Things were looking good for the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night through the first five-and-a-half innings as they built a lead. But then things turned and went south as the Marlins completed a comeback over the next two innings as Miami held on for a 4-3 victory to take both the game and the series.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (11-13) | 3 | 7 | 1 |
| Miami Marlins (11-12) | 4 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Bachar (1-0) L: Ashcraft (0-2) SV: Faucher (2) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Walks were something that Nick Martinez rarely handed out in 2024, but he gave away two free passes in the bottom of the 1st inning and he paid for it as Kyle Stowers came through with a 2-0ut single to bring in the games first run and put the Marlins in front.
The score stayed there until the top of the 3rd inning. That’s when Noelvi Marte hit a leadoff home run that would have made it to Cuba had the stadium not been in the way. The ball came off the bat at 116.7 MPH and went an estimated 431 feet. Two innings later the game was still knotted up at 1-1, but back-to-back 2-out doubles by Jose Trevino and TJ Friedl put the Reds in front 2-1. An inning later Elly De La Cruz singled, then stole the next two bases before coming in to score on a Jeimer Candelario sacrifice fly that extended the Reds lead to two runs.
The Marlins got a little rally of their own going in the bottom of the inning. Nick Martinez had held them in check since the 1st, but with two outs he gave up a single and a double that brought in a run and cut Cincinnati’s lead to 3-2. The double ended the night for Martinez and the Reds went to Graham Ashcraft. He would get out of the inning unscathed and hold onto the lead.
Things did not go well for Ashcraft when he returned to the mound in the 7th. He gave up a ground-rule double to begin the inning and then an RBI single two batters later that tied the game up. With two outs in the inning he got Xavier Edwards to hit a ball about 20 feet up the 1st base line, but Ashcraft fielded the ball and threw it away. The error allowed Otto Lopez to score from second base and put the Marlins in the lead. A walk followed to put two men on and that spelled a change on the mound for the Reds as Tony Santillan entered the game and got a ground out to shortstop to end the frame.
The Marlins threatened to add to their lead in the 8th inning after a double to begin the inning was followed up by a walk, but Scott Barlow came into the game and got out the jam with back-to-back shallow fly balls. Cincinnati’s offense wasn’t able to get going in the top of the 9th, going down in order against Calvin Faucher. The 4-3 win sealed a series victory for Miami and tomorrow afternoon they will go for the sweep.
Key Moment of the Game
Graham Ashcraft’s error in the 7th inning that allowed the go-ahead run to score from second base.
Notes Worth Noting
With the loss the Cincinnati Reds have now failed to win a series in which they lost the first game 34 consecutive times.
Cincinnati stole four bases in the game without being caught.
Reds hitters struck out 11 times in the game. Noelvi Marte was the only batter to not strike out for Cincinnati.
A laughable 7,996 fans paid for tickets to this game. That’s 320 fewer fans than were in Dayton, Ohio tonight to watch Wade Miley.
Speaking of that…. he allowed six runs on nine hits in 2.1 innings tonight for the Dragons.
Tyler Stephenson went 1-3 with a double and two strikeouts, and Sam Moll threw a hitless inning with a walk and a strikeout on their rehab assignments with Triple-A Louisville.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Miami Marlins
Wednesday, April 23, 1:10pm ET
Brady Singer (3-0, 3.80 ERA) vs Sandy Alcantara (2-1, 7.27 ERA)
The Marlins had 9 hits and 5 walks. Pretty decent offense and giving the Reds fits.
Different year same story. Typical reds loss. Enough startimg pitching to be competitive. Not enough offense and bullpen below average
I really thought this year would be different but so far it’s the same old story. 11 and 13 isn’t the end of the world but to be honest this team looks as uninspired as ever. They will have a good game or two and then go right back in the dumps. They got over .500 at 9 and 8 and have lost 5 of 7 since.
As Red said in The Shawshank Redemption: “Hope is a dangerous thing. Hope can drive a man insane.”
+25,000
I gave up drinking adult beverages during Lent! Now that I’m “off the wagon”, that may be the only way I make it thru the 2025 Reds season if they keep losing to teams like Miami!
Now, they need a win to avoid a sweep! Can’t wait to see how they do against the 4-17 Rockies at Coors Field!
When we had runners on 2nd and 3rd with no outs and scored only one run, I thought we were in trouble.
Agree. When Lux swung through ball 4 well inside and ended up striking out for the first out that was to me the critical moment in the game. They really need to deliver both runs in that situation. Last night it probably cost them the game.
Yup.
I wonder if Francona made the same mistake today of let Martinez face an extra batter as he did when played Giants in that game that Reds lost in a walked-off way after going ahead 6-1 in the 6th inning. Tonight , the Reds were leading 3-1 and Nick Martinez got two quick outs before giving up a single and then had to face the red hot Marlins rookie Agustin Ramirez who hit a RBI double to put the game by 1 run, at this point Francona called the bullpen. Why not hook Martinez before facing Ramírez ? It’s very known the problems Nick Martinez shows in 5th and 6th innings suddenly sourrendering runs so if it’s a tight game you should be very cautious about that…Francona again trusted but the result was negative…I just wonder this..It is not a harsh criticism either to Tito…
Martinez fell apart after 5 innings, just like on SF.
“It’s very known the problems Nick Martinez shows in 5th and 6th innings”
It’s well known? By whom and using what analysis? This year’s small sample of starts? Last year Martinez had a 1.71 ERA in the 6th Inning. That is outstanding.
You’re using hindsight to second guess Francona, but Francona manages real time without the benefit of hindsight like you have. Martinez was at 65 pitches entering the 6th. Why would you purposely tax the bullpen when Martinez is cruising and displayed all year last year that he still could be effective through the 7th inning?
You can argue that he shouldn’t have faced Ramirez, which last night it looked like no one should have faced Ramirez as he hit everyone hard including Santillan. But the single before was a swinging bunt with an exit velo of 67mph. He had gotten the other two guys out with soft contact as well, so I don’t know if Martinez falling apart in the 6th is the way I would describe it. I also, thought Tito got Martinez out fairly fast as well. But I could understand one batter too many, Just hard to say that when Martinez was cruising before that batter.
Lots of players on this team need to learn winning baseball plays. Ashcraft has shown that he doesn’t field his position well at all. If I was the opposite manager, I would tell my hitters to bunt attempt at least once an at bat. He needs to work on it.
Not sure Martinez should have been pulled so early. I think the guy is old enough to get some rope from his manager. He pitched well enough to win tonight.
Hitters need to cut the strikeouts down. But nice job making havoc on the base paths.
This teams needs McLain and EDLC to become more consistent and more potent. Until they do, we won’t win series.
yep to that last sentence.
4-8 in 1-2 run games. Krall knew they needed some late inning help and did nothing.
Offensively its the same ole same ole. They score more in 1 game then the next week. The Cubs are going to destroy our pitching even though their pitching isn’t that great. Idk? Reds may put it together, but I’m not holding my breath. Cubs have also played LA a bunch and SD. They’re going to win going away. We’ll be lucky to beat out Milwaukee.
Martinez probably pitched well enough to win! I’ll defer to Tito as to whether he went one batter too long!
The Reds offense continue to struggle in two areas: 1) too many strikeouts and, 2) failure to score runners from second (or third) base with less than two outs!
Is anybody surprised that since scoring 24 runs that the offense has disappeared? Same old thing. Different year.
With two strikes, if the ball is in the strike zone, take a wack at it and go down swinging. And regardless of the # of outs, if runners are in scoring position, a hit usually scores a run. Taking third strikes and leaving runners in scoring position are momentum killers.
Well, he clearly went one batter too long, but I wouldn’t fault Tito for wanting to push Martinez. Martinez needs to get through the 5 IP barrier if he’s going to be a viable starter for us.
Difficult to have someone on the team who can’t hit or field and is the second highest paid player on the team, get off the bag and catch the ball. Nothing like having worst player on team be a clubhouse leader????
Comment edited: Do not avoid the swear filter.
That was the key play of the game no doubt. The look on his face did not give me confidence he knew what he was doing. Steer may not be hitting much either but he plays better defense than that.
I must be watching a different team. As I see a team that plays hard and makes good defensive plays. Yes today’s game Ashcraft throw wasn’t good and errors do happen.
You watch baseball long enough as most have or at least say they have. One knows they are highs and lows. The players are the ones making the plays not the manager, and as far as pulling Martinez to late. There was no reason too as he was cruising along. Francona is a hall of fame manager and a good one. He will have this team playing better and they will be in first place come the All-Star Break.
Well, at least were getting sign of life from our lead-off guy. It’s still early, but anytime ELDC wants to start contributing from the 3 spot is fine with me.
He is leading the team in HR, RBI, Stolen bases, 3rd in walks. 3rd in all NL with RBIs.
Also, leading the team and 3rd in MLB with number of strikeouts and tied for 2nd most errors in all MLB… He is a polarizing guy in every way imaginable.
He is also Superman. I think last year I said he made 3 plays I had never seen before. He has already done that this year. Those 3 outs, nobody else can make.
Brantley comments on the deep left field foul ball he ran down we so funny: that Elly covers everything from the foul pole to ss
All true, but it’s also the case that his OBP is barely over .300 and his OPS is bettered on the team by seven or eight people. He’s a great talent, no doubt, but he is, to my eye, not yet the player who is carrying the team. It’s early days, and he’s young, so perhaps more consistency will be evident in time.
This team will go as far as Mclain and EDLC take them and right now that looks like about 75 wins tops.
Stevenson, Lowder, and Moll if all healthy is a lot to add to a team in progress.
Fun to see the breakout of Marte. Welcome back Mr. 116 mph. More please
How can everyone not be excited about Marte? To me that’s the top story today. He had a 117 MPH HR last night and drew a walk. I’ve been nervous that his hitting power might have been a product of using banned products. 117 says he can be clean and mash.
His 2025 AAA numbers are (short sample size) translating to the Bigs.
If we have 2023 Marte back that’s a big deal.
I agree, his bounce back could be just what this team needs. One of his keys will be how well he handles the next patch of adversity. The early results are encouraging.
If we have 2023 Marte back that’s a big deal”.
I am cautiously excited however “IF” being the key word in your comment. I personally want to wait another month before I take my word “cautiously”.
This game was lost on two Little League defensive plays in the bottom of the seventh. Friedl airmailed a throw over the cutoff man when he had no play at the plate on the first Marlins run of the inning. This allowed the batter to advance to second base from where he scored the decisive run on Ashcraft’s bonehead play two batters later.
Tito must leave games like this flabbergasted by the size of the task he has taken on. It took years of organizational negligence to get the team into this condition. Can one man fix it and if so, how?
Great post Jim. These are the same things we have talked about here for years. So far, drills in spring training are not helping. Maybe Friedl was trying too hard to make a hero play for the team?
I don’t like to put my opinions where I have no basis for fact. I don’t know what is going on in someone’s head so I don’t like it when others will say something has “gone to his head”. I don’t know the things the manager knows. They played hard for DB and they are playing hard for Tito. The same errors in judgement are happening to other teams players too. Maybe the problem is at the lower levels because it must be hard to correct these things on the fly on the big club.
Down a run in the 9th and the first batter doesn’t even take a pitch to try to get on base just drives me crazy. Rant over.
Both plays are examples of players trying to do too much. To me, errors (or miscues as all bad defensive plays are not scored as errors) are like turnovers in football or even basketball. I view baserunning mistakes similarly. Giving an opponent an extra out is like giving them an extra possession. Making an unnecessary out is like robbing your team of a possession. In any sport, there’s a maturation process for younger players to understand when to go for the big play and when to eat the ball and cut your losses. I believe we have seen some improvement in this regard.
Missing the cutoff man when you have no chance of throwing out the runner at home is just bad baseball. Consistently swinging at balls and taking strikes is agonizing. I along with many expected better overall baseball fundamentals from the team. That has not been the case.
A frustrating Stink. Fish. Pot!! of a game. Feels like the getaway is now a “must win”.
Pretty much gave that one away and we need to forge ahead. I’m not ready to say “same as last year” just yet. My calendar still says April. Today and Colorado series will tell us a few things.
Does anyone know when this streak of 34 consecutive series lost after… actually started? Probably includes the entire season of 2023. Waiting for good ‘ole Joel Luckhaupt to see if there’s exists a record to shoot for here. The triple 1-0 losses were impressive but contained an almost equal part of positive team effort.
This streak brings up again the lack of a winner’s mentality forged through all levels of this organization over many years. Don’t know if even Tito can fix this in due time for this season.
…entire last season!
June 2023
June 2023.
Don’t understand Tito today, giving Hayes a day off with a day off Thursday but playing Mclain, Candy and Steer. Hope he knows best.
I admire the Marlins approach. They are coming out swinging. Reds should still beat them, but Miami has some of the spark the Reds found when they called up Elly and Mclain.
Just a question for Doug or anyone who might know, do you know if the pitching coach has a say in when to remove a pitcher or is it entirely left to the manager?