KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Extend Winning Streak to 11

The Cincinnati Reds winning streak is not done yet. A third straight sweep, this time against the Colorado Rockies, marks 11 straight victories. Most importantly, the Reds are now one and a half games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers for first place in the National League Central. Wednesday afternoon’s 5-3 comeback win moved the Reds to 40-35 on the season. Amazingly, 25 of those 40 wins have been of the come-from-behind variety. “America’s Team” is certainly playing an exciting, and winning, brand of baseball.

Thursday will give the Reds a well deserved day off after 11 straight wins. However, they will then welcome the Atlanta Braves to town on Friday. The Braves are currently 47-26 with games against the Phillies Wednesday and Thursday night before coming to Great American Ball Park. This weekend’s three-game series will feature the two hottest teams in baseball.

Luke Weaver will take the ball on Friday night for a 6:40 p.m. Eastern Time first pitch. Graham Ashcraft is expected to return to the rotation on Saturday at 4:10 p.m. Finally, on Sunday, it will be Ben Lively against Spencer Strider at 1:10 p.m. It will be a tough test for the Reds, but winning 11 straight is a heck of a way to enter a series against one of the best teams in Major League Baseball.

Welcome Back, Joseph Daniel Votto

After spending over two months rehabbing with the Louisville Bats, 39-year old Joey Votto made his season debut for the Cincinnati Reds on Monday. The veteran certainly did not disappoint. Votto hit a solo home run in the fifth inning that extended the Reds lead at the time. Then, he came through with a go-ahead, two-run single in the sixth that set the eventual final score of 5-4. It was a 2-3 day at that plate with a home run, walk, three runs batted in, and a run scored for Votto.

While the excellent return of the former MVP grabbed the headlines, the Reds got more help offensively before Votto went deep. Kevin Newman struck first with a solo home run in the bottom of the first inning. Then, Nick Senzel sent one 415-feet into the left centerfield seats in the second inning. Cincinnati hasn’t been much of a home run hitting team this season, but they found the long ball on Monday night at Great American Ball Park.

On the mound, Brandon Williamson turned in five innings allowing three runs on six hits. The young left hander has been up-and-down recently, but was good enough to give the Reds a chance to win on Monday. Bucker Farmer struggled a bit in relief as well allowing two inherited runners to score and Alex Young walked Mike Moustakas with the bases loaded that allowed the Colorado Rockies to take a brief 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth. However, Fernando Cruz, Lucas Sims, and Alexis Diaz were good enough in the seventh, eighth, and ninth to shut the door and keep the Reds winning streak alive.

Reds Winning Streak Reaches 10 Games

The “America’s Team” bit is fully coming alive at Great American Ball Park. Over 28,000 fans watched the Cincinnati Reds extended their winning streak to 10 games on Tuesday night with an 8-6 victory over the Rockies. Once again, it was the long ball that provided the punch offensively for the Reds. The Rockies had the ball flying out of GABP too though as they struck first with a solo shot in the second at-bat of the game. That would prove to be Colorado’s first and only advantage on the scoreboard.

In the bottom of the second inning back-to-back walks helped to spark a two-out rally for the Reds. Will Benson and Curt Casali reached base via the free pass before TJ Friedl squeaked one over the fence in right centerfield to take a 3-1 lead. Cincinnati would never look back from there. Elly De La Cruz hit his second career home run in the fourth inning to make it 4-1. Then, Spencer Steer doubled to score Jake Fraley increasing the lead to 5-1. Fraley added to the fun in the fifth with a RBI double of his own and then scored on a pickoff throwing error from the Rockies pitcher. Will Benson capped off the scoring with a solo home run in the sixth inning with a 403-foot shot to center. However, it wasn’t smooth sailing despite the 8-2 advantage.

Colorado had two men on in the eighth with two outs when designated hitter Jorge Alfaro hit a three-run home run off of Casey Legumina to cut their deficit to 8-5. Then, in the ninth, Reds closer Alexis Diaz was anything but sharp. He walked two batters, allowed a run-scoring double, and had the bases loaded with two outs. However, he struck out Alfaro to end the game. Diaz recorded all three outs of the ninth via strikeout to earn his 20th save in as many chances. The 8-6 victory brought the Reds winning streak to 10 games.

Get the Brooms Out!

The Cincinnati Reds just won’t stop winning baseball games. On Wednesday afternoon the ball club captured their 40th victory of the season. It was also their 25th come-from-behind win. Now winners of 11 straight, the Reds are one and a half games ahead of Milwaukee in the NL Central. There is more excitement around this team that we’ve seen in Cincinnati in a long time. They are young, talented, competitive, and building a culture that sets winning as the expectation. It has been fun to watch it all come together this season.

Until the bottom of the fifth, it simply didn’t look like it was the Reds day on Wednesday. Andrew Abbott was lights out, but left three mistake pitches over the plate for three solo home runs. Brenton Doyle struck first with a leadoff home run on a ball that looked like a routine fly out to right field. Then, Elehuris Montero went deep in the second inning. Finally, Randal Grichuk made it 3-0 with a long ball of his own in the fourth. The Rockies held a 3-0 lead off of just three swings of the bat. In typical Reds fashion though, they did not stop competing.

The comeback started in the fifth inning, but the Reds actually let the Rockies off of the hook. Joey Votto was hit by a pitch for the second time to lead things off. Then, Tyler Stephenson singled and Will Benson drew a walk to loaded the bases with nobody out. Luke Maile come through first with a two-RBI single up the middle. TJ Friedl then tied the game with his own single to centerfield. However, with runners at the corners with nobody out, Cincinnati couldn’t get the go-ahead run across home plate. Spencer Street struck out looking and then Jonathan India struck out while also being called for interference as Friedl attempted to steal second base. At the time it felt like a major missed opportunity.

Pics that go hard pic.twitter.com/R1fHHlMOqk

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) June 21, 2023

Down the stretch the Cincinnati Reds bullpen was money which set up the perfect definition of a bloop and blast to come in the eighth. Elly De La Cruz placed a blooper down the left field line that he stretched into a double. Then, Jake Fraley smacked one to right field on a line that just snuck over the fence to make it a 5-3 game. That score would hold as Buck Farmer earned the save with a clean top of the ninth inning. Ian Gibaut earned his eighth win of the season. However, Andrew Abbott deserves credit for yet another excellent start. The rookie left-hander went six innings allowing three runs on four hits while striking out 10. In total, Reds pitchers struck out 15 Rockies batters on their way to a 5-3 win.