KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Win Thursday, Survive Series

This series against the National League Central leading Milwaukee Brewers was all about survival. Sure, a sweep would have brought the Cincinnati Reds into contention for the division, but just making the playoffs is the important part.

On Thursday afternoon, the Reds avoided a sweep with a 5-1 win over the Brew Crew. The victory guaranteed at least a one game wild card lead at the end of the night. The Reds have now reached the 70-win mark at 70-59 on the season.

Cincinnati will next travel to Miami for a three-game weekend series with the Marlins. The Reds just handed the Marlins a four-game series sweep last weekend.

Promising Start, Disappointing Finish

Expectations were admittedly kept lower on Tuesday night with the Cincinnati Reds set to face Corbin Burnes. Burnes is the likely National League Cy Young award winner with the best advanced statistics in baseball. However, through six innings, the Reds were in great shape.

Tyler Mahle successfully out-dueled Burnes on the mound to give the Reds a chance to win. The Brewers pushed one across in the first inning, but that is all they would manage. Mahle went 5 2/3 innings allowing just the one run on five hits while striking out eight.

Burnes got through the first three innings unscathed before the Reds got to him in the fourth. Nick Castellanos singled in between two walks that loaded the bases with nobody out. Mike Moustakas and Kyle Farmer came through with back-to-back singles to take a 2-1 lead. Tucker Barnhart followed with a sacrifice fly to finish off a three-run inning.

Barnhart added an RBI single in the top of the sixth to put the Reds on top 4-1. Mahle recorded the first two outs in the bottom half of the inning before getting pulled after allowing a walk and a single. Michael Lorenzen came in to close out the inning and the Reds would take their 4-1 lead into the seventh.

A little insurance courtesy of @Tucker_Barnhart 👏 pic.twitter.com/lfDVRgeZyS

— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) August 25, 2021

Unfortunately, that is where the wheels fell off. Lorenzen allowed four runs on three hits without recording an out as the Reds lead quickly disappeared. Luis Cessa then gave up a two-run home run in the eighth to give the Brewers a 7-4 lead.

Despite the bullpen being set up to throw the best arms–Lorenzen, Mychael Givens, and Tejay Antone–the Cincinnati Reds couldn’t hold on to their 4-1 lead in the final three innings. Givens got the job done, but obviously, Lorenzen struggled and Antone returned to the Injured List after just five pitches.

As a silver lining, the Padres lost so the Reds did keep pace in the division. San Diego fell to the Dodgers which let the Reds remain one game ahead in the wild card standings.

Cincinnati Reds Dominated by Brandon Woodruff

The Reds may have gotten to Corbin Burnes on Tuesday, but Brandon Woodruff made quick work of the lineup on Wednesday night. The bats didn’t pick up against the bullpen either as the Brewers cruised to a 4-1 victory.

Woodruff threw six shutout innings and struck out 10 batters in dominating fashion.

Along with Woodruff’s strong outing, the pitching performance turned in by Luis Castillo deserves mention. Castillo finished off a strong three-month stretch with 6 1/3 innings of four-hit, two-run baseball. He struck out six batters as well.

Cincinnati threatened in the first inning but couldn’t push anything across. Jonathan India was hit by a pitch and then Tyler Naquin reached on a perfectly placed bunt single. Nick Castellanos then flew out into foul territory in right field to move the runners up. Joey Votto and Mike Moustakas failed to bring them in and Woodruff escaped the inning.

From that point on, the Brewers pitching staff cruised. The Reds threatened briefly in the top of the sixth, but Castellanos tried to turn a single into a double and ran the team out of the inning.

Castellanos would give the Reds their lone run thanks to a home run in the ninth to avoid the shutout. As a team, Cincinnati struck out 16 times on the way to the 4-1 defeat.

Reds Avoid Sweep

A leadoff single by Jonathan India followed by a Tyler Stephenson walk had the Cincinnati Reds threatening right away on Thursday afternoon. Nick Castellanos would follow with a double play, but Joey Votto came through with a sacrifice fly to put one on the board in the first inning.

The game would settle into a fast-paced pitcher’s duel over the next few innings. Sonny Gray and Brett Anderson traded zeros until the fifth inning. That is when future National League Rookie of the Year Jonathan India struck again.

The Reds had placed runners on the corners with no outs to begin the inning. A strikeout and a foul out left them in the same position with two outs. Enter India to save the day. The rookie phenom took a 3-1 pitch the opposite way into the Reds bullpen to extend the lead to 4-0. The blast was his 17th home run of the season.

Go ahead and mail @JonathanIndia the ROTY trophy now. pic.twitter.com/qJEPK8S2jY

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) August 26, 2021

The long ball rolled on into the sixth inning as Nick Castellanos blasted his 24th of the year to make it 5-0. Castellanos has regained his position atop the race for the batting crown. He is now hitting .320 on the season.

On the mound, you’ve got to give a tip of the hat to Sonny Gray. Gray was excellent across six innings of shutout baseball allowing just three hits and striking out six. That’s 13 straight scoreless innings in his last two starts.

Last 2 starts by Sonny:
13.0 IN
0 R
4 H
4 BB
11 K#Reds

— Lance McAlister (@LanceMcAlister) August 26, 2021

Gray exited the game after only 86 pitches and the ball was handed to Tony Santillan. The right-hander proceeded to immediately allow a home run and a four-pitch walk. Luckily, he struck out the next batter before handing things off to Justin Wilson. The left-hander then induced a 6-3 double play to get out of the inning.

After his bad outing on Tuesday, Michael Lorenzen bounced back to pitch a clean eighth inning in this one. Mychael Givens would record the final three outs to secure the victory. The Reds avoided the sweep with a 5-1 win on Thursday afternoon.