The Cincinnati Reds had a lead and Andrew Abbott was absolutely cruising. And then things fell apart in a matter of 11 pitches and Arizona had taken a lead that they would never give back as the Diamondbacks picked up both a win on the day and a series victory of the weekend.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (62-69) | 3 | 8 | 0 |
| Arizona Diamondbacks (69-62) | 5 | 8 | 1 |
| W: Loaisiga (5-3) L: Abbott (6-9) SV: Ginkel (2) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Reds would load the bases with two outs in the top of the 1st inning but came up short in bringing in a run. Two innings later they got things rolling quickly as Elly De La Cruz led off with a double and scored on a single by Sal Stewart. Dane Myers then doubled to put two men in scoring position. Both would come in to score on a single by Eugenio Suarez to push Cincinnati’s lead to 3-0.
Andrew Abbott wasn’t exactly rolling, but he was being quite pitch efficient and he was stranding runners when they got on and he kept Arizona off the board through five. But in the bottom of the 6th inning Corbin Carroll tripled off of the wall in center and came in to score on a sacrifice fly by Gabriel Moreno.
At just 81 pitches the Reds sent Abbott back to the mound to start the 7th inning. Three pitches into the inning he had already given up back-to-back singles. Four pitches after that he had walked James McCann to load the bases. That would end the day for Abbott.
Out of the bullpen came Luis Mey. The first pitch he threw resulted in an RBI chopper towards first that Mey fielded and flipped to Sal Stewart to record the out. Ildemaro Vargas then lined a triple that perfectly split the center fielder and right fielder and put the Diamondbacks up 4-3. A sacrifice fly then tacked on an extra run to make it 5-3. Mey would walk the next two hitters to load the bases but got out of it with a strikeout.
Pierce Johnson fired off a perfect inning in the 8th. That left the Reds offense one more shot and they had to face lefty Brandyn Garcia to try and make something happen. The first two batters were retired, but Sal Stewart slapped a chopper down the first base line for a single to keep the game alive. Arizona then went to the bullpen to bring in a righty to face Dane Myers. Kevin Ginkel came in and got what he wanted – an easy grounder to second base – but Ildermo Vargas couldn’t field it cleanly and Myers reached safely. Tyler Stephenson battled with Ginkel for eight pitches but that final pitch was taken for strike three to end the game and complete the Diamondbacks comeback.
Key Moment of the Game
Ildemaro Vargas hitting a 2-run triple in the bottom of the 7th inning to turn a deficit into a lead for Arizona.
Notes Worth Noting
Sal Stewart and Dane Myers both had two hits. Myers also had a walk.
Eugenio Suarez had a hit, a walk, was hit by a pitch, and he drove in two of the Reds three runs.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs San Francisco Giants
Monday August 23rd, 9:45pm ET
Chase Burns (14-2, 2.51 ERA) vs TBA
29th time this season (if my count is correct) the Reds have led in a game but lost it.
Abbott pitched pretty well through 6 IP. Mey pitched not well in 1 IP.
Shades of the Narron era.
Cone on old time Mets been pitching really well . He was brought into a horrible position. It was a hiccup on his end .think the guys been stellar an had come along ways . interesting to see how he rebounds And reacts .he’s a big man ary of this team BB for next season.
They need home grown talent to pop
Yes it’s his job to hold it down one hit unfortunately did him in .
AA was fine but you can’t walk a guy giving you outs that’s was his doing in.
The real question is you can’t score 3 runs in the first couple of innings then get shutout the rest of the game once again the offense is the undoing.csnt put back to back solid games together .story all year long
Again big picture means absolutely nothing .
Don’t care that it took 4 pitches to load the bases. Someone needed to be up in the bullpen and ready to go when the tying run was at the plate.
At this point it doesn’t matter, but Tito was either asleep at the wheel again or counting on AA.
Captain Hook would never.
Third time through the order penalty strikes again. I understand why Francona left Abbott in, but sure was high risk.
Agree. What did Francona have behind Abbott to get to Pagan (presuming Pagan was available)?
Yeah, they really crushed him.
Tawa looping single 85 mph
Lawler looping single 67 mph
3rd time had little to do with those hits.
I agree – he certainly wasn’t hit hard. The ultimate problem for Abbott was the 4 pitch walk. I’m sure he was miffed about being yanked but u can’t walk that guy to load the bases with no outs.
On a more important note, how was yard work? Everything you hoped for and more?
Didn’t quite finish. But I’m also the only person who will ever notice because you can’t see the unfinished part from the house or patio or front yard/street. I’ll get to it tomorrow.
I noticed 10 Left On Base with no SAC or Sac flies.
The good news for next year is that there’s only 10 teams with a better record in the NL and only 4 better in the division. The Reds are in rebuild mode whether they admit it or not, That doesn’t mean that they have to trade away handful of good players on the team, it does mean that they need a ton of new faces. Some of these players have to have legitimate mlb talent too!!
But of those 10 teams ahead of the them, they only have to bring in enough mlb talent to pass maybe 5-6 of them in 2027. Passing the Cubs and Phils would seemingly be part of the need. 90+ wins. Chasing this 2026 mirage was not a good start. Lost returns on Stephenson, Singer, Burke, etc. unless we resign them all. Then only would only need 2-3 more offensive bats and a backfill for Greene. Not a rebuild but a spending spree.
It’s a rebuild because there is no way these owners will pony up enough money for a spending spree.
Maybe we should call it a half build because they always seem to run out of money and/or gumption when the job is half done. Then after blustering around for a year or three, they start over.
To tell the truth JB, I have no idea what they will callit. A rebuild means trading away some of your most valuable assets for youth and hoped for returns in 2-3 years. We both know who are more valuable assets are and they are like 22, 24, and 25 years old with minimal salaries. They are not 27-29 year olds with 9 digit incomes. I can’t in anyway see these guys being traded. The next layer of value, Lodolo, Lowder,and Abbott cuts deep and I don’t know that you could even get a $20M C or CF 1:1 for any of them. And you need more than 1 offensive bat. I don’t foresee that happening either. I might foresee Krall trading his top prospects to get offensive help in here but that isn’t his style. Other GMs yes. No, if he is going to put a competitive Division winner out there in the next 2 Elly years, he is going to have to go big time in the free agency pool. Spend $15-20M each on about 3 offensive bats. Win the Schwarber type auction that he lost last year. Imo, if he doesn’t do these things, he is subjecting the team to another Division finish behind the Cubs, Brewrers and possibly others. The front office created this offensive mess and they are going to have to find their way out of it before Elly et al are gone. That will take $$$. If they are not going to mega spend and trade top prospects, they are going to remain in the bottom part of the league.
Watching this team since may 1st has been mostly frustrating & painful…there are a handful of guys that are fun to watch…but far & few between
Reds losses are incredible this season…what a awful season really to forget…
Reds put Toglia on IL and recalled Ivan Johnson… Johnson, Toglia, Banfield, Benson, Marte, Arroyo,,,none has helped, at least offensively…
You can add Hector Rodriguez to that list so far. Hopefully, he turns it around.
Also, Hinds, Dunn, and CES. And Arroyo was not a total offensive failure; he could not play defense at 2B.
How was Dunn a failure? He was doing good leading off until he got hurt. He had a 1.0 WAR in 142 ABS. Myers only has 0.6 and people for some reason think he’s actually good. Bleday only has 1.3. Dunn was on his way to having a decent 1st year.
I stand corrected. A little of my bias toward Dunn showing up there. He was like our 6th string OF out of spring training and he played just fine when given the chance. My discontent is not so much with but for those who think he solves our OF offensive issues. A 2027 OF with Dunn, Bleday, and Steer doesn’t even put a dent in what we need to challenge the Brewers and Cubs. Especially if you tell me that other starters may include Hayes, McLain, and Trevino. Sorry JB, you are correct. Dunn had a nice year ….just at the wrong time. Not changing my view though that this offense has been allowed to deteriorate to such a point that a mega fix or mega spend is now needed to catch the Brewers and Cubs. These “let’s run it one more time” must end. Our talent evaluation and mega trades for Arroyo, Marte, CES, Steer, Petty, et al were wipeouts. We made contract offers to Elly, MM, and Tyler that were all low balls or rejected. Get the wallet out and fix this mess.
Five more weeks of this.
I’m ready to flip to the NFL… This perennial losing is exhausting.
I only watched it from another room, but looks like its on Francona. He used Antone in a 6 run game yesterday. Burke had 2 days off but threw a million pitches in that debacle. Idk, but Mey is the last guy I’d put in w bases loaded. He should’ve thought ahead and not burned Burke out in that meltdown.
Its pretty evident to everyone but apologists that Tito has seen better days. Why did he leave Abbott in for so long? Go to Johnson or Antone after the first guy gets on. Single single walk to 3 righties…..were we supposed to be scared of lefties on their bench? Leaving in AA makes no sense from where I’m at…..and thats not 2nd guessing…thats common baseball strategy
Just another one we probably win with Ashcraft. I said he was the final straw when he went down for the season
Looking at Fangraphs, Mey was the sixth hottest reliever in MLB over the last 14 days. He’s got the best stuff in the pen when he has control of his arsenal. Still, the game was close to unraveling when he entered and high leverage hasn’t been how he was being used in the majors. Garcia was likely available, arguably a better choice, but I can see why Francona went with Mey. Personally, I think he rode Abbott too long, but that’s with the benefit of hindsight. He’s actually been better during his third time through batting orders than earlier in games. Bottom line: neither move worked and it’s frustrating to see winnable games slip away in the blink of an eye.
Yes, he rode with Andrew Abbott too long. And I think Mey is getting better, but probably letting it get to a bases loaded situation can be poison for a lot of relievers. I hesitate to put it on Mey, but I do think Francona let it devolve into this situation.
Abbot had pitched 6 really good innings. I know what managers and the starter probably think. Let’s do the 7th! We don’t have to expose the bullpen as much. And yeah, with 20/20 hindsight, we all know what should have happened.
Abbot’s pitch count was low. But relievers do a lot better coming into an inning clean, with nobody on.
It gets sticky for most relievers when they inherit men on base. Most hitters are looking for dead red from a reliever, with men on base.
Good points, David.
He was at 80 pitches
2 singles crushed a 85 and 67 mph.
Removed him after the walk.
Sounds pretty logical to me.
Agree that he shouldn’t have used the “A” bullpen the night before.
We let HRod bat in the 9th against a lefty. What was that all about? Maybe a statement on our bench strength? Friedl, Johnson, and Hayes. Hopefully this roster hasn’t stooped that low that we won’t pinch hit for a 120 hitter. More awful by the day. Does Krall even realize this was his dice roll toward the 2026 playoffs? Post Lowe, haven’t we now secured the bottom spot offensively?
Mey has been great. He tried him for a 2nd day. You know before the 2020s going back to back days unless you threw maybe 25-30 pitches was expected. He threw 18 yesterday. The inability of relievers to be available back to back days is tiring too.
Burke could have gone. Heck Abbot had less than 90 pitches. Closer to 80 going into that inning. Why not let him start the inning.
The biggest issue is still the offense not able to keep adding runs.
They did let Abbott start the inning. And he loaded the bases on seven pitches.
“he loaded the bases on seven pitches.”
Is that bad? 🙂
Gotta congratulate Geno on knocking in his 1000th career run. That still means something, speaks to his longevity and consistency.
He will be on some “most underrated players of the 2010s” lists when he retires.
I think he may have at least one more year in him. Maybe with no oblique injury next year as well he can still put up 40HRs, drive in 100 RBIs whether with the Reds or another team.
Checked in earlier and they were cruising to a win. Surprised.
With this bullpen, are you REALLY surprised?
Some version of this headline has been written at least 20 times this year, if not more.
You gotta point there. lol It just seemed like they were going to win.
I thought so too, I saw 3-0, then checked in and it was 5-3 in the ninth and was surprised. But then I thought, just another sign the Reds are not very good this year. The better team, DBacks, finds a way to win a rubber game like that throughout the year.
I still can’t believe Stevenson stood there & took strike 3 looking…swing the bat….but I really shouldn’t be surprised
TS isn’t all that. What we saw today is more typical. Not a good hitter overall. Hot streak withstanding.
Hot streak for 3 months. How many hitters can say that? . He is one of the top 25 catchers in the game. When Trevino and Banfield are catching next year you will be whining.
Starting pitchers have the ability to pitch out of jams just as easily as relievers. Pulling Abbott after 88 pitches is still my principal gripe. However, loading the bases warranted attention. He induces a double play or something, he could limit the damage.
Russian Roulette produced the off day for Mey and managers constantly changing pitcher keep learning the hard way that when you go to the bullpen time after time, it will get you burned. No manager seems to grasp that statistical tail risk stat.
Regardless, we are a last place team for a reason but the team is full of professionals and they’ll bring it each day. Not really seeing much give-up despite the poor record. Credit to Francona. Nevertheless, I would expect significant changes this winter. Not necessarily Tito.
Abbott’s #s aren’t bad 3rd time through, but overall they had righties coming in so go with Antone or Johnson. Tito decides to use Antone yesterday though 11-5 in the 9th?
Because managers rarely let SP’s pitch enough the 3rd time through, the data on them is small enough to produce a ton of variance. It will show very good stats or very bad stats that would normalize over time if they were allowed to do so.
I look at it this way. If Abbott is not exhausted or just getting shelled, is he a better pitcher than the relievers of choice. The answer is always yes, or else those guys would be starters and pitch earlier in the rotation than Abbott.
We could develop bulldog pitchers like 1988 Orel Hershiser if we would just give them a longer leash. It would also make our bullpen more effective because they would not be overused by May.
What a disappointing game with Abbott’s collapse in the seventh inning. The Reds have lost four of their last five series. Play out the season and on to football. Let’s see what happens in the negotiations that affects the Reds.
Just an average pitching performance by the Reds bullpen could have led to a sweep. Abbott crashed in the 7th, but the 1st and 3rd games were winnable with a Reds average bullpen session. And the third time through the order isn’t the problem. Tito didn’t mismanage etc.
I’m beginning to hear the siren call of College Football Saturdays.
Le sigh …
Yep. I am practicing “Buckeye Battle Cry”. If the Buckeyes come through this year, folks won’t have a leg to stand on about their schedule. Texas, Oregon, Indiana, USC , and that team from up north at the Shoe to finish the regular season. Texas, Indiana, and USC are on the road. Indiana, USC, and Oregon are back to back to back!
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/baseball/why-bother-watching-cincinnati-reds-rest-of-season-we-found-5-reasons/ar-AA2aMxF7?ocid=entnewsntp&pc=U531&cvid=6a8ccaf81d4d44709551850f3c214d8a&ei=8 the good and the bad and the downright ugly.
It’s a wonder the Reds are 62-69 but 20-11 of that came in April or before. Just 42-58 since May. But 19-17 since ASG.