The Cincinnati Reds led 5-2 heading into the bottom of the 7th inning, but things went south after that as the Blue Jays rallied for four runs to take the league and Toronto didn’t look back as they held on for a win to start the final series of the year.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (74-86) | 5 | 12 | 1 |
| Toronto Blue Jays (78-82) | 6 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Fluharty (7-1) L: Mey (0-2) SV: Varland (35) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Toronto came out in the bottom of the 1st inning and took it to Nick Lodolo, hitting three doubles in the inning as they grabbed a 2-0 lead. Cincinnati got one of those runs back in the top of the 2nd with a solo home run by Eugenio Suarez.
The Blue Jays would load the bases in their half of the 2nd inning after a hit batter and two 1-out singles. Lodolo would strand everyone, though, getting Alejandro Kirk to ground into a double play. That was big at the time because the Reds put together a rally in the top of the 3rd. Singles by Oswaldo Cabrera and Carlos Jorge began the inning. Elly De La Cruz then doubled into the left field corner and plated both runners. He then stole third base, giving him 30 steals for the year and put him in the 30/30 club. Sal Stewart then singled him in. A single by Eugenio Suarez put runners on the corners and that allowed Stewart to score the 4th run of the inning on a groundout as Cincinnati built a 5-2 lead.
Lodolo would get himself into trouble again in the bottom of the 3rd. After retiring the first two batters he sandwiched walks around a double to load the bases. Like the previous inning, though, Lodolo would get a grounder to shortstop to end the inning and strand the runners. The lefty faced the minimum in both the 4th and 5th innings, but hit the first batted of the 6th inning and was taken out of the game. Luis Mey came on in relief and retired the three hitters he faced to get out of the inning.
Mey then returned for the 7th and he walked the first two batters before giving up an RBI single. An error by Oswaldo Cabrera followed, loading the bases for Toronto. That ended the night for Mey and Pierce Johnson entered the game. The first pitch he threw resulted in a 2-run double high off of the wall in center that tied the game up. Nathan Lukes followed with a single that plated the go-ahead run.
The Reds would get a leadoff single in the 8th from Hector Rodriguez. That would be the last hit they would get on the night as the Blue Jays held on for a win to open up the series at Rogers Centre.
Key Moment of the Game
The Blue Jays rallying for four runs against two Reds relievers in the 7th inning to take the lead.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz joined Eric Davis (1987), Barry Larkin (1996), and Brandon Phillips (2007) as the only Reds in history to have 30 home runs and 30 stolen bases in the same season. It was only the 82nd time in MLB history that a player has reached that plateau.
Carlos Jorge, Eugenio Suarez, Hector Rodriguez, and Juan Brito all had 2-hit games.
Reds pitchers handed out more free trips to first base – five walks and two hit batters – than they had strikeouts (6) in the game. Cincinnati batters had just one walk and they struck out 11 times.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Toronto Blue Jays
Saturday, September 26, 3:07 PM EDT
Rhett Lowder (6-12, 6.01 ERA) vs Trey Yesavage (5-5, 3.67 ERA)
Elly De La Cruz joined Eric Davis (1987), Barry Larkin (1996), and Brandon Phillips (2007)
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We just missed out on one in 2016/2017, although I like the 7,6,7,6 pattern almost once a decade.
I think Elly is only the 8th SS ever to have 30-30 season.
“Ya gotta know when to hold’em and know when to fold ’em.”
This is the second game I know of in September where that decision was blown.
This time by keeping Mey in the game after the inning he had previous to the 7th.
The other game was after a short Burns outing where Williamson was kept in the game for 3, 2, and 1 runs.
It’s a matter of whether you want to win ’em or not.
Player development is all well and good, but the purpose of playing the game is to win it. This should be Francona’s last year at the helm. The Reds are 12 games under .500 with 2 games to go. I’m not blaming Francona, but the results speak for themselves. The manager is the first one to go.
Hate to break the news but winning and player development are pretty close to equal at this point. We are playing Jorge, Banfield, and Cabrera over Myers/Friedl, Stephenson, and Hayes/McLain. Friedl even being DFAd in favor of giving Jorge an opportunity. DFAd after being an integral part of the team for 5.5 months. And some of those guys are banging <150, Same on the pitching side. Calling up Connor Phillips who has continued to walk folks at a very high rate in Louisville. If you can’t get the ball over the plate in Louisville, you can’t get it over the plate in Cincy. And his ERA was 5+ and certainly not deserving of a promotion. More of let’s see what you have learned.
We can’t have it both ways …both play the young guys and win games. That is spring training. The last few weeks have been comparable to spring training. Winning is nice but not the end all. The end all effectively ended at the trade deadline when we didn’t bring in any additional talent in via trade. Tito is trying to balance things the best he can. Is what it is. The downside being we continue to see that Louisville won’t be offering much in 2027.
Just saw that Steer will need surgery. Just think the Reds medical staff whiff too many times in these situations.
Just wonder if they rely too much on the mri imaging? Also do the players trust the medical staff,? Is the doctor/ patient relationship broken in the reds clubhouse? Just seems like they shouldn’t be wrong this many times.
I understand it was ultimately Steers decision but a good doctor has to be a salesman in some cases and convince the patient that doing a procedure/ surgery is needed.
Granted I am an internist not an orthopedic surgeon but even I know an injury like that wouldn’t just magically ” heal on its own”. He should have been advised to have the surgery much earlier.
It’s a risky surgery so they were hoping to avoid it. Rehab was going well until he tried to swing a bat. On this timeline, he should still be ready in the spring. It would be a different story if they waited until February to have it done.
There also was a key weird moment in the game in the 7th. Vlad Guerero hit a broken bat grounder up the middle, but a twirling piece of the bat hit the ball again about halfway to the mound and redirected the ball into no man’s land. I don’t believe the Jays take the lead without that play.
All year, I’ve wavered on Tito. He has nothing to work with. The Reds have outplayed their run differential. His starters can’t get far into the game. His relievers constantly blow leaders.
But, his lineups make zero sense. He leaves starters in when it’s obvious they have nothing. His in game decision making is beyond atrocious. He rarely lets a reliever come back out for a second inning, except inexplicably, tonight. Someone is responsible for the shocking lack of development for all but 3 players. It won’t happen, but I think he should be shown the door.
Well, he’s probably trying to get to Ashcraft in the 8th and Pagan in the 9th. Pitched a bunch of relievers previous night. At some point Mey and Johnson got to do their jobs. Way to easy to 2nd guess decisions after the fact.
!00% correct but its the 159 game of the season.No need to go 2 innings with a reliever at all.Mey got 3 outs in the 6th and you pull him and say great job and go get em next year.Mey is prone to lose it quickly and he did.If Johnson is the next man up then you give him the ball to start the 7th.Mey could have been pulled after the first walk or even the second walk but he wasn’t.Johnson in and has to face a minimum of 3 hitters so there goes the ball game.For me even if Mey gets through the 7th its reasonable to ask why two innings for him or anybody else with two games left.No need to try and squeeze and extra out or inning out of any starter or relieve with 21 innings left to cover in the season.Reds were up by 3 and never should have lost because a pitcher was left in after he had faced 3 hitters.I have defended Tito all year long and have said his job is to win games and he has done everything he could to win them but not last night. That loss was on him.
Isn’t it amazing that the better players you have, the better manager you are. Funny it works that way and not the other way around. Next manager is irrelevant without some better players.
Just your opinion. I think Terry has gotten more out of this team than anyone else would have. He only had 3 above average players – Elly, Sal and Chase. Elly missed some time and Burns was a non- factor in September- by design. Players at 2B and 3B hit under .200, The DH barely cleared .200. The OF way underperformed. The bullpen was hit or miss, mostly miss. Pagan missed a significant amount of time as did Ashcraft. Their #1 starter made 4 or 5 starts, Lowder, Lodolo – when available – and Abbott were all mostly bad. The fielding left a lot to be desired. And you know something else. Tito did not strike out one single time or have any errors or give up a single walk or HR.
With the baseball negotiations front and center in 2027 and the state of the Red’s organization, I think Francona will forfeit his third contract year with the Red’s and wait to be elected to the HOF as a manager.
TR, I agree. I do not think Tito will return next year. I am not sure what everyone was thinking. Did they think all they needed was a future HOF manager to get them over the hump?
I remember reading that the Red’s former announcer, Marty Brenneman, spoke to Francona and convinced him to come out of retirement and manage the Reds.
Yeah they did. And so did much of us, with a few more solid additions to the lineup…that second part didn’t happen. But the Reds had a very promising young team with lots of apparent talent moving up the minors. So much of that talent has busted. Notable ones being McLain, Marte, CES, Hinds, Phillips, Petty, Mey, Maxwell. Plus the injuries to Greene, Lodolo, Williamson, Aguiar. And the below average or average play of veteran guys like Friedl, Stephenson, Steer, Singer…each of whom have had nice moments and streaks of success, but never really have fully excelled.
I don’t believe Tito is the problem. The poor decisions he has made have been amplified by the losing. I’m not here to defend Tito, in fact, I really have disliked his managerial style…especially his lack of agressiveness on the base paths…and I was very excited about his hiring.
Pitching coaches are supposed to help throwers become pitchers. Ours have failed miserably for too long. It’s time to take…..!
Forgive me RLN for not joyfully celebrating the 30-30.
Good for Elly, but it comes in another disappointing loss for a disappointing last-place team.
For me, an individual performance is little consolation for the overall poor performance of the 2026 Reds.