There was a baseball game and a concert scheduled at Great American Ball Park on Friday night. Fans in attendance still got those, but they also got to witness a pitching duel between Sandy Alcantara and Chase Burns. The Reds All-Star starter bested his counterpart on a night when they both threw seven inning as Cincinnati’s offense scored the lone run of the game in a 1-0 defeat of the Miami Marlins to begin the 3-game series.

FinalRHEMiami Marlins (62-61)040Cincinnati Reds (59-62)160W: Burns (14-2) L: Alcantara (13-7) SV: Pagan (15)Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread

Neither team was threatening much for the first couple of innings of the game, but Sandy Alcantara got himself into a little bit of trouble in the bottom of the 3rd inning when he issued back-to-back 1-out walks to Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz. After throwing 14 pitches to those two, Alcantara needed just four pitches to get the next two batters out as both runners were stranded.

On the other side of things it was all Chase Burns. He hadn’t allowed more than one baserunner in the first six inning. Despite that, though, he was still in a 0-0 ballgame when he headed to the dugout in the middle of the 6th inning. His offense went out in the bottom of the frame and got a little something going when JJ Bleday picked up a 1-out single. He was swapped out on the bases when Tyler Stephenson grounded into a forceout. With two outs the Reds benefited from a defensive miscue as Eugenio Suarez lined a double into left field, but Heriberto Hernandez made an ill-advised diving attempt on it and came up well short and the ball rolled by him to the wall and allowed Stephenson to score from first.

Holding a lead and at just 80 pitches, Chase Burns headed back to the mound for the 7th inning. Otto Lopez led off with a single and later in the inning stole second base to put the tying run in scoring position. Burns got out of the jam as he struck out Heriberto Hernandez before getting a grounder to shortstop for the final out of the inning.

Brock Burke took over for Cincinnati in the 8th inning and he struck out the side. After the Reds picked up two singles in their half of the 8th but were unable to score either runner the game was turned over to Emilio Pagan. The closer needed just 11 pitches to retire the side in order to seal the victory.

Key Moment of the Game

Heriberto Hernandez coming up short on a diving catch attempt and the ball getting by him, leading to the only run of the game coming in to score.

Notes Worth Noting

Eugenio Suarez picked up his 1500th career hit on his RBI double in the 7th inning.

Chase Burns improved to 14-2 and he lowered his ERA to 2.47 on the season. He’s now 2nd in the league in wins and his ERA is now 5th best in baseball.

Since returning from the injured list in July, Emilio Pagan has allowed two earned runs in 13.1 innings. That’s a 1.35 ERA to go along with 18 strikeouts and just two walks.

Reds batters had more walks (4) than strikeouts (3). Cincinnati pitchers had 11 strikeouts and walked no one.

Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds

Miami Marlins vs Cincinnati Reds

Saturday August 15th, 6:40pm ET

Ryan Gusto (0-3, 4.78 ERA) vs Brady Singer (5-11, 4.66 ERA)