The Big Pod Machine: Pete Rose Day Special Edition
Reds Beat Reporter Gordon Wittenmyer and Sports Reporter Pat Brennan discuss the current state of the Cincinnati Reds.
Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona didn’t necessarily plan for a bullpen game, but when one started to unfold before him in fortuitous fashion, he pushed forward with it. That allowed the Reds to take the series from the Cleveland Guardians.
Rather than have Chase Petty serve as a starting pitcher in the absence of the injured Hunter Greene, or use Petty for the bulk of the game, the Reds ended up deploying an opener and more relievers after that. In sum, six Reds relievers held the Guardians to a lone run as Cincinnati prevailed, 4-1, Saturday at Great American Ball Park before a crowd of 38,586.
The Reds improved to 23-24 with the win, and claimed the series against the Guardians (25-20). Cincinnati will go for the series sweep Sunday (1:40 p.m.). Cincinnati starter Andrew Abbott (2-0, 2.10 ERA) is scheduled to face Cleveland’s Luis L. Ortiz (2-4, 2.78 ERA).
Francona and Reds pitching coach Derek Johnson spoke before the game and decided they’d evaluate the club’s pitching situation on an inning-by-inning basis. It wasn’t long before they found themselves alive and well in the sixth inning after their first two pitchers put the Reds in a competitive situation.
Reds reliever Brent Suter acted as the “opener” for Cincinnati. The intent behind the move, Francona said before the game, was to hopefully help Petty, the originally-scheduled starter who was hit hard in the early innings of his first two big-league starts.
Suter did his part to make the arrangement work. He threw three scoreless innings and scattered four singles. Only one of those runners reached second base, and catcher Jose Trevino threw out Cleveland slugger Jose Ramirez at second on a steal attempt to end the third inning.
“(Suter’s) been good the whole year but he does it with enthusiasm,” Francona said.
Then came another reliever, Lyon Richardson, after Suter. Petty’s role in the game became a question mark, but the Reds were positioned well nonetheless.
Richardson came on for the fourth inning in relief of Suter, and worked through that frame but allowed a leadoff homer to right field by Cleveland’s Daniel Schneemann in the fifth inning as Cleveland opened the scoring for a 1-0 lead.
The lead was short-lived as Cincinnati answered back in the bottom of the fifth via its hottest hitter. Will Benson continued his recent run of success with a solo home run to right field. That marked his third homer in as many games.
At that point, after five innings, the Reds were set up for a full-fledged bullpen game, Francona and his pitchers said afterward in separate interviews.
“It was kind of the perfect storm and it kind of started yesterday,” Emilio Pagán said. “With Suter being able to give us three (innings), you’re in the fourth inning and if you can get Lyon to get us one or two, then we’re kinda right where we try to get anyway (as a bullpen). So, I think it was just kind of the perfect storm and it was fun, man.
“Anytime those (bullpen) games come, obviously they’re stressful because everybody’s gonna throw and it kind of handcuffs you tomorrow, but the challenge is fun as a bullpen, man. And credit to the guys. They threw the ball really well tonight.”
Pagán earned his second save in as many nights on Saturday, giving him 11 saves on the season.
Reliever Luis Mey came on for the Reds to pitch the sixth inning, and set the Guardians down in order, eventually earning the win, his first in the major leagues.
Then, the Reds took their first lead of the night in the bottom of the sixth. T.J. Friedl started the inning with a double, and Santiago Espinal pulled out of a bunt stance and instead slapped a single to right field, allowing Friedl to slide home head-first for a 2-1 advantage.
In pulling off the so-called “butcher boy” play, Francona said Espinal was one of a maximum of two Reds players he’d trust to execute what was effectively a fake bunt.
That sequence knocked Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi (0-1) out of the contest.
Two batters later, Austin Hays doubled off the top of the left-field wall. While he missed out on a home run by mere feet, the ball hit off the wall and rolled toward the infield, allowing Espinal time to score from first.
Hays was credited with a double and he took third base on the eventual throw home, although he would eventually be stranded there.
The Reds would find another insurance run in the seventh inning when Rece Hinds blasted off for a solo home run that landed on the turf below the batter’s eye in center field. The ball’s exit velocity was measured at 109.8 mph and it traveled an estimated 423 feet.
On the pitching front, Graham Ashcraft handled the seventh inning, Tony Santillan took care of the eighth, and Pagán set the Guardians down with a perfect inning, just as he did Friday.