Tonight the Cincinnati Reds and the Toronto Blue Jays will take the field for the third and final game of their series. The two teams split the first two in what has turned out to be a wild two games. First pitch tonight is scheduled for 6:40pm ET.
Starting Lineups
Toronto Blue Jays | Cincinnati Reds |
| George Springer – LF | TJ Friedl – CF |
| Addison Barger – RF | Noelvi Marte – RF |
| Vladimir Guerrero Jr. – DH | Elly De La Cruz – SS |
| Bo Bichette – SS | Austin Hays – LF |
| Daulton Varsho – CF | Gavin Lux – DH |
| Alejandro Kirk – C | Spencer Steer – 1B |
| Ty France – 1B | Ke’Bryan Hayes – 3B |
| Andres Gimenez – 2B | Jose Trevino – C |
| Ernie Clement – 3B | Matt McLain – 2B |
| Shane Bieber – RHP | Zack Littell – RHP |
Starting Pitchers
| Pitcher | IP | ERA | WHIP | BB | K |
| Zack Littell | 161.0 | 3.63 | 1.12 | 27 | 110 |
| Shane Bieber | 11.1 | 2.38 | 0.62 | 2 | 15 |
| Links: Zack Littell’s Stats | Shane Bieber’s Stats | |||||
Zack Littell
Since joining the Reds, Zack Littell has been a little bit inconsistent. He’s had two poor outings mixed in with two good ones and a solid one. Overall he’s pitched fine, but it’s also been hit or miss. In his only start this season against Toronto he allowed three runs in 7.1 innings and picked up a win against them back n May.
The splits this season against Littell are noticeable. Neither lefties or righties do much of any kind of walking against him. Right-handed hitters have a solid advantage in average and a solid advantage in power, too.
Splits
| Split | PA | H | 2B | 3B | HR | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG |
| RHH | 353 | 84 | 17 | 0 | 18 | 11 | 58 | .260 | .290 | .473 |
| LHH | 303 | 67 | 13 | 0 | 12 | 16 | 52 | .237 | .279 | .410 |
Pitch Usage
| 4-seam | 2-seam | Slider | Split | |
| Velo | 92.0 | 91.3 | 85.9 | 83.3 |
| Usage | 23% | 15% | 34% | 28% |
Shane Bieber
On April 2nd of 2024 Shane Bieber moved to 2-0 by picking up a win against Seattle where he struck out nine batters in six shutout innings. It was the last game he pitched in for 13 months. On May 31st this year he made a rehab start for the rookie-level Guardians in Arizona and while he pitched well on that day, he then didn’t pitch again for seven weeks.
This time around things kept progressing forward and his rehab looked good enough that Toronto traded for him at the deadline. Three weeks later he returned to the big league mound and in the two starts since then he’s struck out 15 batters without walking anyone in 11.1 innings.
We aren’t bothering to look at the splits for Bieber. He’s thrown less than 25 innings in the last two years. That simply isn’t worth paying attention to when it comes to splits.
Pitch Usage (AAA & MLB in 2025)
| 4-seam | Cutter | Curve | Slider | Change | |
| Velo | 92.9 | 88.0 | 82.5 | 85.5 | 89.1 |
| Usage | 35% | 16% | 11% | 28% | 11% |
When and Where
- Game time: 6:40pm ET
- Where: Great American Ball Park
- Watch: FanDuel Sports Network, MLB.tv
- Listen: 700 WLW AM (Cincinnati area)
- Forecast: 79°, partly cloudy, 5% chance of rain
News and Notes
Scott Barlow sent home
A day after filling in for Nick Lodolo because he was sick, Scott Barlow was told to go back home after he is now dealing with an illness. Manager Terry Francona noted to the media yesterday that he was worried whatever Lodolo had could spread through the clubhouse. This was first reported by Jeff Wallner of the Associated Press.
Roster Moves
There were three moves made by the club today. Tyler Stephenson headed to Louisville to begin a rehab assignment and with the Bats playing an afternoon game his day is already over. He went 1-3 with a home run and caught seven innings.
Reliever Reiver Sanmartin was optioned back to Triple-A after last night’s game. He’s being replaced by right-handed reliever Lyon Richardson. We have more information on all of the moves from earlier today when they were announced if you want further details.
Minor League News
Last night was a big one on the farm. The Dayton Dragons won their 14th game in a row. That set a new franchise record, breaking the old record that was held by the 2002 club. It’s also the longest winning streak in all of minor league baseball since the start of the 2024 season. Dayton’s previous long winning streak in 2025 was three games before the start of this run. And they only had one 3-game winning streak all year. Prior to the streak they were simply fighting to not have the worst record in all of the minor leagues.
Down in Florida the Daytona Tortugas picked up a win to start their final series of the regular season. The win clinched a playoff spot for the Single-A club. They will be one of two teams in the playoffs from the Reds system, joining Double-A Chattanooga. Louisville is technically still not eliminated, but they are 10.5 games back and behind eight teams with 16 games remaining.
Wild Card Standings
With the division firmly out of reach, we are switching to the Wild Card standings for the rest of the season.
| Team | W | L | GB | Playoff Odds |
| Chicago | 80 | 59 | +5.5 | 99.8% |
| San Diego | 76 | 63 | +1.5 | 98.0% |
| New York | 75 | 65 | 0.0 | 95.0% |
| Cincinnati | 70 | 69 | 4.5 | 3.3% |
| San Francisco | 70 | 69 | 4.5 | 3.1% |
| Playoff Odds via Fangraphs | ||||
By my count on Spotrac, there are at least 20 teams with more players cumulatively on the injured list than the Reds. For sure some players are more valuable than others, but injuries wouldn’t be the first thing I point to when determining why their record is what it is.
IMO, the likelihood that a healthy Stewart will outperform a dinged Steer at probably less than 90% is pretty high. On the other hand, at this point, I would take a 90% Andujar over Stewart if that were the choice. Instead, we get an impaired Steer while Andujar sits.
The only upside to holding Andujar out tonight (Weds) is if he is not used tonight and isn’t ready enough to go Friday, they can backdate his IL time so that he will only miss a minimum of 7 games given the consecutive Thursday off days coming up.
Goldsmith reported that Tito essentially said Stewart would play every day splitting time between 1st 2nd 3rd and DH.Tito also said he would not forget those players who have been grinding it out every day because it wasn’t fair to them.Today he is not forgetting Steer and I guess Andujar and his quad are yet to agree.
“Today he is not forgetting Steer”
He needs to “forget” somebody every day because we need to win every day. No time to be sentimental.
Where is Sal, Tito?
The news about a possibility of an illness outbreak could be a tragedy for the Reds.
I see the Blue Jays hitters career numbers against Littell and it scared me. Only two guys hasn’t hit well ahainst him as they are Springer and Schneider. The latter isn’t in the starting lineup.
My only advice is to pitch VERY CAREFULLY to Bichette!
They can’t hit. They can pitch, but they can’t hit
And Springer’s a beast.
Spring used to kill the Reds when he played for the Astros! So, nothing new there!
I wish Stewart were playing tonight. As I said in another thread, if he gets hot, and he just might, he could carry us into a winning streak that we desperately need.
Let’s win tonight one way or another. NO HUGS and nobody else getting sick. 🙂 Is there still a covid type list?
From what I’m reading there is NOT a covid list any longer. It would be either 10 days for position players or 15 days for pitchers as usual for the IL.
It is always possible that Stewart is on sick call himself. He was in Nashville with the Bats last week; and, that is certainly a crossroads of folks from all over the country.
Doug said last week that the Taxi squad is still active. I have no idea if there is a special indeterminate sick list that can bring guys back in less than the normal IL minimum time.
Therapeutic doses of Vitamin D can ward off viruses. Mega doses of Vitamin C can also cure viral infections quickly. Injured List is not the answer.
Linus Pauling made those claims about Vit c decades ago, and was thoroughly refuted.
It worked for me.
Yeah, Linus Pauling he pitched for the Reds in the 70’s? My mistake we were just showing everyone how smart we are.
I’m glad that it did. The placebo effect is a real thing, and I’ve benefited from it myself. But Pauling’s claims about mega doses of C were taken seriously because he was a Nobel prize winning physicist, so double-blind, peer-reviewed studies were done and his results weren’t replicated.
Really just responding to a comment, Doofus. What are you trying to show everyone?
Once again, the Reds are presented with a golden opportunity, with a win tonight, to pick up a game on the Mets who finally lost to the 1st place Tigers!
With a day off tomorrow, the Reds should have no excuses with respect to the availability of RPs!
Glad to hear Ty Steve may be back soon! On the other hand, not thrilled with the Lyon Richardson news!
Finally, the ESPN MLB standings are showing the Reds have a 3% chance of making the post season! In the words Lloyd spoke to Mary in the movie Dumb & Dumber – “So you’re telling me there’s a chance!”
+50,000
The probabilities list gets very volatile at the margin this time of year. If the Reds win tonight and take 2 of 3 from the Mets, their chances would probably shoot back up; and that’s not even considering how a continuing Padres downturn might impact things.
In the meantime, the Giants have caught us.
My guess on Lyon is “next arm available” though swapping out Sanmartin is a head-scratcher. But what do I know?
Hope whatever malady is making the rounds skips everyone else. There is a LOT of “that” going around.
Let’s go on a Jay hunt tonight … heaven knows they are looking to keep it up and win the AL East.
When I practiced we used to write TWIGA on the diagnosis line – That Which Is Going Around
Lodolo and Barlow should invite Soto and Alonso for a card game when they reach town.
+100,000
pretty dandy start to the game, Littell! gave the two big boppers nothin to hit.
Crazy pitching by Littell in the first, but crazy good it turned out to be… He strikes out the side, and also threw 7 balls in a row.
Nice bounce back by Littell…after 7 balls in a row…
4 must wins in a row to have a shot. Thats the hole they’ve put themselves in. They better throw AA, Lodolo, and HG out there vs the Mets w/some Chase Burns in there too. You’re either going for it or you’re not?
Good 1st inning for Littell! Time for the Reds offense to go to work and put up a crooked number!
Or not
10-pitch inning with a SO for Justin Bieber! I’m sorry, Shane Bieber!
Littell having 5 Ks in 2 IP is surprising…
All or none Reds fans losing their minds. Frustrating for sure but Reds are still sorting. Reds fans are send McLain to the minors. Fire Steer. Play Stewart every Day. Get rid of Hays. Hayes terrible trade. Lodolo is weak. Lux has no power, get rid of him.
Francona is balancing the last month of the season.
Reds arent making any big roster decisions other than Stewart is in the mix and Hayes is the 3b and marte plays in RF. Players will sort it out on the field.
October will be the time for that. Hays and Lux and McLain and Steer arent being tossed to the curb on September 3rd despite RLN all or none short sighted experts.
3 runs on station-to-station ball. Plus the Jays are in aggressive swing mode and that’s going Littell’s way so far.
Nice job McLain. And now Marte.
woo-woo!!!
woo-woo!!!
woo-woo!!!
woo-woo!!!
Not to sound like a broken record…but most all of the hits in this 5 run inning are up the middle or oppo.
Where does this approach go during the offensive struggle games?
One of them from the much-disparaged Steer!
Trevino and MMC delivering some nice RBI hits up the middle.
500 Server error is rearing it’s ugly head again tonight. 🙁
woo-woo!!!
Same here
same here.
If my math is correct the Reds have 23 games remaining including tonight’s game! I figure the Reds will have to go 15-8 to have a realistic chance to win a NL Wild Card spot! 15 wins would give them 85 wins total which may be just enough! Of course, that depends on beating the Mets 2 out of 3 this weekend and winning series against the Padres and the A’s on their final west coast trip!
You’d be counting on the Mets to go no better then 9-10 after Cincy? That would put them at 85 wins as well. They do go to Philly for 4 so maybe? I’m thinking a sweep is mandatory as well as this game, but anything can happen
Note to Reds – KEEP FOOT ON GAS PEDAL
….. JAYS CAN HIT
Note to Reds – KEEP FOOT ON GAS PEDAL … JAYS CAN HIT ….
Note to Reds – KEEP FOOT ON GAS PEDAL … JAYS CAN HIT ….
5 is a great crooked number.
Stellar play to get TJ but Marte smacked that one but good.
Big Offensive Explosion in the 2nd ! Reds hang 5 on the Board … They can leave Bieber out there as long as they want to.
Thrall commented that a couple days off may have helped Steer’s mental approach. Cowboy replied that nothing helps a guy’s mental approach like seeing someone else playing your position. Gotta love Cowboy
I noticed Littell pitched inside to Springer in his first At bat and he struck him out…now he pitched a little outside and Springer homered…
the game is in Zack’s hands now. He needs to keep the lid on it. Solo shots shouldn’t hurt us.
and as soon as I type that, it’s back to back Jacks, and the score is now 5-3 …
Sometimes its too hot for batting practice so they waited til 7:41
Low hanger but he caught enough of that one.
I’m with Cowboy … we need more when it’s our turn.
Same again.
I’m tired of seeing Blue Jays home runs …
If Burns is available … now would be good time to bring him in.
He’s not
and there goes another one … the score is now tied. what a shame !
Don’t wait until Reds behind this time
Francona – he’s up there throwing batting practice right now
The 500 server error is really bad tonight. Every comment it comes up. Have to get out of Redleg Nation and then get back on.
same here.
It’s like frequent accidents in Hanover Square
Lol we always know who are the out of towners.
Ke’Bryan Hayes is the Leatherman.
+1000000
My daughter went to HS with George Springer’s sister, who was a very, very good softball player. Serious athletes, those Springers.
2 run bomb. somebody asleep at the wheel…???
Well crap … 😮
Littell is not made for this ballpark.
Maybe it’s because it’s late in the season, but this is unbearable.
By the size of the crowd ,I’m thinking we are the only ones who don’t know it’s over. Sigh. Next Year.
What a complete joke
What a complete joke
Horrible trade, a home run pitcher at GAPB. This is becoming a disaster.
Smh..thr one thing not to do is give up a Hr with runner on and Littell did just that. Tie game.
Jays really like to hit home runs…
Jays really like to hit home runs…
The 5-run lead is over…
That’s a lot of taters to be tossing.
Littell is not finishing strong. Don’t see the Reds bringing him back next year.
Littell was in Tampa through July, so he isn’t eligible for the Reds HR record. But 34 would tie him with Ramon Ortiz and Ken Raffensperger for 6th place on the list. Next up: Sammy Ellis and Aaron Harang with 35.
(Bronson Arroyo holds the record with 46 in 2011 and Littell isn’t touching that. Eric Milton is second with 40 and that might be in play…)
Seemed like Milton had 100.
you could see it coming.
Martinez can’t get out of Cincinnati soon enough …utter waste of 21 million
This is embarrassing… Reds absolutely outhomered by BlueJays but I think this is on bad pitches
The little featherweight was well ahead on points, but then the big heavyweight started working the body until body met canvas
Lose this one and I’ll be back in March
See you tomorrow.
The biggest waste of 21 million ever.
All roads lead back to Krall…. He needs to go too ..
The power of the home run on full display tonight.
Elly absolutely has to work on lifting the ball in the offseason. We can’t keep getting outhomered like this at home
Littell leads the majors in home runs allowed. Not a great statistic to lead the league in and especially when your home park is known for home runs allowed. So not sure he was worth the investment. For sure he will not be back in a Reds uniform.
Littell leads the majors in home runs allowed. Not a great statistic to lead the league in and especially when your home park is known for home runs allowed. So not sure he was worth the investment. For sure he will not be back in a Reds uniform.
Littell leads the majors in home runs allowed. Not a great statistic to lead the league in and especially when your home park is known for home runs allowed. So not sure he was worth the investment. For sure he will not be back in a Reds uniform.
You can say that again.
Well that’s 5. Francona left Littell out there past his expiration date, and then the Jays greeted Martinez to another one. We are getting the full homerun treatment this evening. Can’t be helped now. If we’re going to win, the Reds are going to have to show up at the plate again.
A loss tonight, in this fashion, will all but put this season to bed, so sad.
i’m just glad the bengal season starts on sunday……can’t take watching this sorry collapse anymore.
this game has been annoying after the 3rd inning… Littell looked brilliant and Bieber was crushed in the first two innings all of that suddenly turned around…now Bieber is dominant , Littell was crushed and Martinez doesn´t look good either…
Littell and Martinez losing lots of potential free agent dollars with their numbers down the stretch.
The Reds should have knocked out Bieber. We are so far away from being a championship contender. Another daily reminder of what type of players and pitchers are needed to turn this around in 2030 if we are lucky.
The Reds 5 run rally was without doubt a thing of beauty. Sadly, events since demonstrated why power is a necessity in a homerun haven like GABP.
Third bullpen needs a COMPLETE enima
prior to 2026
This bullpen …
Reminds me of that great Jack Nicholson (as The Joker) line from the original Batman movie 😀
LOL…
Marte should have set and throw that ball to 3rd. Had him easily…instead the off balance throw, and the Jays get another AB.
Wow. Man if we can’t hold a 5-0 lead. Spraying line drives all over the place in the second………then nothing. Boy this team an MASH though!
Corollary: you can’t put on the mound Littell and Martinez in the same game if the first was crushed but Tito doesn’t have another choice today…
As evidenced by Richardson then Zulueta
The Francona effect has just not happened, this team has completely collapsed.
Finally someone using this ballpark for what its designed for.
Except Krall ….
About time to switch to the small screen so First Wife and I can watch something pleasant and entertaining … 😮
Come on Reds. Back of line up has been doing well, let’s come through here.
I was right there with ya after the Lux walk … Then the crushing blow of a Dbl play ended it. Onto the 7th.
Good thing NFL starts tomorrow … this crap is hard to watch from this team ….
Nothing gonna change until this front office and ownership are different …. Absolutely nothing
I am annoyed that Bieber after got pummeled on 5 runs in the 2nd inning now is winning and being dominant after 6 IP…I can’t understand this…
Reminded me of the Brewer game where the Reds were up 8-1 in the 2nd and lost it, 10-8. We sometimes score in bunches, and that’s it ! The magic appears, and then disappears. We still got three innings to go !
Like so many teams Toronto is way out of the Reds league.
the truth of the matter is that the new manager has made no difference …..looks all the same as with Bell (except that they run less) and oh also…..the sunflower seed cleanup around the manager has increased
Maybe players are more important than who manages them. Novel thought.
Lyon Richardson back to the bigs to continue his whipping …
Wash , rinse , repeat
THis is ‘n ridiculous. See ya next year for more #n futility
See ya tomorrow
No kidding. If I had a nickle for every RLN regular who has said they are done / season over only to return to say the same thing the next day, I’d be able to buy quite a few of those 1.3B lotto tix tonight. Mean what you say!
I said I wouldn’t declare the season over until after the Mets series and Im sticking to it but thats just stubbornness on my part!
I tuned out at 5-2. You don’t need to be Nostradamus to know the Reds cannot maintain a lead for more than an inning or two.
This team makes me want to vomit.
Literally the Reds season is relying on sweeping the weekend series …But after seeing the home run derbies Blue Jays have had at GABP I ‘m not encouraging about that could happen…I woudn’t like to see another home run derby with Lindor, Soto, Alonso, so on…and the Reds only getting the warning track
Yeah, winning two out of three is not good enough. A sweep is an absolute must. It’s a shame this team did not position itself in a situation where a sweep could have at least placed them in a dead heat with the Mets.
Off topic. Game is a bummer so far.
65 years ago (1960) Frank Robinson was Reds 1B. He led MLB in SLG, OBP, and OPS+ that year. Hit 31 HR with 83 RBI.
He did not make the All-Star team. He finished 20th in MVP voting.
Baseball is a funny game.
Wow! That is an interesting fact about Frank Robinson. Much more interesting than the game as of now. Hopefully, the Reds find another comeback.
Crazy stat.
Did he miss some time?
Looks like he was about 15 games and 60 AB short compared to his typical “average” season back then.
I saw him play. Good old Crosley Field.
Sure would have been nice if they had picked up a couple solid relievers at the deadline.
Instead of bring forced to use guys like San Martin and Richardson in must win games.
Even when the Reds have success within their grasp on the back end of the season, Krall continues to pull a few minor deals and then brags about how good they feel about what they did at the deadline. Unless the Reds get hot in the next three weeks or so, this will be the third year in a row in which the Reds finish the post trade deadline portion of their schedule with a worse record than they had prior to July 31. You should be proud of yourself, Nick.
Francona never understood the value of the home run in his home ball park.
I didn’t realize Francona put together this roster of warning track power hitters.
Francona did not create the roster. He administers it.
com’on, Marte!
What a beautiful piece of hitting..
Marte comes thru on the full count, with a single, and now Elly at the plate with 2 outs… great drama !
this all started with a 2 out error… and the Jays changed pitchers ! HA!
But no contact with the ball is made… sad.
I just cannot believe how Elly has become a no-power hitter….makes no sense ….and SO’s pile up too
No contact on that one either … which means no chance.
That was frustrating … 😮
Elly struckout on the fourth ball to load the bases… I don’t know but He looked pressed
Marte delivered. Cruz failed again. How many more chances will we have?
And BJ quickly with a lead-off double…no way
O.K. I am not picking on Elly, but there is no way he should be batting third anymore and if he is as hurt as people say he should have gone on the D.L. at some time.
he look inept at the plate
I do think it’s worth noting Elly DeLA Cruz second half is just terrible.
There is no universe the Reds win if Elly has 1 home run in 45 days or Matt McLain is a bad hitter. Thats the reality now. Steer ain’t great either and Stephenson has 7 home runs in September??? Thats not on Terry Francona.
Elly hasn’t been good at anything for 2 months and it’s sad. Hes not getting $500 million and the story of 2025 Reds season is going to be the complete collapse of EDLC as a superstar.
100% correct, the last 2 months he has been a below average player.
But he is out there every day because he wants to be. Who is calling the shots? Most errors in the league by a long shot. No clutch power in over a month.
I still think they should package Elly and Hunter and see if somone would give a power hitting outfielder and a power hitting 1st baseman.
Agreed. They almost have to if they ever wanna build a team. Definitely would suck to see them go but they aint winning with them so couldnt be worse.
Why is Richardson still pitching, come on Francona act like care.
Gonna be another double digit run night for the Blue Jays.
He seems like he is out of gas. He brings zero energy.
Why in the world Is Richardson back up in the big leagues again ????? He CANNOT pitch at this level and has shown that to be the case over and over and over ….
Give somebody else a chance … Geeze ridiculous
this is like batting practice
And that’s a wrap for me. Catch y’all Friday.
Krall should be having a good time looking his pretty good bullpen in a 8-6 game Tito is on Richardson – Zulueta
Nick Krall’s failure to address the bullpen at trade deadline is absolutely inexcusable …. Has shown up bigtime in this series …
Show the dude the door at the end of the season Castellini …. Have some intestinal
fortitude to hire a brand new front office
2 run game in 8th and Tito runs Lyon Richardson back out there … then brings in Zuleta ??????? WHAT ?????
On another note – just sit Steer rest of
And play Stewart
The offense and the bullpen were the two areas of concern coming into the season. He did not address these deficiencies in the off season and inexplicably did not adequately address these at the deadline. I honestly don’t understand his thought process, but whatever he was thinking it has failed.
and it’s about to get worse … the Jays are putting on a clinic.
The Reds looked good in game one, but now it’s all Jays.
this is not good…
Yesterday 12 runs, today 11 runs allowed so far … How this team could win?
Hate to say it … Tito’s quit on this game in the 8th inning down by 2 …. I just can’t get on board with that
Hate to say it … Tito’s quit on this game in the 8th inning down by 2 …. I just can’t get on board with that
The score was 7 to 5 and Francona threw up the white flag, with a day off tomorrow.
Unbelievable – I mean totally unbelievable . Need a tent for this circus ….
You can’t think going to the postseason with a bullpen conformed by Zulueta, Phillips, Richardson, Sanmartin , the rookie Maxwell, Suter …
Jays have 16 hits in the game and 4 walks! and of course 12 runs and i dunno how many home runs but a lot.
Three weeks ago the goal was stealing the last playoff spot. That ship has sailed. The consolation prize is now just securing a winning record and I am not sure that will happen either.
The Jays put up a 4 spot in the 8th, and make it 12-6…There was just no holding them down. Sometimes these things happen.
Tito quit , players quit … UNACCEPTABLE
.
bringing in a rookie just called up to pinch hit….i dunno…
ha! way to go Will! i knew ya had it in ya!
and BENSON dbls to bring in another run in the 8th … 12-8.
back to back dbls, this time by McLain… 12-9.
let’s play comeback!
Thanks for giving up Francona …
9 runs and Reds still aren’t sniffing the win
The players gave effort the manager quit, unbelievable.
The Reds scored nine runs last night and lost. They have scored nine so far tonight and they are down by three. You just can’t do this in critical games and expect to win.
I’ll retract my comment about the players quitting …. But not Tito … he absolutely quit !
You are 100% correct and I just don’t know why. However, he will explain it away like he knows better than the rest of the world. Said it before and I will say it again poor poor hire. If the Reds had tied it would he had used a good reliever?
So, who pitches for the Reds in the 9th ?
Awright ! Maxwell gets the ball …
whew ! 2 outs …
But guerrero dbls in another run … wow, 13-9.
man the Jays can sure hit…
The Reds are trying, but just not good enough this year. The offense lacks power and relief pitching is not strong enough.
@William. That sums it up very succinctly.
If the season wasn’t over before now, the Reds have three outs to essentially snatch it from futility.
We scored 9 runs without benefit of HRs. That’s hard to do. Silver lining 🙁
Just now rejoining. Why are some of you guys saying Tito quit? Selection of pitchers?
The usual senseless banter.
Consider the sources.
I get it. Thx, VA.
Say anything you want to – he totally quit on the game in the 8th inning down by 2 runs by sending Richardson back out the followed by Zuelueta … that’s about as senseless as it gets !
Reds have been unable to put a zero on the board since the 3rd inning…
Reds have used five pitchers tonight and all five have given up at least one earned run.
surely Gameday is wrong and Banfield is not leading of off the top of the 9th??!!
Toronto is very good offensively, but man our pitchers stink the last 2 games.
They’ve allowed four runs or more in nine straight games.
ok, i read that wrong. whew. still a chance…
We’re within a GL to tie the game, very much in it as Dusty used to say.
Needed Nick yesterday. Either one of them, perhaps.
Nick Martinez replaced Littell after another homerun, and then proceeded to give up one of his own. Francona allowed Littell to remain in the game after two solo shots and then one with a man on. The Jays hit five homeruns early, including back to back jacks.
Yeah, Lodolo’s illness couldn’t have come at a worse time, unless you count the two weeks off a blister …
These Jays can flat out rake. Not just the homers, but consistent hard contact gap to gap. Easy to see them maybe winning it all, even with their dumpster pen.
Whatever Bichette figured out this year, better hope Elly and MM can figure it out for next year.
Why did the Reds DFA Hoffman?
I didn’t understand that at the time, and still don’t.
Didn’t they use him as a starter…then a long man.
Much like they did with Weaver.
Is DJ missing the skills of former successful starters?
Yes, as I recall.
But he was much more effective than Weaver and they seemed to inexplicably let him go.
He did very well in Minnesota the following two seasons.
He seemed exactly the type of pitcher the team needed.
I never understood the move, unless it was some personal issues.
Him, Luke Weaver and Kevin Gausman have all been Reds in the last 5 years. Thats just the way it goes sometimes. Change of scenery maybe?
At least we got to see some offense in the last three games.
11 SOs by Reds “hitters” plus 5 WALKS by Reds pitchers AND 5 HRs allowed = LOSS!
and 18 total hits for the Jays… the only innings they didn’t score were the 1st and 2nd.
It was like two days of bullpen pitching for the Reds.
And we all know our pen is not doing well right now.
Since August 1st team’s 3rd place hitter around .222 with 6 RBI and 0 home runs, that will not work for any team.
Pretty much have to sweep the Mets.
At least McLain went 2-4! After 5 months of futility, Matty appears to have found his stroke!
Only hope now is a sweep of the Mets this weekend! It’s possible! Right?
Reds fall behind the Giants too in the wild card race with this horrible loss and Cards is in the rearview mirror again… The Reds season is agonizing…back to .500
I will give Tito a pass this year.I have no clue how much say he has in setting the roster but I would hope he is evaluating this team and will have some input as to who stays and goes.He is a proven winner but he is no different then all managers because he lost a bunch before he started winning.So he knows what it takes to win.Hopefully he will have some input on the roster next year.Power bats and power arms in the pen would go a long way in helping this team to improve.The starters are good enough with depth and the defense is good enough but if you can’t hit it out of the park and keep the the other team from hitting it out then its just hard to win.Hitting singles and having soft tossers in the pen doesn’t work if your goal is to win the World Series.
Reds need to move the fences back. Never seen so many softball homeruns off the end the bat.
Nothing but bad. Giants will win. Cards, D Backs win. Another late season collapse by the Loathsome Deadlegs. Who saw that coming?
Littel is a huge ? for GABP.
We have seen what an excellent looking team looks like. The Bluejays are for real.
On the other hand our Bull Pen is showing what they really are and that is BAD. We are pitching AAAA pitchers when Barlow, Santillan, Martinez, and Pagan are not in.
Don’t understand when game was 8-6 we did not see Santillan or Pagan. Instead with see AAAA pitching? That has to be on Tito? We are also seeing why Tampa was willing to release Littell.
And we need to move on as well. Richardson has had multiple chances and we see the same result. Suter is fading badly. Martinez is spent and will not be back. San Martin did not look bad so perhaps he may be a left handed piece next season. So we will need a total bullpen rebuild. Maybe Aguilar and Williamson can help if they are not part of the rotation.
Lecure on post-game show says Reds pitchers let the Jays get “too comfortable”. He recommended buzzing a few of them.
Now also have to wonder about DJ? Is he the right pitching coach? Did he give Tito the wrong advice ? No visits to the mound until the ninth inning in spite of all of the Home runs and extra base hits. Have to wonder why?
I know it’s been disappointing, but I have enjoyed this season. I think the Reds have a solid roster. The pitching is very promising.
Nick Krall needs to find a bat or two this winter. He will need to rebuild a bullpen. But, I think it’s doable. They have some money coming off the books. I am looking forward to the offseason to see what happens.
It is obvious that we need a star slugger on this team. Not a compliment with ELDC but rather someone that can carry a team.
We also need a bonafide (sp) closer.
We get those two pieces this offseason, I think we are legitimate contenders.
That means Castellini needs to open up the wallet.
We have 1 year to go for it. What PIT has recently done is going to make it all but impossible to avoid an impasse after the CBA expires in 2026. They did exactly what the Players Union was worried about (cut guys before they meet incentives). They did it last year with Tellez too. I’d fine them.