KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Move Into First Place

Don’t look now, but America’s Team is back on top of the National League Central standings. The Cincinnati Reds took two out of three games against the Los Angeles Dodgers to regain first place in the division. It would be appropriate to give the Atlanta Braves an assist in the matter as well after they swept the Milwaukee Brewers. Sunday’s 9-0 win over the Dodgers ended an incredibly tough 16-game start to the second half. Salvaging an 8-8 record in that span is a pretty big win for the Redlegs.

Cincinnati’s road trip continues as they head to Chicago for a four-game series against the Cubs. This is a Cubs team that had won eight straight games before Sunday’s 3-0 shutout against Saint Louis. Their recent success has brought them within four games in the division and just three and a half in the wild card standings. Not that a division rival needed any more ammunition, but this could be the biggest series of the season at Wrigley Field.

The Reds will send Andrew Abbott to the mound for an 8:05 p.m. Eastern Time first pitch on Monday evening. Ben Lively, Brandon Williamson, and Luke Weaver are also scheduled to make starts in the Windy City. This series, against arguably the hottest team in baseball, will finish a 10-game, 11-day roadtrip for Cincinnati before finally returning to Great American Ball Park.

Alexis Diaz Shuts the Door to Secure a Series-Opening Win

Against a team as good as the Los Angeles Dodgers you know walking away with a win is never going to be easy. That was certainly true on Friday night as the Cincinnati Reds had to sweat one out on the west coast. The Reds did strike early though with a three-spot in the first inning that included a two-run home run by Jake Fraley. However, the Dodgers answered with a run in the bottom half of the frame and made it 3-2 with a Miguel Rojas single in the fourth. Luckily, the tying run was thrown out at home plate to maintain the one run advantage.

In the seventh, Spencer Steer broke the scoring drought with a solo home run. That led to a bit of a meltdown for Dodgers reliever Yency Almonte. He would proceed to walk three batters and hit another as two more runs would come to the plate without much work needing to be done at the plate. Those additional runs would prove to be very important for the Reds.

Lucas Sims issued a pair of walks and Freddie Freeman came through with a two-RBI single in the seventh as the Dodgers tried to claw back. Amed Rosario even made it a one-run game with another single. However, that would be as close as Los Angeles would get. Ian Gibaut gave up the hits, but the runs were attributed to Sims. Then, Alex Young ended the seventh and recorded two outs in the eighth to set up a four-out save for Alexis Diaz. The Reds All-Star closer did his job to secure his 31st save for a 6-5 victory.

Max Muncy Homered Twice to Defeat the Reds

Luke Weaver turned in one of his best starts of the season, but it wasn’t enough to take down the Dodgers. Spencer Steer started the game with a costly fielding error. Eventually, Max Muncy hit a two-run home run that should have never happened. Weaver pitched six innings allowing just one earned run. In fact, the only two hits against Cincinnati Reds pitching on Saturday night were home runs by Muncy. He added a solo shot in the sixth inning that broke the tie and set the eventual final score of 3-2.

Unfortunately, the Reds couldn’t get much going at the plate either. Kevin Newman had a sacrifice fly and Spencer Steer drove in a run in the sixth that tied the game at 2-2 for a brief period. However, going 2-10 with runners in scoring position wasn’t good enough against Los Angeles. The 3-2 loss set up a big Sunday afternoon rubber match on the west coast.

Reds Take Series With 9-0 Shutout

The Cincinnati Reds wasted no time asserting their dominance on Sunday afternoon. Elly De La Cruz singled and scored from first on a TJ Friedl double. Then, Jake Fraley and Spencer Steer each drove in runs to take a 3-0 first inning lead. From that point on the offensive explosion kept on coming. In total, the Reds put up nine runs on 14 hits to win the game and series. Sunday’s win also allowed the Reds to leapfrog the Milwaukee Brewers and retake the National League Central lead.

Between the second and third innings Cincinnati blasted three long balls to put the game out of reach. De La Cruz, Matt McLain, and Joey Votto all went deep which increased the lead from three to seven. Friedl and Votto finished off the scoring later in the game to cap off a 9-0 blowout.

On the mound, Graham Ashcraft turned in yet another strong start. In his last six appearances, Ashcraft has posted a 1.75 earned run average. He allowed five hits in six shutout innings to earn his sixth win of the season. After reaching a low point on June 24th with a 3-6 record and 7.17 ERA, Ashcraft’s record has improved to 6-7 and his earned run average has dropped nearly two whole points.