The Cincinnati Reds offense finally got going again and they needed it, coming back from a 5-1 deficit to win on a walk-off single by TJ Friedl in the bottom of the 9th inning. It was Cincinnati’s first win in a week, and they scored more runs on Monday than they had in the last six games combined.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas Rangers (14-8) | 6 | 10 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (8-15) |
7 | 8 | 0 |
| W: Diaz (1-1) L: LeClerc (0-1) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Nick Lodolo came out in the top of the 1st inning with his good stuff and he struck out the side. The Texas Rangers defense looked much like their offense in the 1st inning – a bit lost and confused. Jonathan India lined the ball into left field to lead off the bottom of the inning, but Bubba Thompson probably should have caught the ball – but the sun played a factor and the ball fell in for a double just to his right. After back-to-back strikeouts of TJ Friedl and Spencer Steer, Tyler Stephenson came up grounded the ball to third base. Josh Jung then made an error on the throw, bouncing it to the first baseman who was unable to come up with it cleanly. That brought in India and put the Reds up 1-0.
After a 4th straight strikeout to end the game, Nick Lodolo’s streak ended against Josh Jung as he clobbered a curveball on the inside of the plate into the stands in left field to tie the game up. Ezequiel Duran and Leody Taveras followed up with back-to-back doubles to make it a 2-1 game and the Rangers offense was rolling. Bubba Thompson followed with a bunt single to put runners on the corners and Texas cashed in another run on a Marcus Semien line drive single into left to extend their lead.
A 1-out infield single that Spencer Steer got a glove on but couldn’t come up with came back to haunt Nick Lodolo as Josh Jung followed up with his second homer of the game, making it 5-1. The Rangers weren’t quite done running up the pitch count on Lodolo at that point. A single and a walk followed before pitching coach Derek Johnson walked to the mound to talk with the lefty. Maybe Johnson said something to Jose Barrero, too, because he came through with a diving play up the middle that turned into a double play to end the inning a few pitches later.
Trailing by four runs, the Reds top of the lineup tried to get something going with the help from Nathan Eovaldi. Jonathan India walked and then TJ Friedl was hit by a pitch. Spencer Steer followed up with a 2-run triple to the wall in center before scoring on a ground out that made it 5-4.
Texas got a run back in the 4th when Bubba Thompson walked and then stole second base before scoring on a 1-out single into right field to give them a 2-run lead. Lodolo would get out of the inning from there, but it was his final inning of the day.
Buck Farmer took over for Cincinnati in the 5th. He worked around a 2-out single to keep the Reds within two runs. He’d return for the 6th inning and do the same thing. Ian Gibaut took over for the 7th and threw a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Lucas Sims pitched a perfect 8th inning, too.
After being quiet for the previous few innings, the Reds offense made an attempt at getting a little rally going in the bottom of the 8th. Spencer Steer singled with one out and then Tyler Stephenson walked. After a pop up from Jake Fraley, Cincinnati brought in Stuart Fairchild to pinch run for Stephenson. Wil Myers then followed up with a walk to load the bases for Henry Ramos, but not before a pitching change. That move didn’t pay off as Jose LeClerc walked Ramos and Nick Senzel to tie the game up. A strikeout would end the inning, but the Reds found a way to tie things up.
Alexis Diaz came out of the bullpen to pitch in the 9th for Cincinnati. He made quick work of the Rangers, sending them down 1-2-3 and giving the Reds an opportunity for a walk-off win in the bottom of the 9th.
Texas sent Jose LeClerc back out to the mound to start the 9th and it went much like the 8th – he walked Jonathan India to lead off the inning and then the Rangers called in a left-handed reliever to match up with TJ Friedl. A wild pitch moved India over to second base. Friedl then lined a single into right field and Cincinnati would get the walk-off win when India crossed the plate.
Key Moment of the Game
TJ Friedl’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 9th inning.
Notes Worth Noting
Nick Lodolo had never given up more than five earned runs in a game until his last start. Now he’s done so in back-to-back outings.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Texas Rangers vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday April 25th, 6:40pm ET
Martin Perez (3-1, 3.38 ERA) vs Luke Weaver (0-1, 6.00 ERA)
An exciting finish!!
Let’s hope avoiding another “L” helps Nick get back in the zone and shake this one off.
Bullpen was nails again tonight and we finally backed them up.
Can’t complain about the bullpen recently.
How about that BP! Five innings of shutout relief! What’s that now, one earned run in the last 20+ innings or so. Great job BP! Keep up the good work.
I kept telling people this bullpen was not as bad as they thought.
Lodolo giving a VERY mature post-game interview. Taking it on the chin for his failure and giving credit to TJ and the guys for pulling off the W.
Yep
Ramos did get a hit, walk, and an RBI tonight. Think he’ll play tomorrow?
Senzel 0-3 hitting .139
Probably not. Bell will rest him.
Well he’s a switch hitter (from both sides of the plate as Larkin would say lol) so David Bell doesn’t have that excuse.
Scheduled day off
His OBP is .500 he was tearing it up in Louisville and before that ST. He better play every day. He can play all three outfield positions.
Thought he should have made the team over Vosler. It just took the powers to be an extra month to realize it. Thought that Vosler would be gone when Votto returned, now it has to be someone else.
Nice to get a win when your #2 gets beat around a little. Neither Lodolo or Ashcraft have looked as good after Greene’s contract extension
Eight wins through 23 games, almost three times the number of wins as last year in the first 25 games.
Yes, but still on a pace to lose 100+. And still in last place. It’ll take a lot more than one win to change the trajectory of this team. I suspect Bochy is giving the Rangers an earful for choking against the Reds.
That’s a better pace than last year at this time.
Very few opportunities to celebrate lately. Thanks LDS for throwing cold water on some rare enjoyment.
When the Reds lose because the bullpen walks a bunch of batters, do we attribute the victory to the other teams hitting or lousy Reds pitching? Same here. The Rangers bullpen walked 4 batters in the 8th following Steer’s single, 3 came with two outs. They opened the 9th with a walk to India, and a PB to move him up. Friedl single finished the game. Five walks and a PB won this game for the Reds. It’s not like they knocked the cover off the balls. The best that can be said is they were patient enough to take the walks, something we can’t say often. A win is a win, but it’s not like the Reds suddenly turned a corner. Win one by hitting the ball and then I’ll have a different view on the outcome. Until then luck is luck, good for a change but still luck.
LDS – Yeah. We’ll take the win and enjoy it or as some say “Enjoy the moment”. It was basically given to us though. Can’t expect to win too many that way.
We’re awesome. 🙂 We moved up our win trajectory to 56 games now. 🙂
8 wins in 23 games is a .348 winning %
I guess one person’s ceiling is another person’s floor.
A winning streak has to start somewhere. 😉
And a win tonight is better than a loss. Maybe DFA Vosler and adding Henry Ramos is the catalyst to get the team playing better.
And that’s all just a guess. Maybe the Rangers pitching just stunk, and the Pirates pitching is that good.
Steer had a big hit tonight.
There are some good players on this team…..just not enough of them.
The first 25 games last year were much more difficult. They played at Atlanta, at San Diego, at Los Angeles, San Diego and St. Louis at home. This team is just as bad if not worse. No major additions, automatic outs in the bottom half of the lineup, only 3 semi-reliable starters, and a shaky bullpen (albeit not of late).
Can we please DFA Senzel, for the love of Pete? He doesn’t hit for power, or hit at all for that matter, and doesn’t get on base. Paycheck player.
Our schedule has been crazy against all these Division leaders like Atlanta and then three series against Tampa Bay, Pittsburgh, and now Texas. All strong first place teams with awesome pitching. At least our Strength of Schedule rating is at the top. So, this win is very sweet.
Not going to get as many stiffs this year as last.
Yeah. The Pirates were supposed to be one of those “stiffs” and we know how that turned out.
Hate to say this but the Pirates are now the 2nd best team in baseball record wise.
Great win for the Reds. Regarding the struggles with hitting. How many hitting coaches have the Reds had in the last 5 years or more. Overall, it’s the pupil, not the teacher. Bob C running the team with the mindset of….”If it’s cheap, it’s me.” The hitting coach can only do so much….when he doesn’t have much to work with!
To a point it’s the pupil. But if the coach is intent on mucking with a swing (like Senzel early on), that’s mostly on the coach. They players at this level have experienced a lot of coaches and should be able to discern who is real and who is faking it. So I guess I’m generally in agreement with you.
1st career walk-off hit for TJ … I did not know that. Good for him.
Freidl is a prime example why you need to give guys consistent at bats. They need to get into a groove. This is why Barrero needs to play every game as well as Fraley and Fairchild. Senzel has proved he isn’t it. Let’s see if these guys can turn the corner. If not then you replace them. If it was me I would put McLain in center every day.
+1000
“If it was me I would put McLain in center every day.”
Good thought. 🙂
Agree Jb
Friedl is becoming all the things Senzel was suppose to be.
I’d put Steer in that camp as well.
Bell tried his shenanigans with him last year and his hitting suffered.
Steady position day in and out and he’s hitting.
The glove might not be there yet, but was Vosler an upgrade?
I’d hate to see McLain go the same route as Senzel or Barrero, stuck out in CF because they don’t know what to do with him.
Steer was quoted as saying that he was trying to do too much last year, but came into spring much more relaxed and confident be belongs. I’ve never read from Steer that his hitting issues had anything to do with managerial shenanigans.
Well that must explain it, right?
The press is typically full of stories about rookies complaining about how their manager plays them.
Isn’t it?
Except for Steer of course.
A long time tenet of baseball is that strong teams start by building strong up the middle. i.e. C, 2B, SS, and CF then filling out the 4 corners.
Currently, the Reds sort of have a catcher who fits the bill; but the plan is he only catches half the games.
Their 2B is a gamer who it is becoming increasingly clear is being played out of position defensively.
And who knows on any given day who will be the SS or CF, not for a lack of qualified candidates but because they can’t decide who goes where or why.
And we should be surprised this team is off to .348 winning % approaching the 15% mark of the season?
Jim Walker – Yep. My choice for up the middle defense in the not so distant future would be:
Stephenson C
McLain 2B
Barrero SS
DLC CF
That should do nicely if it worked out.
India will have to move to a different spot or get traded. There’s just not enough positions to go around.
@melvin, The way the game is played nowadays, they also need a #2 catcher who is going to start ~60 games a year and is more than a classic “good receiver and handler of pitchers” (code phrase for can’t hit a lick). Looking at the Reds system, unless Chuckie’s turnaround is for real, that’s spot one of those shortstops (or India et al) will have to be dealt for.
Yep. Most teams need two good catchers these days.
With so many players at the point of coming up, Senzel should be traded for what the Reds can get. He needs a chance with another team.
Amazing to me is that the best player on the team is being moved. You don’t want players jerked around but you have no problem moving India. Man sometimes I don’t get you guys. You all have Steer on 3rd so where is your best player playing?
Where does Friedl play then? I’d put Myers at first and DH and let Ramos play right as a rhythm and DH as lefty. Senzel against lefties and Fraley righties. Fairchild ca spell Friedl occasionally..
I think Senzel is out, possibly as soon as McLain is up. McLain is everything Senzel could be and 4-5 years younger and much cheaper.
Freidl is a make it happen type player. An important guy to have on your team. He reminds me of Lenny Dykstra with the Mets.
“Nailed” it!
Probably should move to lead off spot too.
I believe that among Stephenson, India, Steer, Friedl and Ramos there’s a very good group of capable hitters. I still think that Fraley and Myers will come around sooner than later. Fairchild, Senzel, Barrero, Casali, Maile and Newman are the group to be concerned.
+1000
A lot of good things happened in Reds land today, capped off with a W.
Only 8 games out of first place in the NL Central Division! And, only 5 games out of a Wild Card spot!\
Nevertheless, a good come-from-behind win and another excellent outing by the Reds bullpen!
When a team is as many games out of 1st as it has won all year with the season at ~15% complete, that seems like not a good thing 😉
You would think it wouldn’t be a good thing wouldn’t you? haha
Shew. The players needed that one and I think this board needed that one almost as bad.
Nice to see some smiles Return to the players faces. Need lodolo to figure out this blip. Go Reds!
Haha! Yep!
Debby downers. They beat a 1st place team that spends a gazillion $ to be that way. Enjoy it. Smoke a cigar. Have a single malt. There’s always tomorrow.
Yes, this! Enjoy the small victories, because it’s going to be a long season.
Definitely have to give the bullpen credit as of late.
Had some breaks go our way on offense, which was much needed to get out of the scoring drought. Hopefully that really breaks the ice.
And I must say again…Friedl, a lefty, got the game winning hit off a lefty…inconceivable!
Nice to see some fight in the team. I was definitely wrong about Friedl. Didn’t think he’d amount to much more than a 5th/6th OF. Sorting is going well and got to give them credit and cutting bait on some guys when they didn’t produce. Hope to see McClain soon and hope ELDC and CES can stay healthy and get going at AAA.
Assuming McClain is called up soon, I think this would be a pretty decent lineup:
3B India
CF Friedl
DH Steer
C Stephenson
RF Fraley
LF Ramos
2B McClain
SS Barrero
1B Myers
Not many easy outs in that lineup, and once CES is ready, trade Myers for whatever you can get and stick CES at 1B, then re-shuffle the lineup accordingly.
Then the only question becomes what to do with EDLC….
India has struggled to play defense at 2B this year, I’d be hesitant to move him to 3B which is generally considered up the defensive difficulty hierarchy
He came up as a 3B.
I think if EDLC is crushing the ball all over, We are going to see Barrero move to CF. Hopefully the hitting continues to be an improvement over last season. I don’t think India is going to be moved to a different position. Steer has done a really nice job at 3b. Plus, he is consistently hitting. McClain, if he keeps hitting well as he has in minors is going to cause a log jam. Can he play all over the infield? Maybe a super sub at some point.
I think Barrero may fit a bit better in RF. He has the best arm on the team, except for EDLC, and Friedl has the speed to cover CF but not the arm to play RF. Fraley really fits better in LF than RF. Barrero would need some time to get used to RF, but he would be excellent there once he learns the position a bit. He’d have to hit.
I don’t buy the theory that these guys are going to experience a cosmic implosion and/or forget how to hit, if they play another position. McLain, for example, has primarily played 2B and SS in the minors, but started one whole year at UCLA as a CF. He could pretty much play anywhere. And many Hall of Famers have changed positions in mid-career: Robin Yount, Paul Molitor, Craig Biggio, Cal Ripken, Ernie Banks, and Dooley Womack all did.
Much needed win!! This team has lost a bunch of close games. Nice to see us on the other side of one tonight. Let’s make it 2 in a row tonight.
I was at the game and I have to say me and the 8,109 other fans were very excited with the finish! I was disappointed that Lodelo kind of pooped his pants but the bullpen really did the job. Buck Farmer and Gibaut really looked good which is something I never thought I would ever say when talking about the Reds. Sims and Diaz looked very good but I expected that. Last observation: Nick Senzel looked lost at the plate and never made any good contact . . . but he coaxed that walk with the bases loaded to drive in a crucial run. I am still hoping he can turn into Jonathan India 2.0 but I’m not hopeful. All in all, the small group who braved the cold enjoyed a fun and improbable comeback win. I can return to North Carolina happy and thaw out from this chilly Ohio weather.
I don’t even understand how Senzel is on this team his best season was his rookie season and then it still was just okay. Injuries and a position change have killed him.
maybe he wasn’t good enough, he had good triple a stats so I had some faith, but not much.
Trade him get a low tier-flyer guy, even if somehow becomes decent the reds have no more openings really, I mean Steer has 3B, and the OF is Fairchild, Myers, friedel, Fraley, and hopskins is probably here in a month or two, or when myers is traded.
Senzel had ridiculous scouting grades and he failed miserable, in his grades for contact he was predicted to win a batting title or a few of them.
His draft class turned out to be horrid. The Reds would have gotten a dud with almost anybody in that first round.
The headline should have been “Rangers Walk into an Ambush”