After getting blown out in the first game of the series, the Cincinnati Reds returned the favor this afternoon. A big 6-run 5th inning put the visiting team ahead for good and they tacked on a few more runs late as they beat the Detroit Tigers 11-1 to even up the series.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (36-35) | 11 | 12 | 1 |
| Detroit Tigers (46-26) | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| W: Singer (7-4) L: Flaherty (5-7) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Neither team did much at the plate in the first two innings of the game, but the Tigers got things rolling in the 3rd inning when Javier Baez led off with a walk. Trey Sweeney then doubled to the wall i right-center. Jake Fraley played it well on the bounce off the wall and turned around and fired towards the infield and with Baez being waved him Elly De La Cruz took the throw from about 50 feet in the outfield grass and fired a 98 MPH bullet to the plate to in time for Jose Trevino to make the tag and get the out. Brady Singer escaped the inning from there with no runs allowed.
About 10 minutes after making the throw home to get Baez, Elly De La Cruz showed off his power on the other side of things and led off the top of the 4th inning with a 402 foot home run deep into the seats down the right field line. The lead didn’t last long as Singer got himself into trouble in the bottom of the inning by walking two batters before giving up a 2-out single to Wenceel Perez that brought in a run to tie the game up.
Cincinnati came right back in the 5th to take the lead. Jake Fraley led off the inning with a single. TJ Friedl then walked with one out to put two men on. Gavin Lux followed up with an RBI single and then Elly De La Cruz walked to load the bases.
That led to a meeting at the mound and whatever was said did not work as Jack Flaherty left a curveball over the inside part of the plate on the first pitch to Tyler Stephenson and he put an exclamation point on the inning by crushing it over the bullpen and into the seats in left field for a grand slam to make it 6-1. But the Reds weren’t finished with Flaherty at that point. Two batters later he threw a slider that barely caught the zone at the knees on the outside corner, but Spencer Steer reached out and got it, hitting his 5th homer of the year to extend Cincinnati’s lead to 7-1.
Brady Singer kept the score there through the 6th inning before turning the game over toe Graham Ashcraft to start the 7th. He took care of the Tigers in order, getting two ground outs and a line out.
The Reds padded their lead in the top of the 8th as Jose Trevino walked to start the inning and Jake Fraley singled to follow. That set up Matt McLain’s 3-run home run that landed on the Little Caesar’s logo beyond the fence in left field that pushed the score to 10-1 in favor of the visiting squad.
Tony Santillan took over for Ashcraft to start the 8th inning and had to work around a baserunner when Kerry Carpenter reached on catchers interference, but he was able to do just that. Cincinnati would tack on another run in the 9th on a Jose Trevino sacrifice fly that plated Tyler Stephenson to make it 11-1.
Lyon Richardson came out of the Reds bullpen to try and seal the win in the bottom of the frame. The inning started out with the Tigers hitting two absolute lasers, but both of them were right at Cincinnati defenders and Jake Fraley and Matt McLain caught them for the first two outs of the inning. Javier Baez then hit a ball 44 MPH right back to Richardson who tossed it over to Christian Encarnacion-Strand at first base to end the game and put the Reds back in the win column and back above the .500 mark on the season.
Key Moment of the Game
Tyler Stephenson’s grand slam in the 5th inning.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz has now homered in three straight games and has seven of them in the last 19 games.
Tyler Stephenson has a five game hitting streak in which he’s gone 10-23 with three doubles, a home run, and seven runs batted in. He’s had four multi-hit games in the last nine games he’s played in.
TJ Friedl went 1-3 and had two walks. This was the 17th time he’s reached base at least twice in his last 24 games played.
Brady Singer’s poor outing in Houston is still hurting his ERA overall on the season, which dropped to 4.34 on the year with today’s outing. But outside of that game in Houston he’s made 13 starts and has an ERA of 3.61. In seven of his starts he’s allowed two or fewer runs.
The Reds bullpen nearly threw three perfect innings. The only runner that reached against them came on a catchers interference.
Cincinnati’s win evened up the series. Tomorrow they will have a chance to break their streak of not being able to win a series in which they lost the first game that dates back to June of 2023.
Sunday’s game is the ROKU game of the week. It is free to watch and you don’t need a ROKU device to watch it. You can stream it online at TheRokuChannel.com.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Detroit Tigers
Sunday June 15th, 12:05pm ET
Wade Miley (1-0, 9.00 ERA) vs Sawyer Gipson-Long (0-0, 4.32 ERA)
Nice offense by just about everyone and great game by Singer who gave us some much needed length. Nice to see McLain connect with one. He needed that.
Not sure why you wouldn’t give Singer another inning here and why throw ashcraft and Santillan out there in a blowout? Might need some bullpen length tomorrow.
Agree that Singer should maybe have at least started the 7th inning! Again, if Singer doesn’t have the 3 walks, he easily makes it thru 7 innings, maybe even 8 innings!
You would have hated Jim Maloney. Lots of walks.
They hadn’t pitched since June 9th. Great call by Francona to get them some game action.
Yes, Gibaut and Barlow should pitch in blowouts.
Wade Miley snuck by the Guardians by the skin of his teeth, and had some help due to their poor baserunning.
I don’t see the Tigers doing him any favors tomorrow.
Sadly, I think the streak continues unless the Reds can score a bunch of runs. And if Tito uses his “getaway day” lineup, that might be a steep hill to climb.
I wouldn’t count Miley out. That’s not to say he won’t get rocked tomorrow, but when healthy he’s been a good pitcher.
2021 Reds 139 ERA+
(short sample size due to injury)
2022 Cubs 133 ERA+
2023 Brew 137 ERA+
2024 Injured
The real question is if he’s actually healthy, and how long can he remain healthy?
I’ll add that we’re likely to start seeing what Miley is capable of. His minor league numbers were essentially his spring training/rehab, and then he had a bit of a layoff before the Reds signed him. Tomorrow, he will pitch after a regular rest and prep cycle. Yes, Father Time always wins, but a healthy Wade Miley is pretty effect as @MBS well articulated.
I purposely did watch today’s game thinking the Tigers, being very familiar with Singer during his time with KC, would easily win! If the Reds can win by double digits when I don’t watch maybe I should not watch any games live and just check in to read Doug’s excellent post-game summaries!
Nice bounce back from yesterday’s debacle!
That was my strategy today, Dennis. It worked. Might have been a coincidence, but with a world championship and the best single-season record of all time at stake, I have to consider not watching any more games.
That win was needed. Great pitching all around. Hope the Reds can get some of that offense tomorrow to take the series.
Just a great team effort.
Hovering around 500 and waiting to get hot. It’s not 46-26, but it’ll do if we can just catch a break and catch a fire.
Your friendly Gordon Wittenmeyer critic here with the latest:
2 weeks ago: Gordon says trade, trade, trade! The Reds are out of it and once again should rebuild. Specifically, he mentions trading Brady Singer for some hot young prospects. SELL! And do it now, before the market gets saturated!
2 days ago: Gordon says, and I quote, the Reds are “in their window” and need to be in win-now mode! Tito will only be here a few years so the Reds should go all in! They are definitely in the playoff race! And his big idea for how to better the team right now for a playoff run: trade Hunter Greene.
You can’t make this stuff up, folks.
Great win today for Singer the good guys.
Isn’t he a Cubs beat writer?
He’s now the beat writer for the Reds. He was with the Cubs /Chicago Sun-Times till 2023.
He’s now covered 5 MLB teams (Mariners, Angels, Twins, Cubs) which sounds impressive until you realize that all those outlets probably fired him.
His big thing is clickbait-y negativity, whether it be Reds or Bengals. He disguises this as “speaking for the fans” but really all it does is spread negativity and perpetuate more engagement from those negative fans. Best thing to do is ignore him, which admittedly I’m not great (ha) at but somebody has to call this guy out.
@Dan, I was playing a bit with his job title. The few times I read his work, he seemed to reference the Cubs in his analysis.
I didn’t care for him, and I actively avoid reading him. It’s interesting that you mentioned how many teams he’s written for. Im going with your assumption that he gets fired, or wears out his welcome.
Is there a Greene trade anywhere in the league that even remotely makes sense for both sides? The certainty of HG’s contract makes him worth so much more to the Reds than to most other teams.
I don’t even know who that writer is hinting at. Ronald Acuna Jr, maybe? As in, the Braves punt this year and reload for the next four? He’d be perfect, but he’s FA after 2026 and I wouldn’t do it one for one. Like, is Atlanta kicking in prospects in that deal? (lol no) Or, are we going after someone even younger? Hard to tell. The writer mentions starting a “bidding war” and that just seems like a really bad idea.
Lodolo for, like, Jordan Westburg? Martinez for prospects in a three-team trade that gets us a basher? Cashing in on a pitcher to reshape the roster could make sense. I just can’t imagine why it would be Greene unless the medical reports are bad.
**Acuna has club options through 2028, I am dumb. That is not happening.
Lodolo for Westburg sounds interesting. I’d like it much more if Lowder was ready to step in to his spot in the rotation. Burns could be that guy, but he is likely on an innings limit.
So it comes down to if the Reds can cover the innings that leaves with Lodolo.
I am not a believer in Miley going forward. Hope he proves me wrong.
Yeah it’s kind of unclear how deep the SP situation actually is for 2025. If the young guys won’t help much because of injuries or innings limits then maybe wait until the winter. Trading Lodolo wouldn’t be plan A, I like him.
“Build pitchers, import hitters” is 100% the right big picture strategy imo. If you do it right you’re going to end up with a surplus of pitching at times. Can’t get too attached.
Agree Miley is clearly not a safe bet for 2025, for several reasons. He looked pretty awful last time out (command, yikes, way too many non-competitive pitches) but in a way that bodes ok for his future (hit 93 once, the tunnels still work). He did put up 120 innings of 3.14 ERA two years ago. I’d pencil him in for like a 5.20 going forward. He’s just keeping that seat warm.
Hey Noyes. Very few players are untradable. Will the Reds be able to afford him when his current contract ends if he continues to play like the #1 Ace? Acuna would be a great get except for injuries. Since 2019 he played three season with 46-81-49 games played. This season he to date has only played in 20 games.
I wold love Red Sox OF Jarren Durran but he alone is not enough. Sox would have to part with another significant piece. Or maybe take Candelario and his salary off our hands with Durran for Greene and Reds use that money to extend Abbott. We bring up Burns to replace Greene.
Sox need SP and we need OF seems like a good match there. All just fun speculation when in reality Reds probably will not make any significant moves at the deadline.
Yeah, if you believe in Duran he checks a lot of the boxes. He’s 28, the price might not even be all that high. I’d be mostly looking a home run hitter, myself.
I mean, if you want to get really wild, does Greene + Marte get you anywhere near Gunnar Henderson? Probably not, but Gunnar’s off to a meh start this year…
We have a Redleg Nation commenter who said they should trade Hunter Greene. He can only beat the white Sox and Marlins. I seriously come here for the laughs.
Martinez is the guy who’ll be traded due to his salary, but not until Greene is back. Miley works as a #5 starter.
Good beat writers tend to stick around for awhile… or otherwise move to a larger role- not pull a lateral.
I do wish Reds would promote Stewart and Rodriguez to triple A. Heck even Arroyo.
Seems to me a core group of players from Chattanooga are ready.
Melvin, what do you think?
I’d say Stewart would probably be the most likely one to be promoted to AAA. Doug would certainly know more than I about that possibility. If you’re asking would I like for him to be the answer is yes. The Reds need hitters. Let’s see what he can do at the next level. He’s already leading his league in hitting.
HRs aren’t everything of course but Arroyo only has one and that was from a few days ago. If something happened to EDLC it might be more of a possibility.
Looking at the stats of “HRod” he may not be far away from AAA.
Of course this is all mostly from what I get from Doug’s updates.
What’s the argument to be made for promoting Arroyo? He has a .674 OPS this season. If he played a position of dire need, maybe I could understand it. But he plays a position that the best player on the Reds plays who will keep playing it for several more years.
After I looked at his double A stats, he is right where he needs to be.
Isn’t his OPS issue mainly just a lack of power hitting?
I agree there is no rush, but his power isn’t coming back quicker if he remains in AA. Only healing, and strengthening his shoulder.
For me he”s a likely a mid 2026 Reds call up, so he can go to AAA mid season or next spring.
Stewart looks ready. Rodriguez and Arroyo are trade bait: send them to CA for Ward.
They can do some damage vs garden variety righties and Flaherty is still pretty decent. Lefties are another story. Hays kills lefties, but he’s never in the lineup. Strangely enough both CES & Marte have been much worse vs lhp. Marte only 1 HR lifetime vs lhp in 97 at-bats. Sliders and change-ups aren’t their thing evidently.
Maybe Elly can pick it up batting righty?
Pitching wise Tito needs a big arm for the pen and I’d give Burns a go too asap. We’ll see what Miley has left tomorrow. My guess is not much. If they acquired a high leverage guy then maybe GA could start again. I’d consider Richardson also.
Get into the 4th-5th under 3 runs and we’d be in the game atleast
It’s not Miley I worry about, rather it’s the bullpen. We were in it yesterday until bullpen blew it. Can’t let it happen tomorrow. Right now TJ and EDLC with Lux batting 2nd against righties should provide enough offense.
A big “Yes” to Lux batting second. Go get ’em tomorrow, guys!
Yes! Espinal has been in a deep slump: 18 hits in the last 104 at bats.
Stephenson looking like the hitter we’d hoped for right now: healthy and driving the ball to all fields. He’s picking up the slack behind Elly with Hays out.
Not expecting a win tomorrow with Miley pitching but I didn’t last time he pitched either. Would be great to come out of Detroit with a series win after getting one in Cleveland. Great payback game today. Go Reds!!!
Nothing like taking it to the best team in baseball ! We got the big hits when we needed ’em today. Tito just needs to be ready to pull Miley, and I’m guessing he will. Who will the Reds be facing ? That’s the question.
It says Sawyer Gipson-Long, not much in the Stats for him either, but he’s a righty, and that’s good for us.
One thing about this years version of the Red is although they have had some rough spots, they are not been sustained streaks like in years past. At least so far. No 10+ game losing steaks After losing a few games they have been able to turn it around and win a few to get back to .500. I am not sure it the team is just better, or Tito doing a better job managing, or perhaps both. But to me that is a nice improvement.
I think this team has a measurable amount of “more” talent than the 2024 or previous teams did.
But…everybody they are competing with has improved more. The Cubs are a lot better, because all of their young guys are hitting, and the guy they signed from Houston is hitting, and their pitching is …..well, ok. I don’t know how far they will get in the playoffs, depending on who they play, because I don’t know if their starting pitching can carry them
The Reds will, I think, eventually move into 2nd place in the division, but I don’t think they can catch the Cubs.
Idk? I always think we’re better then Milwaukee, but we can’t beat them and always finish behind them? SD, SF, St Louis, and Milwaukee are all vulnerable, but can the Reds stay healthy enough to make a run?
Dbacks trying to win 5 straight after we swept them. Its as unpredictable as ever
With Hays out of the lineup the Reds miss an important part of their offense, although Stevenson is coming on strong recently.
Tigers just scored 1 run on 4 hits today after scored 11 on 16 hits yesterday. It seems that it could also happen to the best teams besides the Reds.
Singer continues being the Reds pitcher who enjoys best run support from the offense…
Elly shows two of his tools today, arm and power at bat. That throw was really impressive.
“…Tomorrow they will have a chance to break their streak of not being able to win a series in which they lost the first game that dates back to June of 2023…” That could be tough when Miley is on the mound but who knows? Maybe the baseball surprises us in the toughest context to stop that negative streak
Louisville on Marquee Network. 13-0, Hinds 3-3, Petty 4.2 shutout but pulled just now 80 pitches, 3 walks, hbp. Kid has a big time arm
There’s no question that Chase Petty has good enough stuff to pitch in the Majors. He has probably been trying to “overthrow” his pitches, or be too fine with his control.
He may get hit, but a big problem for him is control, at the ML level.
Don’t give out walks, keep the ball in the zone, challenge the hitters.
Sounds easy, but it isn’t.
Petty just has to relax and trust his stuff.
Hinds 4-4 with 2 more doubles. What does he have to do to get back over Henry Aaron Hampson? Promise to help the field crew with the grass before the game?
Hampson plays all INF and OF positions and has 6 years MLB experience.
Hinds plays OF and has 6 weeks MLB experience.
We already have a versatile guy that can’t hit at many positions named Espinal. Two if you count Steer
Steer can’t play all INF and OF potions. Neither can Espinal.
Hampson can.
He has to stop swinging at bad pitches out of the Strike zone and stop striking out so much.
His current SO rate have fallen under 20%. Not cumulatively but over the last month or so. And any argument to keep Hampson over Hinds based on utility is chasing fool’s gold. Hampson has already demonstrated through his six years of MLB experience that he isn’t a consequential player. So, let’s quit pretending otherwise.
For the season, Hinds AAA K rate is 26.2% and BB rate is 9.3%
Since May 1 at AAA K rate is 19.2%, BB rate is 10.1%
Since arriving back at AAA on May 24, K rate 19.7%, BB rate 11.8% (64 PAs)
Hinds had a big night Saturday in Louisville’s rout of Iowa. In 6 PAs, he had 4 hits (2 singles and 2 doubles) plus a BB and zero Ks. From Doug’s overnight Patreon post, “(Hinds) had hits on Saturday with exit velocities of 111, 107, 107, and 103 MPH”.
There is more about Doug’s Patreon updates here:
https://www.redsminorleagues.com/2025/06/14/cincinnati-reds-minor-league-game-review-june-14-2025/
Krall loves his platoon players and seemingly can’t get past the fact that Hinds could possibly be better, even much better, and help the team win more consistently. Virtually every Reds fan including Krall has been wanting a RH power bat in the outfield and yet it’s right under his nose and he seemingly refuses to acknowledge it. Krall has never impressed me as a POBO/GM who has winning as his top priority.
And the Reds just claimed another infielder.
OT- Fine, if Hampton’s versatility locks him in for now so be it. What about Conner Joe?
Joe is an MLB capable hitter. His positions are 1B and RF so not as versatile in the field.
The Reds have churned through several like him the past few years. Some of them are still playing MLB for someone else.
I wonder if Detroit Manager A.J. Hinch will decide to go with a Lefty for an Opener Sunday like he did Friday? He went with Hurter and then brought in Righty Montero after EDLC batted. Tito went with his weaker right handed platoon lineup and never used Benson or Fraley later in the game. If I’m A.J. Hinch, I’d do it again and see if Tito adjusts or starts his weaker right handed platoon lineup again. Use another lefty to open and then bring in Sawyer Gibson-Long.
I certainly would if I was Detroit. A lefty opener – or lefties in general – seem to mess with our players and manager.
and I would do the alternate with Detroit – use a righty opener like graham ashcraft for 2 innings. Wish they hadn’t burned him today as he probably isn’t available. He rarely does back to backs.
Impressive win against the best team in baseball…after an impressive loss. Up and down go the manic-depressive Reds.
Happy father’s to all, I missed yesterdays game walking my daughter down the aisle but was getting key updates. My son whispered during the ceremony Stephenson just hit a GS and during pictures, he yelled over to the Bride- ‘McLain just hit a 3 run bomb”. Best part was the groom’s family are Tiger fans and he told everyone at the reception she has converted him to a Reds fan. Not sure if the Michigan marital code can prosecute across state lines for emotional abuse but we’ve added another tortured soul to the fanbase!. Also got a cool wood wall mounted national map with every MLB park on it with pins to place once attended. I am on it with a Trip to Fenway coming up! Now lets break that 0-39 streak since June 2023 or whatever it is. Go Reds!
Sounds great. congrats to alll
“I missed yesterdays game walking my daughter down the aisle…”
WHERE are your priorities? ;)…..Congratulations. 🙂
Today’s the day the Reds break their lose the first game, lose the series streak. Still optimistic but starting Miley doesn’t really give me much to hope. Detroit will likely knock him out in the first three innings. Then it’ll be up to the bullpen and the batters.
I will do my part by not watching the game: My grandson is playing in a soccer tournament, and that takes priority.
You guys and your priorities. 😉 ….Hope you have a great time and he plays a great game. 🙂