The Cincinnati Reds had to play comeback kids in the night cap of Monday’s doubleheader. They trailed 4-1 heading into the bottom of the 6th but came through with a 3-run frame to tie things up. Cincinnati then had to come from behind again in the 9th where they tied it up before pulling off the win with a walk-off in the bottom of the 10th to earn a split after dropping the afternoon game earlier in the day.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Louis Cardinals (64-62) | 5 | 11 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (60-65) | 6 | 13 | 1 |
| W: Pagan (5-1) L: Bruihl (0-1) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Rhett Lowder gave up a single to lead off the game and then he walked the next batter. But he escaped the jam with a fly out and a double play ball. His offense got him a lead after three straight singles loaded the bases and a sacrifice fly from Eugenio Suarez made it 1-0. Michael Toglia scorched the ball a few pitches later but his line drive was right to second baseman JJ Wetherholt who caught it and fired to second to double off the runner and end the inning.
Three innings later the Cardinals would get on the board thanks to a leadoff homer in the 4th by Ivan Herrera. Back-to-back singles followed before Masyn Winn cashed in with a 2-out RBI single put St. Louis up 2-1. In the bottom of the inning the Reds got singles from the first two batters but they were unable to take advantage of the situation and stranded both runners.
Jordan Walker led off the 6th inning with a double and he took third base on a fly out to center. Nathan Church then drove him in with a single to make it 3-1. He would come around to score on a single by Blaze Jordan as the Cardinals extended the lead to 4-1.
Cincinnati got a rally going with one out in the bottom of the inning when JJ Bleday singled into right field. Eugenio Suarez then followed up with a single of his own. Michael Toglia then came through with a double to plate a run. With two outs it was a single by Hector Rodriguez that brought in two more runs and tied the game up, but Rodriguez was thrown out trying to take second on the throw home.
The game stayed tied up until the top of the 8th inning. Jordan Walker once again started things out for St. Louis, this time with a leadoff single. A 2-out walk extended the inning and then Bryan Torres singled in the go-ahead run to make it 5-4.
Eugenio Suarez picked up a hustle double with two outs in the bottom of the 8th inning before he was pinch run for. But the Reds couldn’t bring him in as a routine fly ball to center ended the inning. Cincinnati had one more chance in the bottom of the 9th. The first two hitters struck out before Dane Myers came out of the dugout to pinch hit for Jose Trevino to try and keep the game going. And that he did. For the second time on the day he clobbered a solo home run with this one tying the game up.
Emilio Pagan entered the game for the top of the 10th inning. He had to work around a walk but he did just that and kept the Cardinals off of the board. Tyler Stephenson began the bottom of the inning as the Reds free runner and Elly De La Cruz at the plate. After getting ahead 3-0 Cincinnati’s shortstop took a strike on the 4th pitch. The next one was a strike, too, but the 6th one left his bat at 111 MPH and went right on past Blaze Jordan at third base and into left field. Stephenson had to freeze until the ball got through the infield and had to turn on the jets, but he easily beat the throw from Jose Fermin to the plate to score the winning run to earn a split in Monday’s doubleheader.
Key Moment of the Game
Dane Myers hitting the game tying home run in the bottom of the 9th with two outs. While Cincinnati would win on a walk-off hit they never get there without the clutch homer from Myers.
Notes Worth Noting
Dane Myers entered Monday with three home runs on the year. He’s now got five of them.
Emilio Pagan had a 6.43 ERA through 13 games when he landed on the injured list. Since he’s returned he’s pitched in 15 games and allowed two runs in 14.1 innings (1.26 ERA) while striking out 20 and walking three. He hasn’t allowed a hit in four straight outings.
Eugenio Suarez and JJ Bleday both had 3-hit games. Elly De La Cruz had a 2-hit day that included the teams only walk.
Hector Rodriguez grabbed the first and second RBI of his big league career in the 6th inning.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
St. Louis Cardinals vs Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday August 18th, 6:40pm ET
Kyle Leahy (9-4, 3.38 ERA) vs Andrew Abbott (6-7, 4.13 ERA)
“Key Moment of the Game
Dane Myers hitting the game tying home run in the bottom of the 9th with two outs. While Cincinnati would win on a walk-off hit they never get there without the clutch homer from Myers.”
True. Backs were against the wall.
Wow, there was a time when balls hit right at infielders were called errors if they weren’t fielded. Instead we hear that it took a hop or some such. Oh well, a win’s a win.
Meh. I hear this complaint a lot and while I think there is something to it at times, but baseballs that should have been caught on a fly that weren’t actually touched by the fielder before it hits the grass have always been “hits” and not errors. The whole error or not thing is a messy mistress.
Defense is tough to measure and therefore WAR as well?
It’s somewhat irrelevant what the scoring decision was. The run scored on a play that should have been a matter of the 3B actually realizing his first job was to keep Stephenson at 2nd base. I am not interested in the H or E part of this, but rather the fielding technique that’s been accepted. You have to adapt and Jordan didn’t. I applaud Elly’s effort and admire Tyler for reaching back to score the run.
This seems like you really did care about whether the ruling was a hit or an error….
“Wow, there was a time when balls hit right at infielders were called errors if they weren’t fielded. Instead we hear that it took a hop or some such. “
There was also a time when the late Earl Lawson of the Cincinnati Post newspaper was the Reds official scorer in the 1960s.
He seemed to choose Hit or Error in part based on whether he liked the Reds player involved.
But it was still better somehow!!!! Nostalgia!!!! Rabble rabble rabble
Old timer, wasn’t Lawson the reporter/scorer that Johnny Temple got into a fight with after a game when Lawson charged him with an error?
Yes, that was him.
The fielder played the ball to the side, which for some reason, seems to be how it’s taught today. The ball did indeed take a huge hop, and it was hit at 111 mph. So it might have decapitated him if he was in front of it, but it would saved the game for the time being.
I hate that when that happens….players being decapitated. 🙂
Outstanding come back
Lord I hate(dislike) the Cardinal fans. What a great win.
really fun game to watch on a summer evening.
Gut wrenching kinda fun. Burke gave up the go ahead run and I thought here goes another 1 run loss. But it turned out to be a 1 run win. One of the more memorable wins of the season.
Hard to win game when you can’t drive in runner at 3rd with less than 2 outs. Reds have mastered that art. That’s why their runs per game is low.
McLain can’t be more than a 9th hitter if he continues to chase low and away pitch. KBH can’t be a regular starter if he continues to hack at high fastball. Marte and Friedl can’t play baseball unless they learn the basic rule: look at oitch out of strike zone and hit at pitch in strike zone. They do the exact opposite.
Despite all those shortcomings, the Reds have muddled their way to 60 W in the first 125 games. McLain has played excellent defense at 2B this and Hayes at 3B is not far behind.
Strike zone discipline. Watching the game it seems you can predict when the pitcher is going for a swing and a miss out of the zone. Doesn’t it then follow that for players like Marte the 3rd base coach and his communicators can and should take some of the burden off him. Give the take sign for those situations and explain to him that he will not be blamed when the take turns out to be wrong. Explain the coaching staff will take the blame. Seems like a struggling hitter would welcome that. We the fans would certainly welcome better swing decisions and the better results that would follow!
Good idea.
A Tale of Two Ballgames
It was the worst of times, it was the best of times.
Some go back and forth about Elly needing a day off. Listening to his interview with Jim Day. He just wants to play and be there for his teammates.
I dunno for me I want that type of player. No excuses and keeps playing.
Also interesting a dramatic walk off win and only 10 comments so far. LOL
The thing I am watching for rest of season. Improvement from Rodriguez and Marte. Also would like to see Arroyo called back up. Those three guys to me are part of the future. I go back and forth on Marte I do,however I do feel he can contribute.
Kevin, you know full well that if the Reds had lost, there would be 5 times the amount of comments. People would rather complain about a loss, than celebrate a win.
I do agree with you about Elly. He can be on my team any time.
Very happy for Elly. Maybe this jumpstarts him,
Hector gets a couple of RBI so I expect him to be sitting today, it’s what Francona does.
After his 3 HR debut Josh Baez has gone 0 for 14 since then. You never go full Rece Hinds.
Wow…
I would have lost a bootful of gold dubloons betting on whether that was EDLC’s first walk-off hit.
As I noted on the game thread, I had it playing on my phone near the end. Talk about a quick emotional roller coaster. Tie it, lose the lead, tie it in dramatic fashion, shut them down in the 10th, and walk it off.
I’m going to miss Tyler next season. I hope we don’t have to miss a lot of baseball as well.
Onward to Game 3 of 5! Let the kvetching continue.
He may resign!!! Keep the faith!!
I love baseball. I watch it around the clock when games are playing. But, I will sacrifice parts of next season if they can fix the competitive balance of the league.
Unfortunately, I don’t believe anything will change.
Players and big market teams don’t want a cap.
Small market teams will probably reject a floor.
Low key strong effort by Lowder to pitch into the 7th and avoid overextending the bullpen.
Sal was a little annoyed at the 2 late slides into 2b on force outs. Do we really want to risk his health just so the front office can get a look at Toglia?
Really hard to describe just how awful Friedl, Marte, and Hayes have been offensively. Dunn and Steer are sorely missed.
I noticed both of those slides.
The 1st one, Sal took a throw from SS. There was no chance at a DP, so Sal should have came across the bag, and/or fielded like a 1st baseman, he stood at the bag thinking a double play was possible when it wasn’t, and Walker rolled into him a little.
The 2nd one was the last out of the inning, and unnecessary contact made by the sliding player. Sal shouldn’t linger on the base, run across it, or touch and back away.
These were “in my opinion” on those particular plays.
Interesting choice by Francona to pinch hit Myers for Trevino and not Stephenson. Wonder if it was a match-up or a hunch.
I made the same comment yesterday. Stephenson hit a Hr in his last pinch hit, so maybe Francona didnt think it would happen again, played the odds sorta? Who knows, great that his decision worked splendidly
It may be that their advanced data indicated that Myers matched up well with the pitcher.
Possibly wanted Myers to get on base and T.S. to drive him in. Myers said, “Forget that. I’ll drive myself in.” 🙂
2nd game Elly, Bleday, and Geno were 8 for 11 and we still had to sweat it out? Glad they decided not to use their closer for some reason?
Myers is a nice player! Atleast they found Myers and Bleday this year. Whenever the next Reds season starts they need to be on the roster. We really need to look at 2028 so you take Pagan’s $ off the books. Singer & Geno too. Surely they won’t keep KBH around? Trevino will be too old as well. Plenty of $ to pay Stephenson and get some decent bats in here and improve the pen.
Does anyone have any recommendations on where to go out to eat after the game on Thursday?
Thanks, I have a friend going to Cincy for the first time.
It’s been 10 years since I’ve been there. We always liked the places in Newport on the Levee across the bridge. I know not all of them are still open.
Hoffbrau was always good. One time, we swore we saw a live version of the girl on the St. Pauli Girl beer label 😮
awesome thanks Mark!
I just like Larosa’s pizza and Bruster’s ice cream when I’m there. 😉
Marte sent down. Banfield up.
Bummer, I was hoping it was Marte sent down because they claimed Johnathan Rodriguez off of waivers.
What’s the rest of the story though? They now have 3 catchers and are down another OF’er. And the OF already was mediocre. Seems like another piece of the puzzle needs to be revealed.
I suspect Banfield is simply load management on the Trevino and TS with 17 games in 16 days and day/night double header and long road trip. Also allows TS to DH some.
What other non-pitchers on the 40-man roster would they have called up?
If the Bats on-line roster is correct, the other choices were Arroyo, Leo Balcazar, or Juan Brito. Ivan Johnson has not been down long enough to bring back except as an injury replacement.
When we carried three catchers in the Spring of 2025, Francona didn’t play the third guy, Wynns, for a month (7 plate appearances between May 6 and June 6. We’ll see if he appreciates things more this time.
Another possibility is that they wanted to have Banfield positioned because of a possible availability issue with TS or Trevino. But I haven’t seen anything on social media yet
“When we carried three catchers in the Spring of 2025, Francona didn’t play the third guy, Wynns, for a month (7 plate appearances between May 6 and June 6. We’ll see if he appreciates things more this time.”
It would seem they’ve GOT to have that insurance in case a rare thing happens and they lose the DH. Oh well. As I said, if that’s what it takes to keep T.S. in the lineup every day…… He’s really one of only three hitters we have right now.
“Another possibility is that they wanted to have Banfield positioned because of a possible availability issue with TS or Trevino. But I haven’t seen anything on social media yet”
Thought about that. Hope not.
Noelvi was swinging at pitches he couldn’t hit with a boat oar. This makes sense.
Banfield will start in CF tonight, I’m sure.
😀
Since Banfield is a catcher, even if he is playing CF can he challenge a call? He should still get a real good luck out in center.
“Since Banfield is a catcher, even if he is playing CF can he challenge a call? He should still get a real good luck out in center.”
haha
I don’t know. Maybe it’s their way of feeling comfortable letting T.S. DH with a third catcher. Whatever. I had no problem with it before. It’s not like Banfield is going to hurt our hitting anyway. hahaha If that’s what it takes to keep Stephenson in the lineup than I’m all for it.
One thing is for sure, Marte was NOT helping in any way. Actually the opposite.
Anyone else get the feeling that Noelvi Marte would be overjoyed to get out of Cincinnati?