit there. He actually hit the ball hard a few times last night. I’m liking what I’m seeing from Senzel. He has been very patient at the plate and has played very well defensively. If he stays on the field and that is a big IF he can be part of the offensive core going forward.
I’m gonna side with Steven here. Senzel should be bunting there. If he doesn’t know how to bunt?? The question would then be… Why not?
Bunting probably isn’t emphasized because giving up outs is rarely a productive strategy.
That was just a very dumb comment by Nick that Farmer was “out by a mile.” In fact it was a close play and just a perfect relay by Martel and Varsho. It was the right move especially with the lack of scoring opportunities that the Reds had.
Disappointed in this comment. “Just a very dumb comment” is flat out rude. Do better.
Well I wouldn’t say it was an intelligent comment. I guess I should choose my words differently so I disappoint people. I’m sure nick’s feelings aren’t hurt.
I go back and forth about trading Farmer. He really gives you professional at bats. Maybe he is one of those players that all they needed was a position and at bats.
I’m in the same boat, but I lean towards keeping him. I still want to bring Barrero up and give him a shot at SS this year. Barrero is the better defender.
And if Barrero does well, we still need a 3B next year. I have no doubt Farmer would be an upgrade over Moose.
I would like to see Barrera as well with Farmer moving to 3B. The issue for me is Barrera needs to recover from the injury and put some consistent good games together.
@JimT> Barrero had a good one Tuesday. 3/5 with a HR. Hopefully this is the start of a run by him. BTW, his OPS is .725. That’s just a tad better than Schrock on his rehab and almost .200 ahead of Solano’s.
My default on this has always been that I think Farmer should be shopped, because I don’t think he’ll be part of the core of the next good Reds team. But it also seems more and more like he’s a clubhouse grinder that has intangible value.
Maybe sell high on either him or Drury, but not both?
Extend Mahle.
Watching our 10, 11, 12 innings. Cowboy was really laying into the decisions made in the 9th and elsewhere. Noting that you “manage by the printout so you don’t get second guessed” and then it happens anyway. Strongly suggesting the game should have been won in the 9th but the opportunity to do so was missed via the attempts to out-guess rather than do what should be done to win.
With men on first and second and Senzel and Moose due up I can understand not bunting. In a season where we are trying to grow are young talent and Senzel being one in that category and with little chance of sniffing the playoffs I like letting him hit there.
The growth is also about making winning plays for the team….not necessarily weather he can come through with a clutch hit. A successful bunt would be a huge contributing factor for a team, should they go on to win.
I normally hate bunting. But I think it was called for here.
Nah, you definitely don’t give up an out there when a runner is already in scoring position. Letting him hit was the right call.
The Cowboy would make a good manager.
He’s probably way too smart and opinionated to take that job for the Reds. He knows what the FO is and how they will act.
@MM> I saw, read, or heard somewhere that Cowboy has Mensa level intellect. Don’t recall what the source was; so, not vouching for it but don’t doubt it.
—and while we’re at it, extend Drury and Almora. Drury’s numbers inside the numbers prove he’s legit and versatile at the same time…..qualities essential in a modern position player.
Today I wanna make a case for Almora. He’s everything you want in a playoff caliber bench piece—elite defense, strong baserunner, dangerous enough with the bat to give a manager late game options, and he can start for long stretches if necessary. Lastly, his unabashed intensity and hustle makes him a good example for the young core.
At some point the Reds will have to start assembling a roster that can compete in October, and that sorting process starts with deciding which veterans to keep. I think both of these guys would jump at 2 year extensions, grateful to finally get some security.
Keeping Almora Jr. and Drury makes sense to me. They are young enough and should be affordable. Mahle is a different matter. I doubt he’s going to take a “hometown discount” and I’m not a fan of long-term pitcher deals anyway. I’m in the camp that says move him soon if you can get a good return and ride the next wave of arms into the future.
Mahle is increasing his trade ability. I am/was against moving him because he had destroyed his value this year. Since his big blow up game on 5/24 he’s looked a lot better. If he continues to play well his value may come back.
Last 4 outings: 1.30 ERA
6.2 IP 0 ER 3 BB 8 K
6.0 IP 3 ER 2 BB 6 K
6.0 IP 1 ER 2 BB 10 K
9.0 IP 0 ER 0 BB 12 K
Thanks for the stats MBS.
If you haven’t seen the announcement, the Blue Jays are now down a starter for the rest of the year. I suspect well see more teams come knocking, especially if Mahle keeps it up.
I did, if we could get Tiedemann LHP from them 97th ranked prospect, and Taylor INF/OF for Mahle, I’d be stoked.
Reds have played .540 baseball since the 3-22 start. While I don’t think the Reds need to trade prospects for bullpen help to win more games this year, I do think it’s important for this team to play winning baseball as part of developing for the future. They’re on pace to overtake the Cubs and Pirates in the division.
Bell took a lot of heat for the 3-22 start. He probably deserves some credit for the 20-17 rebound.
My opinion on Bell is that he knows the game. He has experience as a player and manager. He relates very well to his players and they play very hard for him. Given the right amount of talent I think he can produce a winner. The question for me is will ownership make the necessary investment to secure the talent for him to make a run. We have the makings of a top of the league rotation. The question is will ownership commit the funds to ensure our young pitchers aren’t wasted?
No way Bell gets a top team win top talent. Reds don’t count as they are an inferior organization as has been well documented on this board.
Bell will never be entrusted with a top team/top organization.
Charlie Goldsmith??? I gave up the Enquirer quite a while back. Does this mean that Dick Forbes is gone???
DF is probably in that big press box in the sky with Lou Smith, Si Burick, Ritter Collett, et al. 😉
Pretty sure one of Lou’s go-to lines went something like “Reds showing more bounce than the India rubber man” whenever they staged a remarkable rally, back in the day… however politically incorrect it may have been. From his perch in that press box, he may have been itching to type that watching the resilient Reds last night.
Happy to see that Kuhnel got another crack at closing out the game. I know it was the 12th inning and other guys had been used, but good on Kuhnel for coming through.
That pitch he threw to Edmond for the HR, his last game, wasn’t that bad. Slider below the knees.
Interesting read and deep dive on Brandon Drury at MLB trade rumors.
Mahle has always been a favorite of mine ever since his minor league days. He pitched very well but he cannot be expected to do this every game. He would be good to keep on the team with the younger pitchers, but if they can deal him for top prospects, I think they should. He’s not going to be the ace of anybody’s staff but is a good 3 or 4 starter. I just think if a wise deal can be made, it should be done.
He’s probably closer to being a #2 than a #3 or#4. He’s been above average since 2020. He led the team in pitching with 3.8 fWAR last year and currently has 1.9 and we aren’t even half way through the season. To put things in perspective, Hunter Greene has .2 fWAR.
If you can extend Mahle you do it because the Reds probably aren’t going to get someone better in free agency for the same amount of money. Ideally, the Reds can find a way to keep both Castillo and Mahle. A Castillo, Mahle, Ashcraft, Lodolo and Greene rotation could have the potential of being very, very good.
The last 2 years have convinced me of 1 thing, you need a closer. This closer by committee experiment has been painful to watch. The Reds cut payroll this year, but then went back up to a 114M payroll. I’d say it’s safe to assume that’s in their comfort zone. We are going to have a boat load of money coming of in 23, 30+M, and even more in 24 with JV and MM alone accounting for 40+M more.
Please Nick/Bob invest in the pen, and get a couple of bats to fill in the holes where we haven’t developed prospects to fill. You’re going to have a lot of excess cash available.
A bullpen with multiple dependable arms and a shutdown closer would be great. But we’re far away from that.
My first focus would be getting multiple dependable arms.
How much of Chris Okey’s passed balls is on him compared to the pitcher? I just watched the highlights on Youtube and it appears that Diaz burried both pitches.
Neither of the two Cessa pitches were passed balls, both were wild pitches. Wild pitches are on the pitcher, passed balls are on the catcher. Those weren’t Okey’s fault..
Line-up is posted. As of this moment, the Manatee has a 1B glove on his flipper. Less egregious than the other option, but still. It was done to let Joey be the DH. Reynolds is in RF. Both AAJ and Pham are “resting”.
All that said, I know a 12-inning game is taxing, especially when you have to turn around and play the next afternoon. Hope everybody slept well.
Cheers! It’s almost time to Kick this Pig!!
I’m not the biggest fan either, but he’s still a member of the Reds. Could we show a little restraint in the disparaging nicknames?
Manatee? Nothing disparaging about being compared to a Manatee. Moose, on the other hand, are typically myopic and infested with ticks and brain worms.