In another early season match up between Cincinnati and Philadelphia, the Reds put together clutch hits in a 3-run 3rd inning to take a lead of the Phillies and thanks to a strong showing from Nick Lodolo and the bullpen they never looked back in a 6-2 victory at Great American Ball Park on Thursday night.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Philadelphia Phillies (4-9) | 2 | 9 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (5-7) | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| W:Â Lodolo (2-0) L: Falter (0-2) SV: Diaz (2) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Philadelphia grabbed an early lead when Trea Turner singled and came around to score on an RBI hit by Nick Castellanos in the 1st inning. The Reds got that run back almost immediately. Jonathan India led off the bottom of the inning with a double and then he stole third base. The throw down to the bag went all of the way to the wall in left field and India scored to tie the game up.
Nick Lodolo had to battle in the 2nd inning, too. He allowed back-to-back 1-out singles, and then loaded the bases with a walk to Trea Turner. That led to Derek Johnson heading to the mound to try and do some “pitcher whispering”. It worked as Lodolo got Kyle Schwarber to ground out and keep the game tied up.
In the bottom of the 3rd inning Spencer Steer put the Reds on top for the first time in the game as he singled to bring in Jose Barrero, making it a 2-1 game. The offense didn’t stop there as Stuart Fairchild singled and then Tyler Stephenson drove in Steer with a single of his own to extend the lead to 3-1. Wil Myers kept things rolling with an RBI single of his own into left field that padded the lead.
Edmundo Sosa led off the 4th inning with a double, but Nick Lodolo worked around it with a strikeout, fly out, and a ground out to hold onto the Reds 4-1 lead. In the top of the 5th inning Kyle Schwarber didn’t want to leave things up to anyone else and hit a solo homer just beneath the power stacks in right-center to cut the lead to 4-2. That was the first home run Lodolo has given up to a lefty and just the second extra-base hit.
The Reds got that run back in the bottom of the inning. Cincinnati got three singles in the inning with the final coming off of the bat of Wil Myers that extended the Reds lead to 5-2 and gave Myers a second RBI on the night.
With 97 pitches, Nick Lodolo was finished after five innings. Alex Young took over in the 6th inning and struck out two of the three batters he faced, needing just nine pitches to get through a perfect inning. Cincinnati added on in the bottom of the frame. Kevin Newman was hit by a pitch and then came around to score from 1st on a 1-out double to the wall in center by Jose Barrero, making it 6-2 for the home team.
Alex Young returned for the 7th inning and fired off another 1-2-3 inning. When the Reds took the field for the 8th inning, Nick Senzel moved from center to second base, with TJ Friedl – who walked as a pinch hitter earlier in the game – moving from left to center, and then Jake Fraley taking over in left after pinch hitting for Kevin Newman. Derek Law also took over on the mound for the Reds and picked up two strikeouts in a perfect inning. He came back out for the 9th to try and hold onto the 6-2 lead, but walked the first batter of the inning before striking out pinch-hitters Jake Cave and Kody Clemens. Things got interesting after that as Bryson Stott bunted for a base hit to put two men on, leading to David Bell heading out to the mound to call on Alexis Diaz. He struck out the only batter he faced to pick up his second save of the year.
Key Moment of the Game
The bottom of the 3rd inning when the Reds put together four consecutive 2-out singles to plate three runs and take a 4-1 lead.
Notes Worth Noting
Spencer Steer’s hot start to the year continued. He’s now hitting .325/.413/.575 and has six walked with just seven strikeouts in 12 games played.
Andrew Abbott struck out 14 batters in 6.0 shutout innings without a walk for Double-A Chattanooga.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Philadelphia Phillies vs Cincinnati Reds
Friday April 14th, 6:40pm ET
Taijuan Walker (0-1, 6.00) vs. Connor Overton (0-0, 10.13 ERA)
this team is fun to watch and frustrating to watch…probably because they are young but missing a few pieces. Way better than 2022. Go Reds.
Spencer Steer ROY!!!
If Steer is eligible, I’d say we mount a campaign.
Someone answer that question definitively. i don’t know but i think so.
My hope is that Steer’s hitting holds once Bell starts inevitably juggling him around from position to position again with the return of Senzel.
He’s eligible.
@HS I strongly doubt we see Steer at anything other than 3B for a long while. I’m 100% not against him playing other spots, however. He has that ability.
I’d love for Steer to win ROY, but that’s definitely Kodai Senga’s to lose.
What about the kid with the Cardinals?
Fun game to watch. Minimal frustrations and a great way to open the homestand.
As of right now we’re officially tied with the Cardinals for 4th place. Yaah! 🙂
Abbott is making a name for himself. Steer too.
Abbott has started this year like he finished last year. AAA is probably just a few more starts away for him. He made 20 starts in AA last year, and has looked absolutely dominate in his first two this year.
He’s certainly needed at Louisville. They are now 2-10, most of it while having Nick Senzel and Joey Votto in the lineup
Very nice win. I have been pleasantly surprised by this offense.
If ownership doesn’t mess this up, this team could be a contender from 2024-2029. If the big 3 become all stars, enough young guys like CES, Steer, EDLC, break through, and keeping Tyler, TJ, and others. Abbott got 14Ks in 6 shutout innings in AA!
Good game all around. Nice to see the bullpen get itself out of a couple jams and put up some scoreless frames. In a year where there is very little chance of playoff potential there probably arent must wins, but this game was close. The young core is developing before our eyes and it is fun to watch. Go Reds!!
The difference (obviously) was better pitching tonight.
Nick Lodolo struggled a bit, but still pitched 5 good innings. And the bullpen was solid….tonight. There is talent down there in the ‘pen, but these guys just have to get in a good groove, and Bell has to establish a predictable pattern to how they are used; middle innings, set-up, closer. I think he is trying to find just who is reliable. Alex Young has taken a big step up.
Buck Farmer did not pitch tonight, either. 😉
Can Hunter Strickland be far away ??….Okay, that’s just sarcasm.
If Tony Santillan and Lucas Sims come back…then who goes? Buck Farmer? He has not distinguished himself.
Some people were a little pessimistic about Spencer Steer as he did not really hit well in his September call-up in 2022.
Guys run hot and cold, but you have to give a player 400-500 AB’s to really judge whether he can cut it at the ML level.
And the Reds were home, playing a really not-so-good Phillies team, after being on the road to play a pretty good Atlanta team and played the Phillies in Citizens Bank Park, where they have the WORST winning percentage of any road park they have played in.
The weird, freakonomic aspects of baseball teams predict a lot of weird things.
I think we’ve found our 8th inning guy in Young and our 9th inning guy in Diaz. Just have to find a guy for the 7th as hopefully our starters can go 6.
Maybe Cruz and Law could be those 7th inning guys? Law has had really good outings and some not so good outings.
If Sims can be the pitcher we used to know he could easily be our 7th inning guy.
Hes there in plain sight-Fernando Cruz.
Young has been impressive. He’s kinda serving the role Antone had before he was injured, multi inning relief in key situations. Diaz is still the silver bullet, but if Young keeps this up, maybe Diaz can be used like a more traditional closer.
“If Tony Santillan and Lucas Sims come back…then who goes? Buck Farmer? He has not distinguished himself.“
I bet we get one of those 2 back soon, and I’m leaning toward Farmer going on the IL as the corresponding move.
Farmer not looking too good for sure.
Strickland came back to reality tonight.
Better to come back to reality down in AAA than up here. 🙂
Andrew Abbott will be the 4th member of our four horsemen stable of starters hopefully 4 years to come!
Abbott was really, really impressive tonight. He had decent AA hitters looking just baffled. He is far from overpowering but looks like he has the tools to be a solid #4/5 guy, maybe a bit more. I was looking for a comp — he’s not quite like Tom Browning, but I was beginning to think Freddie Norman. He just pitches.
Agreed!
I had to pause the game with the Reds up 6-2 in the 6th inning. About an hour later I returned to watch the rest. This certainly wasn’t the outcome I was expecting. I thought the Reds might win, but only because I assumed they’d scored a few more runs. A final score of 6-2 was quite a pleasant surprise.
For me tonights most positive things. Law going 1.2 good innings. Meyers moving closer to the plate and getting a couple of hits. Barrero getting a double and gaining confidence. Lots of two out hits.
Not so good, obviously Senzel 0-4 looking lost at plate. But first day back, nerves etc.
I was really hoping Nick would get a base hit to get the proverbial monkey off his back.
Nice game tonight all around. My only negative (besides a cold start for Senzel) is Lodolo’s pitch (in)efficiency. I’m really hoping all of the big 3 will learn to consistently last at least 6 innings. Obviously that won’t happen every outing, but it will be huge in the long run, with impact in how many starts each will get, and on demands on and effectiveness of the bullpen.
On an unrelated note, Votto didn’t play for the Bats tonight. Any reason to think he’s either hurt or headed to Cincinnati to join the Reds?
“On an unrelated note, Votto didn’t play for the Bats tonight. Any reason to think he’s either hurt or headed to Cincinnati to join the Reds?”
My thoughts too.
I personally saw it as just a day off, but who knows. Hopefully its in place of the back-up back-up catcher if he does come up.
There’s this tweet today FWIW:
https://twitter.com/CharlieG__/status/1646624706110316551
Votto has not looked good at AAA at all. He is not ready to come up according to Bell he is day to day. Hoping it was just a day off for him.
RE: Votto. They didn’t play Monday (off day); so, Votto had only played in 2 consecutive games. Except for a doubleheader game 2, he had been playing in every game.
On Wednesday he walked in the top of the 7th but was replaced on defense for the bottom of the inning. The play by play on MiLB Gameday is very clear that he was NOT run for after walking but instead was replaced in a defensive substitution for the bottom of the inning. The Bats were trailing 5-1 at the time and Votto had been on base 4x, 3BB and a hit.
That’s as much as I know because I was watching the Reds and did not go back and look at any video of the Bats later on.
Thanks again for another update. (thumbs up)
Glad India scored in the first inning. But, if that catcher’s throw was anywhere near better, India would have been out easily.
I brought this name up a few days ago. Andy Fisher another 2 innings of no hit, 4 K baseball. Did have his first 2 walks tho. I’d expect him and Abbot to get a call up to Louisville in the near future.
I need to look up to see how Williamson is doing in AAA.
Tonight went 5 innings, 6 hits 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 6.57 era on the year.
Not too good so far.
Scuffling, as they used to say. Tonight (Thursday) Williamson allowed 4 runs (all earned) on 6 hits with 2BB and 5 Ks in 5 innings of work. He threw 80 pitches/ 50 strikes which is an improvement over some recent efforts.
His season ERA is 6.57. In 3 starts he has only pitched 12.1 innings
Age 27 ay AA doesn’t scream prospect. But that’s not to say he couldn’t show up for some time.
Yea, when I brought him up the other day I said because of his age it wouldn’t be unrealistic for him to skip Trip A and get a shot on the MLB team if we kept getting bad outings there. Couldn’t hurt.
Are you saying Abbot is 27?
Age doesn’t really matter nearly as much for relief pitchers, or really for pitchers in general. Jacob DeGrom debuted at age 26. If a pitcher can get guys out, nobody cares when his birthday was.
Not that you’d want to sign a 34-year-old pitcher for 5 years — which is what the Rangers did with DeGrom — but Fisher’s being 27 shouldn’t hold him back any. I do agree that I’d like to see it at AAA first. Until this year’s small sample size, he’s had trouble throwing strikes.
Who? Neither Williamson or Abbott is 27.
Nah. My main post was talking about Andy Fisher. He’s 27. Maybe a bit wild but can definitely get a strikeout. I wanna see him in Louisville. That teams pitching has been horrendous.
Okay. The Cardinals lost so the Reds are officially in fourth place all by themselves. Staying out of last place should be the first goal and then go from there playing and striving to win one game at a time….keeping the players that are hitting well in the lineup one way or another through the DH or whatever. haha 🙂
The goal should be to win the division. If you fall short, you still could end up with a nice finish, maybe even playoffs. If the goal is to stay out of last place and you fail, the result is last place.
haha I understand your point buddy. As a matter of fact the goal should be the World Series Championship. We should shoot for the moon. We can’t do either one from last place though. As of right now we’re out of there which is the first goal. Just keep pushing forward one game at a time without looking back…..keeping the hot players in the lineup as much as possible. :)…. That’s my point.
Nice win.
Lodolo didn’t have his best stuff tonight but still gave the Reds a 5 solid innings of 2-run ball.
Young continues to be lights out. He has to be the setup man now.
Steer, India, and Stephenson just keep on keeping on.
Barrero continues to prove he belongs. Since April 3rd, he’s hitting .285 with a .380 OBP. As his confidence and comfort continues to grow, I expect him to really turn it on soon.
Nice to see Myers finally contributing. Hopefully it continues and he gets that trade value up. Would be nice to trade him for a left-handed bullpen arm.
Abbott off to an impressive start, if he can pitch well enough to make it to Cincinnati later this year, that would be a game changer.
Newman and Senzel looked lost at the plate. I’m willing to give Senzel more time, but the less we see of Newman, the better.
The Reds have 5 players hitting over .300 (India, Stephenson, Steer, Fraley, Friedl) and 2 more that have been hitting well (Fairchild and Barrero). Add CES and EDLC to the mix later on and the Reds might actually have a potent offense.
Then add Abbott to the rotation, and the Reds might actually have a potent rotation as well.
In an ideal world, this is what the team will look like at some point this year:
Lineup:
RF Friedl
2B India
LF Fraley
C Stephenson
1B CES
CF EDLC
3B Steer
SS Barrero
DH Fairchild/Senzel
Rotation:
RH Greene
LH Lodolo
RH Ashcraft
LH Abbot
RH Weaver
Bullpen:
CL Diaz
SU Young
LH Sanmartin
RH Cruz
RH Gibaut
RH Sims
RH Santillan
RH Farmer/Law/Cessa
They really need another lefty in the ‘pen, but this really has the makings of an exciting team.
Wildcards: What if Benson and Antone actually pan out as well?
If EDLC is moved into the OF, I’ve been thinking RF is the best option. In the above scenario we are expecting Fraley and Friedl to remain in the OF, which is likely. Neither of those 2 have a good arm. EDLC has the type of arm you’d want in RF, and Friedl seems to cover ground in CF very well.
Scenario #2, and scenario #3 would have Benson, or Siani hitting their way back to the MLB, and either of those 2 would be a good fit in CF. Benson has the thump to be a corner OF, but Siani really doesn’t. If scenario 2 or 3 plays out the DH spot would be perfect for Fraley.
Right, EDLC or Friedl in CF or RF, whoever has has the better arm goes to RF, the other stays in CF. Both are very fast, so it would be really tough for LH pull hitters to hit doubles to the gap in RF.
And if Benson works out and plays LF, that’s a whole lot of speed in the OF. Would be a lot tougher for any player to get a hit on a flyball.
The other reason I prefer ELDC in RF if it comes down to moving him is that the CF moves on every play. In other words, I think there’s a little less workload on a RF than a CF, which helps keep what we all hope is one of the team’s best players on the field.
@CI3j like your thoughts. What if we leave EDLC at SS and move Barrera to CF considering he has already played there at the ML level?
By all accounts, Barrero is the better defender at SS, while EDLC is faster, so he would be able to cover more ground in CF.
The most logical move is EDLC to CF with Barrero staying at SS. Barring that, maybe one of them could take over 3B, but then you’d have to find a new position for Steer. Maybe he could play RF if he has the arm for it.
Yea EDLC has played some 3rd base in minors.
An option maybe Steer to 1st EDLC to 3rd and Barrera at SS.
Barrera putting it together creates a bunch of options. Hope he continues to have a good year. It would also be nice if EDLC and CES can get back on the field in short order.
“By all accounts, Barrero is the better defender at SS, while EDLC is faster, so he would be able to cover more ground in CF.”
In my view the height of EDLC makes him more of a natural outfielder than infielder too.
This offense has a good chance to be above average because they control the strike zone. India, Fraley, Fairchild, Steer with as many walks as strikeouts. You also have Friedl and Stephenson who control the zone well too, and Barrero’s metrics are positive.
The Reds could plausibly have 6 hitters have 3 or more WAR….and they’re all controllable!
I settle for good defense. Seems like this war doesn’t factor in good defense. Example would be tucker Barnhart or Billy Hamilton
I’ll take good offense over good defense, though of course my biggest preference is when they’re good at both.
There is a defensive component to WAR. The problem for Hamilton and Barnhart is the low offensive numbers outweighed the defensive numbers.
The Reds lost a bunch of games with Hamilton and Barnhart as everyday players.
In the 3 seasons they were both everyday players for the Reds, the team went 203-283, losing 94 games in 2 of the seasons and 95 in the remaining season.
The only winning season the Reds had with either guy as a regular was the abbreviated 2020 season (31-29).
@chad>> I agree with you. But the old axiom is if a guy hits, they will find a way to play him, not if a guy fields they will find a way to play him.
As mentioned yesterday, Fairchild deserves more PT. Lo and behold, Bell reads the tea leaves and slots him 3rd last night. I like it. Don’t be so stuck on your lineups DB. Top of the lineup is exciting with India, Fridel/Steer and Fairchild.
As mentioned again yesterday, Myers needs to make some adjustments at the plate. Viola! He does and goes 2 for 4 with 2 RBI. He even told JD on the post game he tweaked a few things after the Braves series.
Advice: listen to what Jeff Brantley says! He’s money.
Sooo…. Jeff Brantley for the next Reds manager. I don’t think he would take it. haha..
Reds beat the Pirates, split with cubs, are now even with the Phillies and competed, but got beat by a deeper and better Braves team. Phillies OF defense is terrible. Payroll is outrageous. It would be good if Reds could get another win today and go ahead on the season series against the defending NL champs.
Yep, it would be nice to be 2-0 with 2 to go against them. The Reds would almost be playing with house money to pick up a 3rd win and a season split versus them.
A change in pitching philosophy last night? Two relievers allowed to pitch more than one inning. /it’s always been a peeve of mine that a guy would come in, throw a dominant inning then be removed because he got his inning in, only to see a new guy get bombed the next inning.
They haven’t even been stretched longer in ST.
Oh, you mean like Lodolo who easily gone another inning. He wasn’t even at 100 pitches. I hate that some managers don’t allow their starting pitchers to continue to go if they are being successful let them go 1 more inning. Now if he had been at 120 pitches then yeah probably take him out.
Phillies throwing a righty with another lefty tomorrow and benson is in AAA and Senzel up and Bell keeps resting a player each game seemingly. See where Bell plays who and where. Im going with Myers gets a blow today. My best guess.
India 2b
Friedl LF
Fraley RF
Stephenson DH
Vosler 1b
Steer 3b
Senzel CF
Maile C
Barrero SS
Just saw a first take lineup from @reds. Bell must have seen your prediction and tweaked it just you would not get it right. 😉
Myers plays but at DH. Stephenson who yesterday wasn’t going catch the rest of the week goes back behind the plate but bats 4th.
Insert Myers into your lineup at 5th. Vosler and the rest follow from 6th down with of course Maile out.
https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1646946515749838859
I wonder what it would take for Bell to move Barrero up in the lineup. When Newman plays SS, he hits higher. Why not Barrero?
Still, I’m just glad Bell is playing Barrero at all. Wonder if Krall got in his ear when it seemed like Bell was favoring Newman early on.
At least Bell is not sitting a guy who had three hits the game before (like the last two nights). lol I bet Stephenson feels like his week off from catching was really short. lol Maybe Bell is doing it just to show us he can indeed adjust and deviate from his “plans”. Fine with me. As long as TS is healthy I’ll never complain about him starting behind the plate. Him catching always gives the lineup the most offensive potential.
C13J – “I wonder what it would take for Bell to move Barrero up in the lineup. When Newman plays SS, he hits higher. Why not Barrero?”
Good point.