Things weren’t looking good for the Cincinnati Reds until the 8th inning, but they stormed back scoring three runs between the 8th and 9th to send the game to extras. Once they got there, things got wild as both teams scored three runs in the 10th to extend the game another inning. Cincinnati would score a run in wild fashion in the top of the 11th and survived to hold onto the lead and pick up the win on Saturday night.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (68-63) |
8 | 13 | 3 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks (68-62) |
7 | 8 | 0 |
| W: Diaz (6-4) L: Crismatt (0-2) SV: Sims (3) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Arizona had beaten the Reds in the first two games of the series and they didn’t waste much time grabbing a lead on Saturday night. Corbin Carroll led off the bottom of the 1st with a triple and then scored on a passed ball with two outs.
Fernando Cruz struck out the first batter of the 2nd inning, but then he was replaced by Sam Moll. Like Cruz, he would pitch 1.1 innings and held the score at 1-0. Ben Lively took over for Cincinnati with two outs in the 3rd inning. Fresh off of the injured list he got Tommy Pham to ground out to end the inning and strand two runners.
Things didn’t go Lively’s way in the bottom of the 5th. He gave up a leadoff single and then a 1-out double to Corbin Carroll. That set up a 3-run home run by Ketel Marte that padded Arizona’s lead to 4-0. The Reds would get one of those runs back in the top of the 6th when Matt McLain hit his 16th homer of the season to lead off the inning. Cincinnati would walk three times in the inning after that, but a double play ended the inning without any further runs coming across the plate.
Elly De La Cruz walked in the 8th inning, moved up to second on a fly out, stole third base, and then scored on a single by Nick Martini that brought the Reds within two runs.
Closer Paul Sewald entered the game for the Diamondbacks in the 9th. He walked Noelvi Marte to lead off the inning and bring the tying run to the plate. Marte would then steal second base and move up to third on a fly out by Will Benson. Tyler Stephenson came through with a clutch hit, lining a double into right field to plate Marte and put the tying run at second. Cincinnati would send Michael Siani out to second base as a pinch runner. That turned the lineup over and brought TJ Friedl to the plate and he singled into right field, advancing Marte to third, but Friedl took second base when the throw went to the plate. Matt McLain followed up with a ground out to second base, but both runners moved up with Siani scoring to tie the game up.
That led to a pitching change for Arizona as they called on Joe Mantiply to come in and face Elly De La Cruz with a runner on third and two outs. The move worked out for Arizona, but barely, as Lourdes Gurriel made a leap catch two feet shy of the wall in left field to end the inning.
Ben Lively, still in the game, returned for the bottom of the 9th inning after already having thrown 5.1 innings. He would retire Alek Thomas on a chopper right back to himself before throwing over to first. That would end the day for Lively as Cincinnati called on Ian Gibaut out of the bullpen to face Jace Peterson. He would strike Peterson out before getting a shallow fly out to right field to send the game to extras.
The 10th inning began with Elly De La Cruz on second as the free runner and Spencer Steer at the plate against a new reliever in Miguel Castro. Steer unloaded on a double off of the warning track in center to plate De La Cruz and give Cincinnati the lead. Nick Martini then followed up with a ground-rule double to plate another run and make it 6-4. The Reds sent TJ Hopkins out to pinch run for Martini. The rally kept on going as Christian Encarnacion-Strand singled into center and Hopkins raced around the bases to make it 7-4.
That was enough for Arizona as they called on Nabil Crismatt to come in from the bullpen to take over for Castro. That didn’t improve things immediately for the Diamondbacks as Noelvi Marte crushed a ground-rule double into left field. After a strikeout, Luke Maile attempted a squeeze bunt, but bunted it back to the pitcher and Encarnacion-Strand was easily tagged out on the play. Crismatt worked his way out of the jam by getting a ground out to end the inning and keep it a 7-4 ballgame.
The Reds sent Alexis Diaz to the mound for the bottom of the 10th inning, with Jose Herrera starting at second base as Arizona’s free runner. Geraldo Perdomo singled to lead things off, bringing Herrera in to make it a 7-5 game. Diaz then walked Corbin Carroll on four pitches to put the tying run on first base and bring the winning run to the plate. Ketel Marte would fly out for the first out of the inning. Tommy Pham grounded the ball to second base, but Matt McLain let it go under his glove and through his legs and it brought in a run and put the tying run at third base with just one out. Pham stole second base to take the traditional double play off the table. Christian Walker then tied the game up with a sacrifice fly, with Pham advancing to third on the play. Diaz would strike out Lourdes Gurriel Jr. to end the inning and send the game to the 11th.
TJ Friedl began the inning as the Reds free runner, but he was still standing there two outs later. Spencer Steer then hit a chopper to third and was able to leg out an infield single to keep the inning alive. That paid off because after getting ahead of TJ Hopkins 0-2, Nabil Crismatt balked to bring Friedl in to score and put Cincinnati up 8-7.
Lucas Sims took over for Cincinnati on the mound and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. began the bottom of the inning on second base for Arizona. He moved up to third on a sacrifice bunt. Sims then struck out Jace Peterson for out number two of the inning and he’d follow it up with a strike out of Jose Herrera to end the game and give the Reds their first win of the series.
Key Moment of the Game
Lucas Sims picking up back-to-back strikeouts in the bottom of the 11th with the tying run standing on third base.
Notes worth noting
With the win, Cincinnati now holds a tie breaker over Arizona if both teams wind up tied for a playoff spot at the end of the year.
Tyler Stephenson went 3-4 with a double and a triple. It was his first multi-hit game since August 1st.
Nick Martini also went 3-4, but he added a walk to go along with his double. He’s 5-13 (.385) with three walks and just one strikeout since being called up from Triple-A.
Alexis Diaz was given a blown save, but none of the three runs that scored in the 10th inning against him were earned.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Arizona Diamondbacks
Sunday August 27th, 4:10pm ET
Graham Ashcraft (7-8, 4.84 ERA) vs Slade Cecconi (0-0, 2.93 ERA)
We needed that one and we REALLY need some help in the ‘pen. Antone and Gutierrez anywhere close?
The Reds pen has been sterling this year compared to last year. With Greene’s return we now find that the Starting Pitching is not going to cut it. Ascraft and Abbott and Williamson are all we have. Lively is a competitor, but he’s not lights out…
I agree with your assessment of the team’s rotation, but were you speaking of this year only, or also moving forward? They’ll do the best they can to get thru this season, but next year things need to change. Phillips will not be a starter in the bigs. Richardson is not ready and will probably be a bullpen guy, anyway. I’m over Lodolo and Greene. Greene shouldn’t have been given an extension and Lodolo wouldn’t sign one. I say trade both (I’d like to see them go to the Angels, the Reds getting Detmers, Adell, and Cabbage in return). And I’d like to see the Reds sign S. Gray (6 years, $90 mil.–$25/yr. for the first 3, $5 mil./yr. the last 3) to round out the rotation for next season.
Antone may close, but Dunn and Gutierrez were both pulled from their rehab assignments due to setbacks.
Alexis Diaz has shown major sign of arm fatigue over the last couple of months. Not sure that is gonna get any better this season
wow. this teams plays with a lot of heart. Not sure we make it above .500 (let alone the playoffs)but this roller coaster ride of a 2023 season has been a blast. I am getting old so i TRY TO RELISH all the great moments. I will remember this game for a while
I really don’t know how important baseball is until Insee this post, Rednat. I am glad you got to see this game.
Me, too.
Crazy, nerve wracking game. That about sums it up.
What’s the deal with Diaz? He has struggled mightily since around the All-Star break.
And Senzel was shown on the broadcast multiple times in the dugout not wearing his uniform. Was he unavailable for some reason?
There is no deal with Diaz. He is pitching his game. A double play error by the second baseman led to the protracted inning.
2 errors by McLain! Very uncharacteristic–it happens to everyone, though. The team must be getting tired or losing their concentration, or something. Lots of errors of late, which does not help a weak rotation and a tired bullpen.
Also, Diaz has frequently, for his career to date, made things too interesting because of control issues. He’s often very effective and has great stuff, , but drama is always waiting in the wings when he pitches.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Thank you, Lucas Sims! Good call bringing him in.(Thanks for the balk, too, AZ.)
Welcome on board, N. Martini. Tough error for McLain. Yikes. Let’s not see that again anytime soon. Ashcraft tomorrow. We desperately needed this one with Cubs and Brewers winning again.
Huge win. Have to admit that I hit the hay with low expectations after the Dbacks scored 3 times in the 10th to tie it. Nice surprise this morning.
Hope Lively is back and effective for good. We really need Hunter Greene to figure it out quickly.
Who would’ve imagined 6 months ago that the Reds would be playing meaningful baseball in late August? It’s been a great season.
Gotta watch the Marlins and Giants, as well as the Cubs, for one of the Wild Card slots. The Reds won’t displace the Brewers, I don’t think. That being said, the Reds’ schedule in September is their easiest of the season, which is exactly what they need at this point, with the rotation in shambles and the bullpen worn out.
More than likely, the offense will have to carry them the rest of the way. It’s a long shot but it’s still a shot.
The best news lately is Bell is finally starting to use guys in relief for multiple endings. It’s a shame he didn’t earlier in the season where we might be benefiting the fruits of this strategy. If starting pitchers get knocked out in the fourth or fifth inning, you just can’t use everyone for one inning, efficiently and hope you can string it out over a complete 162-game season. Growing pains.
I swear, I may have to start the Ian Gibaut fan club. He leads the team in appearances, has the best win/loss record (and was robbed of his 9th win today), has very solid stats, does NOT always walk the first guy he faces, and tends to do all this in high leverage situations. And, as I keep pointing out, he just looks totally relaxed — like he doesn’t have a care in the world. Even his windup looks easygoing. Just having a leisurely game of toss with the catcher. But I never hear a word about him. Am I the only one appreciating his contributions? (And now of course he’ll probably stink for the rest of the year just to make me look bad.)
I’m on board with him, too, but as mentioned, I’m on board with Sims as well.
I guess you can be vice president of the club.
Excellent! I’ve always wanted to be a vice president.
(Wait a minute. Am I not already the v.p. of your can Bell club?)
You’re one of about 10,000 vice presidents of that club. I’m adding hundreds every week.
I am with you on that. I saw him pitch in April against Texas and he goes right after the hitter. He struck out a batter with a 96 MPH heater. He just seems fearless and doesn’t waste any pitches. I am hoping he can win 10 games because he might be the only Reds pitcher to do that this year.
I’m impressed by Gibault, too.
Gibaut has been quite the find for the Reds.
Half game behind Arizona for the final wild card who we play tomorrow. One game ahead of San Fransico who we play next. One game behind Chicago who we play after that. This is called crunch time gentlemen. 🙂
The Reds are not playing like a dominant team. They don’t blow away the opposition often enough these days. That’s why they’ve been called the “Cardiac Kids”. And where is Fraley these days? I don’t see him on the IL. And there’s this guy named Mancini in AAA that belongs with the starting team right now. Ty Steve has been showing his meddle, and the new guy Martini is playing on another level. I would love to see it all come together for the Redlegs.
Don’t give up on the Reds, folks. Don’t give up. But keep your expectations low 🙂 we get what we get from the rooks but I like to see Frield, Martini, and TS to carry the heavy load. TS, please please get hot again. 2 of them should give us enough to compete for a series split tomorrow.
Meant to say TJ Frield.
Matt McLain owes Nabil Crismatt a drink. Or dinner. Something Lol. Bailed him right on out there in the end. We’ll take it!
I have been a baseball fan, and loyal Reds fan for over 54 years, and Bell is the
weakest, substandard real-time game manager I’ve ever seen. I sincerely believe the Reds record this year would be much
better with a competent manager…
We all agree with you Protime 1000%. Last nights game was yet another example of how Bell has no idea how to use a pitching staff. Cruz strikes out four straight hitters and is immediately pulled (after only 23 pitches, mind you) for a left-hander! And to make matters worse, this is the second time this season that this exact scenario has happened to Cruz.
David Bell is an imbecile!! I am so sick of “Capt. Analytics” I could scream. I know other managers do similar things, but to be blunt, I don’t care what other teams do. I care what the Reds do and how Bell is running his bullpen into the ground all in the name of what is on a spreadsheet.
Yep, this team would be well over .600 if not for Bell. He has zero idea about anything about baseball, especially how to coach a team full of rookies and second year players learning to win in The Show. If only he’d make every decision I’d make, the Reds would dominate everyone.
Jeez.
Hi THR. When people on this chat site complain about Bell there never seems to be any mention about ownership or Krall in the equation. I mean they are the ones who sign off on making him the manager and paying his salary. As far as I know the players all like him and seem to play hard for him. Perhaps I have missed it but I have never seen any media types raking him over the coals. One would wonder why he has a job of such importance if he is so incompetent. If I shared your assessment of Bell my first and biggest line of criticism would be of those in charge and putting him there in the first place.
One more post from me (mainly because I am out of beer/wine/liquor). We only want dawgs in the Reds uniform. It’s ok to struggle but you got to fight. Looking at strike 3 hoping for a walk is gutless. Don’t want to throw over the plate afraid of being hit is gutless. Go down swinging and I’ll cheer for you.
Agree 100%! Hopkins, demeanor at the plate is awful. He looks intimated and overmatched. He is not a major league worthy player. Certainly not at the plate.
He’s just green. He’ll likely get sent back down to ripen up. Happens a lot. (The sooner the better. Lol)
Crazy. Following on my phone and was concerned when we were up 7-4 and men on 2nd/3rd and didn’t get anything else, but we found a way. I like Martini….reminds me of Tauchman with the Cubs. Not a bad player and he’s hot. None of the other replacement call-ups ever got hot.
Lively’s time should be up. He gives up HRs every appearance now? Not sure how they keep competing unless HG turns it around. No Lodolo and Abbott seems tired. They definitely aren’t touching Milwaukee.
Lively dished up that dinger then threw three scoreless. He’ll be back. Look how long we held on to Weaver.
Milwaukee has now won 7 in a row, after beating the Padres at home tonight.
Is this the Brewers hot streak? Will they run away from the pack now?
Wonder how much gas Andrew Abbott still has in the tank? I guess we will see on Monday against SF.
Can Ashcraft keep his good pitching going? Ashcraft actually leads the Reds with 134 innings pitched this year.
Nobody else is even close.
The fighting Counsels just refuse to lose. Nothing flashy, just solid across the board.
And what was Atlanta and the A’sthinking with the trade last winter. Milwaukee gets an excellent, young hitting catcher for a AAA outfielder? In what world did that make sense. I don’t know why anyone trades with Milwaukee. They win every trade.
Both will run out of innings by the end of the regular season, if not before. Because of that, his team is not built for the playoffs, not with Lodolo still on the IL and Dunn perhaps never coming off it.
The Reds were in the grove scoring runs in the ninth inning with two RISP and one out, and Malie bunts to end the inning. Seems like a better chance to score a run with a fly ball. Scoring runs from third base, with less than two outs, seems to be a lost art.
Right. Who called a bunt from the catcher with one out and runners on second and third? Maile or Bell? I hear a lot about going small ball on this site, but that was probably NOT the time for it last night. It led directly to a two-out with no runs scored situation. The catcher?
TJ Hopkins, if he were to be graded by a continuous improvement Kiazen blitz team, he would show on a value added vs non value added assessment team as a non value added as a non asset. He should be removed from the organization. There’s not even a high floor for him. Sure he has speed, but he’s a liability batting, pretty good defender with a questionable arm & inconsistency delivering his throws. He’s also at or nearing age 27 and that’s where male men’s bodies start the decline process, felmales start their decling at age 28. I see a wasted roster spot that’s blocking someone like Trey Mancini, or even the switch hitting Alejo Lopez who can hit, and offers position versatility.
TJ Hopkins, the political satirist, has been fined 3600 Euros or 60 days in Jail. I have no comment on the play of the Reds TJ Hopkins.
“Serpientes” it said on their cream colored jerseys. When were serpents ever the good guys ? The Reds have the knack of turning it up a notch late in the game, but it’s sure nerve wracking. Sure would like to seem them score early and often and not out of desperation. Yes, a win is a win and it is crunch time. How about that kid in left pulling the ball out of Spencer Steer’s glove ? I have never seen that ever. We are getting to witness something novel every day ! I predict a win tomorrow.
A split needed to wrap it up in Phoenix, and then 2 of 3, hopefully, from the Giants in their big ballpark. That would not be a bad road trip. The Little Three of Ashcraft, Abbott and Williamson are keeping the Reds in the game. It looks like Lively could be the long reliever the Reds have been looking for.
Our rotation is a mess and I’m afraid they’ll come home after this long long trip and get rolled by the Cubs and M’s. That being said it’s been fun and they keep fighting. They’re young and their fundamentals are often terrible, but you can see the potential.
Antone with 5 straight shutout innings so call him up. Stuey at Lville while Hopkins is with the team? No, that won’t work. Martini replacing Joey has been a blessing. I think Martini will atleast continue to get on base.
History trivia. The only survivor from George Custer’s company was a George Martini. He was an Italian immigrant that played trumpet for the company. Custer sent him to give a message to another officer and saved his life
Agree on Martini. We needed a veteran guy who competes every at bat and he is it. Good call to bring him up.
I would go so far as to double down on this strategy and bring up Matt Reynolds’s and dfa Senzel for a 40 man spot. Reynolds (similarly to martini) has hit very well in Louisville. He also plays lots of positions.
Stuey disappeared after 2 PAs in the 1st game of a doubleheader in Louisville on Saturday. After a K in the first PA, he singled in the second one and came around to score from 1B on a following double. This happened in the bottom of 3rd. He played defense in the 4th; but, his lineup spot did not come to the plate in the bottom of the 4th; and, he was subbed out on defense to start the 5th.
I’m guessing the fact he subsequently did not appear in game 2 means either he wasn’t feeling up to snuff or was on his way to catch a plane and join the Reds.
Despite the first two games at Arizona, the Reds are STILL 4 – 2 on this road trip. If they can win today (Ashcraft pitching) and win ONE game in SF, they have a 6-4 road trip. 7-3 is still possible, which would be pretty good.
It’s just that the Brewers are on a 7 -game winning streak right now. Maybe getting hot at the end of the season and pulling away? This baseball, it’s a funny game.
I thought it was a guy named Little Big Man? Lol
Good game by Lively. And the whole bullpen was really pretty good. In the battle for the series, Arizona has used their bullpen even more than we have. That usually means good things for the final game.
I when healthy, I’m comfortable with lively in the starting rotation. That guy competes and rarely turns in a ridiculously short outing like some of the younger guys.
And what in the world has happened to Connor Phillips down on the farm. After being coddled all year he can’t even get out of the 2nd inning at Louisville. His last 5 starts have been a disaster. Lyon Richardson definitely the more prepared of the two and hopefully DJ can sprinkle some of his magic dust on him also. Starting staff is a big question for next year.
Phillips has cooked his goose for 2023. If he ever had one. I am guessing the Sept. add will be Young or Duarte assuming that Lively and Kennedy stay. Antone could also figure in there. I am assuming that Lodolo and Guit are done.
Reds rally late and survive. 4-2 on this WC road trip so far. A win to salvage the series would be huge going into SF. On a lighter note, I see Ricky Karcher has thrown 8 shutout innings in relief in August with 12 K’s. One of the more humorous moments of the season, so part of me wants to see that guy again.
Yeah that game with Karcher was insane . Threw 1 of 9 fastballs for a strike and still got the save
Noticed Jordan Montgomery going today. Texas traded for him and he’s got a sub 2 era in August. He’s a free agent!! He’s probably pitching himself out of the Reds price range, but we’re going to need a solid guy
Yep it was hilarious.A head scratcher of a move that ruined Casali for the rest of this season.Bad dreams still for him still
“Give him the heater, Ricky”
That error by McClain in the bottom of the 10th was really heartbreaking, I guess the pressure took the toll on the rookie, growing pains. Nevertheless a very important comeback win in anticipation for the SF series.
Yep. I saw it as a rookie mental mistake more than a physical error. McLain cheated his body toward 2B early in hopes of ensuring the GIDP and ended up getting nothing. Hopefully, he will recall that and make sure of getting at least 1 in similar future situations.
Can’t argue with Dough’s k? of the game and I hope that Sims gained the confidence he needs to pitch well moving forward. But my key moment of the game is Martini’s single to drive in Elly to cut deficit down to 2. And it was with 2 outs. Chipping away at lead gave us a chance to come back in 9 to tie the game.
Arizona goes to red hot LA for 3 after today then 3 with Baltimore. They have 7 with the Cubs in September. The schedule is in our favor, but the Reds have to start playing better fundamentally. Refocus if they can. Last night in the first few innings. Elly Ks on a pitch at face level then CES Ks on one in the dirt then McLain gets picked off. All in the first 3 innings. I quit watching
Arizona is hot now; bad time to come to town to play them. They were weak for a pretty long stretch there while the Giants were hot. Reds are unlucky to have to play the Snakes now, but lucky to play the Angels and Giants when they’re down. We’ll see what happens today, though–this Reds team likes to put themselves in the hole 0-2 in 4 game sets and then come out with a split, which would be ideal here, then off to SF.
This Reds team is really unpredictable… When they are playing good, suddenly starting to lose games in a row and when all seems lost then they rise from the ashes as the ave phoenix
Alexis DÃaz hasn’t been dominant after the ASB but even with the rest he has had recently looks far away from he was the first half of the season…
I don’t want to give up on the playoffs hopes but the Reds have many weak points to make the postseason , hopefully if Fraley and India return as healthy they can to have their usual contributions, that could spark the team…
Diaz is running on almost empty. He is either very fatigued or injured or some combination of the two. He is having command and control issues. His pitch movement isn’t as crisp or sharp. Batters are laying off of or catching up to pitches instead of swinging through them.
I think he (Diaz) is just “tired”. Tired arm. I don’t think he is hurt. A lot of tired arms right now. Still over a month of “krooshal” baseball to be played.
It seems like forever since Diaz has pitched anything resembling the routine clean innings he cranked out earlier in the season. 20+ pitch innings seem to have become his norm. He looks tired regardless of how long he goes between appearances.
Very often habitual arm tiredness turns out to be a precursor to injury and the line between the two is not always clear.
Up for debate here but I think his FB is still but his slider is quite hittable these days and that’s trouble. When he was good, he got a lot of swings and misses on his slider. Last nigh Carrol got the sac fly off of his slider. In the past he would have struck Carrol out with slider and stranded that run to win the game.
I thought the bullpen fatigue issues were fairly predictable and should have been addressed at the deadline with a solid 6+ inning starter (Scherzer?) and a couple bullpen pieces …..one being a closer type like Sewald or Robertson. I thought our playoff chances were no better than 50:50 in standing pat and that looks like the road Nick chose to take. Would not have been my choice with all the (excess) prospects we have.
It’s always good to wake up to win. Still this team is a long way off. And why in the world does that baseball genius David Bell pull his two hottest hitters for pinch runners in a tight game. Fortunately, Arizona screwed up more than McLain and the Reds won. Good luck is always welcome.
I thought Siani for Stephenson was a solid call. He eventually scored the tying run in the top of 9th from 3B on an infield ground out. The DBacks were in a halfway defense because the Reds also had a man at 2B. However, I’m not sure TS could have scored on that play.
Thanks @Jim. Didn’t watch so I’ll trust your call. It’s just a pattern that Bell calls “managing”
Arizona’s decision to give us a free out in the 11th was a game changer. It meant that Sims only had to get 2 batters, and had they scored it would have only meant going to the 12th. You can only say Thank You to the Dbacks for that.
I’m not sure it was intended to be a free out. The bunt was well placed; and, it was a bang/ bang call at 1B. It very easily could have been 1st and 3rd with no outs.
My view also. Thomas is very fast and we did well to hold him to a sacrifice. Very possibly a different result without that out. And he would stole second without a throw.
Our rotation is in trouble, who could have seen that coming? Greene has pitched 3 IP and 3.2 IP since his return.
Maybe the Reds should start piggybacking Greene/Kennedy, and Richardson/Lively as our 4th, and 5th spots in the rotation. Both of those combos have a chance to cover 8+ innings a start.
Sounds like a solid plan, MBS. Need to see Richardson pitch a few more times but I really like his last outing. Power pitcher with off speed pitches, something Greene never learned to do and Reds FO office didn’t care, promoted him to big league anyway.
Solid plan with the caveat at Bell wouldn’t leave Greene in there too long. Need to have quick hook with Greene.
He didn’t leave him in past the 3rd on Saturday. Sure hope Greene gets it together. We can’t afford to fall behind early every time he goes to the mound.
Hunter is probably the biggest key to any playoff hopes we may have and I won’t be surprised if he pitches like an ace from here to the end of the season. Maybe getting knocked around for his first two starts will benefit him – he must pitch not just throw.
The other main key is the offense must really rally to the cause. Martini has been a Godsend. Blake Dunn should be watched carefully as a possible injection of an energy only to be matched by EDLC – if he does come up and hits the ground running, it might take some of the pressure of Elly. Dunn is the kind of player people will rave about.
Last but not least….David Bell really enjoys managing a bullpen and that’s a good thing, at least conceptually, because he will have to navigate it near flawlessly.
The Reds’ rotation has been in trouble since the start of the season, last Spring. 😉
Cessa was a starter then, remember? Then Greene and Lodolo got hurt. Ashcraft was very ineffective for a stretch. We had Luke Weaver starting for a long time. Where would the Reds be without Andrew Abbott, and now I think his young arm is “tired”. Somehow, they have hobbled to contention and a +.500 record. Largely, because the bullpen was surprisingly VERY effective for a good part of the year.
The Reds’ bullpen is tired. And so are a lot of other team’s bullpens. Who wants it the most? Who will scrap hardest for wins in the last month of the season?
Agree. All WC teams have several flaws too (hence not division leader). It comes down to play with grit and play tougher.
Nice effort by Lively but did you notice the wince after his leaping catch on the comebacker to the last batter he faced? Could be something there.
One thing I have not seen much discussed on this board is that for the rookies on this team this pennant race experience will serve them well in the future. The error that MM made last night in a playoff like game, that will serve him well in the future. Having the grit, the fortitude to come back to win the game where a loss would be devastating to the playoffs chance, that will serve all the rookies well in the future.
I already mentioned Jordan Montgomery is a FA. Another ex-Card Jack Flaherty also goes today & he’ll be a FA too. Inconsistent this year but first game for the O’s was vs Toronto. 6 ip, 4 hits, 1 run, 2 walks, and 8 Ks. He’s another one to watch
I’m not really keen on signing a guy who doesn’t have the potential to be a front line starter. We already have several guys who can be 3’s 4’s and 5’s. If we are going to sign a FA starter we should go big, or spend in another direction. I like the idea of signing the 24 year old Japanese kid, Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Regardless if they spend on a starter, or not they also need to invest in the back of their bullpen. Hader would be my choice, but if they aren’t willing to go so high Chapman, or Kimbrel could be a nice compliment to Diaz.
One more big player to try and acquire is Soler if becomes available, and a while ago I read it’s likely he’ll opt out of his last year on his contract. A legit DH with legit 40+HR power from the right side.
If they got the trifecta Yamamoto, Hader, and Soler, that would add about $55M to the payroll. If they don’t retain guys like Votto, Newman, Senzel, Sims etc they’ll only have $30 some million on the books in 24. That would keep us around our 23 payroll which is the lowest we’ve seen since 2016. It seems very doable to me, but what do I know? Maybe the goal is to become a sub $50M club. That’ll be fun if that’s the case.
Just watched our halves of the 9th, 10th, and 11th. Chose not to watch the muddled mess that resulted from the blown chances in the bottom of the 10th because … well … it ultimately didn’t matter. Too bad that Diaz didn’t get his proper opportunity to get a save. Then again, he did issue a walk, so he’s the one in control of that (for the most part).
Watching the EDLC AB in the 11th, Jeff Nelson wouldn’t know a ball high and outside of the zone if it came with blinking lights and a siren,
Unexpected result when I woke up this morning, so that works for me. Back at it in a couple of hours.
If Lively was capable of 5 and a third, why were Cruz and Mol used to start the game? I imagine the bullpen will get reinforcements next Friday when rosters expand by three.
It really doesn’t make much sense. If you’re definitely planning to use Lively and expect he’s going multiple innings, why not see what he can do, and what the situation is, before deciding which relievers to use? For all they knew, the score might have been 9-1 in favor of the Reds by the t fifth inning and they didn’t need to use Moll at all. If they didn’t feel comfortable having him start, why wasn’t he the second guy in?