Category: Cincinnati Reds

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

The Cincinnati Reds, the Rampaging Reds, extended their winning streak to 10 in a row Tuesday night in Great American Ball Park.

The forlorn Colorado Rockies, ravaged by injuries, had little chance against the red-hot Reds and were victimized, 8-6.

It was another Elly De La Cruz extravaganza, with home run support from T.J. Friedl and Will Benson. And Friedl added three singles for a four-hit night.

De La Cruz homered, beat another infield single and doubled. On his infield hit back to the mound in the fifth. Pitcher Peter Lambert scrambled after it and threw the ball away as De La Cruz scampered to second.

Lambert tried to pick De La Cruz off the second and threw the ball into center field, moving De La Cruz to third. He scored on Jake Fraley’s double.

Lambert, who hadn’t learned his lesson, tried to pick off Fraley and again threw the ball into center field and Fraley scored.

That’s three errors in one inning by Lambert and says it all about the Rockies.

How good are the first place Reds. In addition to the 10-game winning streak, matching a streak put together by the 2012 Reds, the current Reds have won 12 of 14 and 17 of 23.

And they’ve done something no other team has done. Ten games ago they were 29-35 and five games out of first place. No other team has gone from five games behind to first place in 10 games.

How bad are the Rockies? They’ve lost seven straight, 9 of 10 and 17 of 21. During those 21 games, Colorado’s starting pitchers are 0-12.

For the second straight night, the Reds plugged in the power. They hit three home runs in a 5-4 win Monday and added three more Tuesday.

Reds starter Ben Lively gave up a first-inning home run to Nolan Jones for a 1-0 Rockies lead. So when the Reds came back, it was Colorado’s 20th blown lead and Cincinnati’s 24th come from behind win.

The comeback began in the Reds second. Rockies starter Noah Davis retired the first two. Then he walked the number eight and number nine batters, Will Benson and Curt Casali, both on fulll counts. Friedl unloaded a three-run homer and it was 3-1.

De La Cruz picked on the first pitch he saw in the third and went the opposite way, clearing the left field wall for his second major league home run.

Benson’s also hit his second major league home rkun when he connected leading off the fifth.

Reds starter Ben Lively was an escape artist during his four innings of two-run, three-hit, four-walk outing.

The Rockies stranded two runners in the third. With two outs, Lively walked two batters, but Lively struck out Elias Diaz..

Harold Castro homered in the fourth with two outs, then Lively walked two straight. But Jurickson Profar swung at the first pitch and flied out.

Alex Young, Fernando Cruz and Daniel Duarte each pitched a scoreless inning. But Casey Legumina gave up a three-run homer to Jorge Alfaro.

Legumina was recalled from Class AAA Louisville prior to the game. Wil Myers came off the injured list and the Reds designated him for assignment.

The home run cut the Reds lead tr 8-5, forcing manager David Bell to bring in closer Alexis Diaz for the ninth.

And it wasn’t pretty. He struck out the first hitter, but Profar singled and scored on a Nolan Jones double, his fourth hit and second double.

Diaz then walked Ryan McMahon to bring the potential lead run to the plate in Elias Diaz. No problem. He struck out Diaz.

That brought up ex-Red Mike Moustakas. When he played for the Reds, the fans chanted, “Moose, Moose, Moose,” when he stepped into the batter’s box. During this series it was, “Boo, Boo, Boo.”

The Reds released Moustakas and are still paying him most of his $14 million salary.. After getting him 0-and-2, Diaz walked him to fill the bases.

That brought up Alfaro, who had hit the three-run homer the previous inning against Legumina. Diaz strkuck him out, his 20th straight save this season and 25th overall.

It is evident in all facets of life, timing is everything. And the timing has been perfect for the Reds and they’ve taken overwhelming advantage of it.

During their three-game sweep of Houston, the Astros were without two of their best hitters, Yordan Alvarez and Michael Brantley. And the Reds missed their three best pitchers, Framber Valdez, Cristian Javier and Hunter Brown.

It was even worse for the Rockies, who were more like tha Triple-A Albuquerque Isotopes than a major league team. They are missing three of their best hitters, Charlie Blackmon, Kris Bryant and C.J. Cron. And their best pitcher, Kyle Freeland, was scheduled to pitch Tuesday but was ill before the game and was scratched.

In his place, the Rockies sent Noah Davis to the mound. As a Reds prospect, he was pitching for the high class A Dayton Dragons just two seasons ago and was 3-6 with a 3.65 earned run average.

That, though, are problems for the opposition and the Reds are more than happy to take advantage.

And they have.

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

Wow is only a three-letter word but it says it all concerning the young Cincinnati Reds and an old guy named Joey Vortto. They are exactly what Roy Orbison was saying when he sang, “Anything you want, you got it.”

And what the Reds got Monday night against the Colorado Rockies was a triumphant return by Votto, 10 months after serious shoulder surgery.

In his first game since last August 12, the 39-year-old first baseman made a movie-like return as the centerpiece of the Reds ninth straight victory, 5-4, plopping them into first place in the National League Central.

The Reds (38-35) are a half-game in front of Milwaukee (37-35) after the Brewers were blasted by Arizona Monday, 8-1.

Simply stated, Votto homered, singled, walked and drove in three runs. But there was nothing simple about his MacArthur-like return to Great American Ball Park.

Batting sixth in the order, as he approached home plate for his first at bat, he received a loud standing ovation reception and he doffed his batting helmet. Then he lined out hard to center field.

When he came to bat in the fifth he spun on the first pitch and launched a no-doubter 381-foot home run deep into the right field moon deck. He was anointed by Jake Fraley with the Viking helmet and Votto made a curtain call, doffing the helmet to the crowd.

That gave the Reds a 3-1 lead, but the Rockies scored three in the sixth to take a 4-3 lead.

As Votto came to bat in the bottom of the sixth with the bases loaded and one out, the crowd was chanting, “Joey, Joey, Joey.” On the second pitch, he ripped a line drive single to left center that scored two runs and pushed the Reds back in front, 5-4, the runs that ensured the Reds their 16th one-run win against 13 losses.

Votto was emotional and near tears during a post-game interview on the field with Bally Sports Ohio.

“You, uh, know, I have to say thank you to the fans of Cincinnati who gave me so much support today,” he said. “This is your team and I know that all you want is for us to play well, for us to earn that championship you deserve.

“For you (fans) to support me with such a hot team and for me rejoining the team, uh, and for you to support me it means a great deal to me and I’m so glad to be back.”

There were those who wondered if Votto’s return might disrupt the chemistry and winning ways of this young team. Votto answered that with a fantastic flourish.

And about putting on that Viking helmet after his dramatic home run, Votto said, “A long time coming (10 months). Ever since I watched them put it on each other I was thinking how badly I wanted that on me, because it is tied to a winning moment.

“That’s exactly, exactly what this team is about,” he added. “This is a different energy that I’ve experienced in years, maybe in my entire career. They play so hard and I want to be part of this. It feels so good and it is exactly what we deserve here in Cincinnati.

“These guys are playing so well and I have to keep up with them,” he said. On this night, he was a couple of peppy steps ahead of them.

The first three runs and the only hits by the Reds for 4 2/3 innings were three solo home runs off Colorado starter Austin Gomber.

Kevin Newman led the bottom of the first with a 390-foot shot into the front row of the upper deck. Nick Senzel connected with two outs in the second and Votto’s came leading off the fifth.

Reds starter Brandon Williamson gave up a 428-foot home run to Elias Diaz in the fourth and it stayed 3-1 until the sixth.

Williamson gave up back-to-back singles to Randal Grichuk and Ryan McMahon and Williamson was replaced by usually reliable Buck Farmer.

On this night he was not reliable, until it really mattered. He gave up a run-scoring single to Diaz and a run-scoring double to Jorge Alfaro to tie it, 3-3. He walked Nolan Jones to fill the bases with no outs.

He righted himself by striking out Brent Doyle and Coco Montes. When Colorado manager Bud Black sent up lefthander and former Reds infield Mike Moustakas, Reds manager David Bell brought in Alex Young.

And he walked Moustakas on a full count to force in the go-ahead run.

Moustakas stayed in to play third and had a bad hand in helping during the Reds three-run winning rally in the bottom of the sixth.

Jonathan India hit one hard toward third and Moustakas muffed it for an error. Elly De La Cruz then chopped one at Moustakas and his throw to first was too late as the fleet De La Cruz beat it for an infield hit. Spencer Steer walked to fill the bases and put all the pieces in place for Votto’s game-winning single.

There was added drama in the ninth when Reds closer Alexis Diaz, trying to protect the one-run lead, gave up back-to-back singles to Moustakas and Jurickson Profar.

That put two on with no outs and the tying run at third base. As he has done time and time again, when it was tough going, Diaz got tougher.

He struck out Randal Grichuk and struck out Ryan McMahon, then ended it on a ground ball from his namesake, Diaz. It was his 19th straight save this season and 24th straight dating back to last season.

 

 

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

Q: Have either Matt McLain or Elly De La Cruz entered their names in the transfer portal? — DAVE, Miamisburg/Centervillle/Beavercreek.
A: If there was a transfer portal in MLB, and there isn’t, the feeling here is that neither would use it. Both feel as if they are large parts of bringing the Reds out of the darkness and into the light of competitiveness. And if there was a transfer portal, there are several players on the Reds who can see the future and know they aren’t a part of it and they would enter the portal quickly, as in today. Jose Barrero probably would be first in line, with Kevin Newman, Nick Senzel and Wil Myers standing right behind him.

Q: Teams sometimes leave infield grass long to slow down ground balls to help speedy runners beat out infield hIts, so are there any MLB standards for how tall the infield grass must be? — GREG, Beavercreek.
A: Teams also use high-grassed infields to slow down hard-hit ground balls to prevent them from zooming through the infield. The grass in Chicago’s Wrigley Field and LA’s Dodger stadium are notoriously high. To slow down some of Elly De La Cruz’s 110 miles an hour ground balls, teams might have to grow the grass as high as an elephant’s eye. As far as I know, grass length is not in the rulebook.

Q: How much has attendance increased in Cincinnati with all the young talent? — BEN, Red Bay, Ala.
A: Not much. Yet. The Reds drew 1,395,770 last year, an average of 17,447, 24th in MLB. And it seemed many of those fans came disguised as empty seats. Attendance this year is slightly up, an average of 19,279. That’s still 24th. But with Elly De La Crus, Matt McLain and Andrew Abbott arriving, with more to come, and if the team continues to play exciting baseball, I expect more fans to drop in on Great American Ball Park, for the games, not the $14.25 beers.

Q: Isn’t Elly De La Cruz’s speed being wasted in the infield when he could cover more ground in the outfield? — RYAN-ELVIS, Englewood.
A: With his speed, De La Cruz could cover Rhode Island and maybe Massachusetts, too. He loves playing shortstop and says, “I’m a shortstop.” But the Reds system is overpopulated with infielders and not so much outfielders. What a center fielder he would make. He would cover more grass than the morning dew.

Q: Is the current team the most exciting Reds team you’ve seen? — STOCC, Miamisburg.
A: This is the 50th Reds team I’ve seen and it is exciting with a capital ‘E.’ But it is hard to beat the excitement provided by the 1975-76 Big Red Machine and the 1990 Wire-to-Wire team. What I like about this team is its never-quit mentality and the diverse ways it uses to win games. It seems when it is down two or three runs in the seventh inning, it has the other team exactly where it wants it. They truly are The Relentless Reds, which is the title of (shameless plug) a coffee table book I wrote about the 1975 Reds.

Q: When is management going to realize that Tyler Stephenson is too tall to sit behind home plate, although I have no issues with his bat? — RICHARD, Sacramento, Calif.
A: I haven’t seen any height requirements, tall or short, for a catcher. Stephenson is 6-foot-4 and gives a large target to pitchers. The Reds have contrasting catchers, a defensive dandy in Curt Casali and an offensive catcher in Stephenson. That’s one reason Stephenson often is used as a designiated hitter. Pitchers thrive with Casali behind the plate, but they like having Stephenson in the batting order.

Q: What do you think the Reds should do with Joey Votto? — JACK, Siesta Key, Fla.
A: That is the $25 million question. When he comes back, should he automatically be put back in the lineup? He isn’t tearing it up on his rehab assignment in Louisville. At last check, his slash line was .167/.292/.300 with two homers, seven RBI, 11 walks and 27 strikeouts in 72 plate appearances. Pretty dismal. Why disrupt what is going on with the team? Maybe give him a chance at designated hitter? I’m just glad I’m not GM Nick Krall or manager David Bell, who have to make this controversial decision.

Q: With so many teams making the playoffs, do you miss the chase for the pennant and does winning the pennant mean as much as it used to mean? — TIM, Xenia.
A: As an old-school buzzard, I do miss the old format of one team from the National League and one team from the
American League going straight to the World Series — the teams with the best records in each league meeting in the World Series. But the expanded playoffs keeps interest alive until the end of the season. No, winning the pennant often is meaningless. Seven wild card teams have won the World Series: the Marlins in 1997 and 2003, the Angels in 2002, the Red Sox in 2004. the Cardinals in 2011, the Giants in 2014 and the Nationals in 2019. So not winning the pennant is not a ‘wild’ goose chase.

Q: Who was the most highly touted Reds player from The Crown Jewels of the mid-1980s? — WILL, Edgewood, Ky.
A: When Bill Bergesch was general manager, he had three young players he said he would not trade because they were the team’s crown jewels — outfielders Paul Householder and Duane Walker, plus infielder Kurt Stillwell. All three mostly turned out to be zircons and all three were traded. Householder was traded to St. Louis in 1984 for pitcher John Stuper, Walker was traded in 1985, along with pitcher Jeff Russell, to Texas for third baseman Buddy Bell and Stillwell was trade in 1987, along with pitcher Ted Power, to Kansas City for pitcher Danny Jackson and infielder Angel Salazar.

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

The Cincinnati Reds suddenly find themselves one game away from being Strangers in Paradise, first place in the National League Central.

With their seventh straight win and second straight victory at Minute Maid Park on Saturday afternoon, 10-3 against the defending World Series champion Houston Astros, the Reds (36-35) have gone from last to nearly first — second place, one half game behind the Milwaukee Brewers (36-34), who beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4 on Saturday.

The Reds passed the Pirates (34-35) and moved into second in the division for the first time since they were 3-2 on April 4, also the last time the Reds had a winning record until their victory Saturday.

After starting the season 7-15, they were Paradise Lost, last place, where most so-called experts expected them to be after they lost 100 games last season.

If ever there was a statement game, the Reds shouted it from the roof of Minute Maid Park with a whomping beatdown of the befuddled Astros.

Ten runs. Thirteen hits. It left 40,136 fans in Minute Maid stunned and silent all afternoon.

Jonathan India got the Reds rocking in the first inning with a two-run home run, his ninth, and they never looked back.

“We’re just a sneaky good team,” said india to the media after Friday’s 2-1 win.

There was nothing sneaky about Cincinnati’s win Saturday. It was total destruction by a team that constructs runs every way imaginable.

The only thing sneaky about the Reds Saturday was the way starting pitcher Hunter Greene performed. How many games would the Reds win when Greene doesn’t have a strikeout for three innings and strikes out only three in six innings? Well, they did it at least once and that was Saturday.

The Astros helped out immensely, swinging early nearly every at bat as if to say, “You aren’t going to strike us out.”

Greene’s first strikeout came with one out in the fourth inning, but his lack of strikeouts and the Astros putting the ball in play early in at bats helped keep Greene’s pitch count down.

He pitched six innings and gave up two runs, five hits, walked four and struck out three. In enabled him to win for the second time this season.

And just call the Reds The Big Road Machine. After starting the season 1-9 on the road, they are 19-17 on the road and their seven-game winnins streak has been put together on the road — two in St. Louis, three in Kansas City and two in Houston.

After India’s two-run homer in the first, Houston, losers in eight of its last 11, scored a run in the second. Greene issued a one-out walk to Corey Julks, a double to Jose Altuve and a sacrifice fly by Kyle Tucker.

Greene walked Alex Bregman and he stole second, putting runners on third and second with two outs. Greene wriggled out of it by getting a ground ball Jose Abreu to ground out.

The Reds went old-school to steal a run in the fourth. Will Benson, who produced three hits and drove in three runs, led the inning with a triple. Catcher Curt Casali put down a perfect safety squeeze to lift the Reds to a 3-1 lead.

Matt McLain singled to open the fifth. He was on the run when India grounded to third, eliminating a double play. He took third on Elly De La Cruz’s grounder to short. Both Spencer Steer and Tyler Stephenson walked, filling the bases and two runs scored n Benson’s single to make it 5-1.

Early this season, Benson was a lost soul, hitting far below the .200 Mendoza Line with a large basket full of strikeouts. He was sent down to Class AAA Louisville for a refresher course. He made the right adjustments and has been a force since his recall. With his three hits and two walks, he is 8 for his last 18.

In Greene’s last three starts, manager David Bell put veteran catcher Casali behind the plate and Greene gave up no home runs. . .until the sixth inning Saturday when Yainer Diaz connected on a solo shot.

In three starts before Casali became his catcher, Greene gave up seven home runs. And the Reds are 10-3 in games started by Casali.

The Reds still led, 5-2, after Diaz’s homer and they made it 6-2 in the seventh on Elly De La Cruz’s double, steal of third and Tyler Stephenson’s single.

Ian Gibaut replaced Green in the seventh and gave up a home run to Jose Altuve, his fourth hit of the day to go with two doubles and a single.He had four of Houston’s seven hit.

Just to put an exclamation point. of things, the Reds ripped off four more runs in the ninth on a two-run single by pinch-hitter Kevin Newman and a two-run triple by Matt McLain.

Star of the game could be passed up and down the dugout.

**TJ Friedl walked three times, all on full counts, and scored a run.

**Matt McLain had two hits, drove in two and scored two.

**Jonathan India had the two-run first-inning home run.

**Elly De La Cruz had two hits, stole a base and scored a run.

**Spencer Steer had two hits and scored two runs.

**Tyler Stephenson had two hits and drove in a run.

**Will Benson had three hits, two walks, drove in two runs and scored one.

Nick Senzel was left out at 0 for 5 and Casali was 0 for 3, but contributed the squeeze bunt for a run and guided Greene through six innings with loving care.

 

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City is baseball’s Yellowstone Park, the most difficult acreage in MLB to hit home runs.

And entering Wednesday night’s game against the Kansas City Royals, the Reds owned the second fewest home runs in the majors, even though they play their home games in Great American Ball Park, the easier playground to hit home runs.

So what did they do Wednesday night? The played gorilla ball, four home runs en route to a 7-4 victory that completed a three-game sweep. And with Pittsburgh’s loss at Chicago, the onrushing Reds are only 1 1/2 games out of first place in the National League Central.

And at 34-35, the Reds are one game under .500.

This one, the Reds’ fifth straight victory, was a comparative walkover after they scrimped, scrapped and scrambled for a pair of 5-4 victories in the first two games of the series.

But it did get worrisome in the ninth when the Royals scored a run on Cincinnati’s fourth error. With runners on third and second with one out, manager David Bell was forced to bring in closer Alex Diaz for the fourth time in five games.

He hit Nicky Lopez with a pitch, filling the bases with the potential tying run on first game. Then he struck out Freddy Fermin and Dairon Blanco hit into a game-ending fielder’s choice.

It was Diaz’s 17th save in 17 opportunites abd 22nd straight to tie his brother, Edwin Diaz of the New York Mets for the longest active streak. His brother is out for the season with an injury.

When the night began, the Reds had no runs and one hit in their previous nine innings. it was extended to ten innings when they 1-2-3 in the first.

Then the bombardment began against Kansas City lefthander Daniel Lynch, now 0-9 over the last two seasons. He was left in for seven innings to bite the bullet and gave up seven runs, seven hits, three walks. . .and four home runs.

With one out in the second, Spencer Speer crushed his team-leading ninth home run, a 414-footer.

The real volcanic explosion came in the fifth when the Reds cleared the walls three times.

The first was a one-out blast by Stuart Fairchild, a 386-footer.

The second was a three-run crusher by Matt McLain, the daddy of the four at 428 feet.

The next hitter, Jonathan, plastered another home run, a 409-footer.

That’d 1.637 feet worth of home runs and gave the Reds a 7-1 lead.

Two rookies, Spencer and McLain, hit homers, but Elly De La Cruz was quiet — 0 for 4 with a strikeout and a double play.

Amazingly, after the three-homer, five-run fifth, the Reds had one baserunner over the last four innings, a walk. And six of the 13 batters struck out.

The beneficiary of the Home Run Derby was Reds starting pitcher Ben Lively, whose last major league team was the Royals.

And the Royals, at 18-50 the worst team in the majors, were up to their usual futility.

The Royals had two hits in the first, second, third, fifth, sixth and seventh innings — six for seven — and scored only three runs en route to theirt ninth straight defeat.

They were 2 for 15 with runners in scoring position, stranded 14 and outhit the Reds, 15-7. For the series the Royals were 4 for 32 with runners in scoring position and stranded 30 runners while scoring 12 runs, four in each of the three games.

Lively leveled his record at 4-4, the Reds winningest starting pitcher. He gave the Reds 5 2/3s innings and gave up two runs and 10 hits.

The only negativity to emerge from this game was four errors, three by Cincinnati outfielders, two by right fielder T.J. Hopkins and one by center fielder Jose Barrero and one by third baseman Kevin Newman.

The numbers keep rising on the positive side for the Reds. They are 15-9 against lefthanded starters, they’ve won five of their last six series, 12-9 in interleague games.

And the sweep was their third this season after sweeping the Texas Rangers and Chicago Cubs three games each.

The schedule takes a higher degree of difficulty beginning Friday night in Houston against the Astros. After three games at home against Colorado, the Reds then face Atlanta, Baltimore and San Diego.

By Hal McCoy
Contributing Writer

For one inning, the Cincinnati Reds did what they are supposed to do against a pitcher with a 0-10 record and against a team that had lost all 13 of his start.

The Reds scored five runs in the second inning against Kansas City Royals pitcher Jordan Lyles.

And that’s all they got. They made those five runs stand up for a 5-4 victory, their fourth straight win and ninth in 11 games.

They have become masters at winning one-run games. The win Tuesday night was their 13th one-run win and their third in three games.

They’ve also lost 12 one-run decisions and only Cleveland has played more one-run games.

The Royals scored first, a run off Reds lefthander Brandon Williamson on Salvador Perez’s single and a sacrifice fly by M.J. Melendez.

So when the Reds came back to win with the five runs in the second, technically it was their 22nd some-from-behind win.

Elly De La Cruz started the second inning with a walk and quickly stole second, his fifth straight succes. And he continued to third when second baseman Matt Duffy muffed the throw.

Spencer Steer singled to tie it, 1-1. Tyler Stephenson grounded into a force play and Will Benson walked. Kevin Newman doubled home a run, Stuart Fairchild singled home a run, TJ Friedl singled home a run and the Reds led, 5-1.

And that was it. Lyles turned into Cy Young and retired the final 14 Reds batters he faced, leaving after six innings and 94 pitches.

Williamson struggled. He gave up a run in the second on back-to-back doubless by Edward Oliveres and Duffy. He gave up a two-run home run to Bobby Witt Jr. in the third and it was 5-4.

Williamson left after five innings and the bullpen finished it off, but not without drama.

First, though, Daniel Duarte, called up from Class AAA Louisville just before the game, pitched a 1-2-3 sixth.

Ian Gibaut started the seventh and retired the first batter. Then he issued two walks and hit a batter, the bottom three of the Royals order, to fill the bases with one out.

Lucas Sims was summoned from the bullpen to face the top of the order and he struck out both Nick Pratto and Salvador Perez.

The ninth inning, of course, belonged to Alex Diaz and he pitched an easy-chair 1-2-3 inning for his 16th consecutive save this season and 22nd straight dating back to last season.

The Reds needed the spot-on relief pitching because after their five-run second they had only two baserunners over the final seven innings, both walks, one to TJ Friedl in the seventh and one to Jonathan India in the eighth.

Stephenson was robbed of a home run in the ninth when right fielder Melendez leaped above the fence to snag a ball that would have been a home run in 28 of the other 29 ball parks,

The Royals, 18-49, are one of the worst teams in baseball with runners in scoring position. After going 1-for-14 in their 5-4 loss to the Reds Monday, they were 1-for-5 Tuesday and stranded five.

The Reds gathered all five of their hits when they ravaged Lyles in the second, were 4-for-6 with runners in scoring position and stranded only three because they didn’t put many runners aboard.