KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Sweep Defending World Series Champs

The Cincinnati Reds are the most exciting team in Major League Baseball. They also are currently the hottest team in baseball now with eight straight victories. Sunday’s come-from-behind, extra-inning victory capped off a sweep of the defending World Series champion Houston Astros. The Reds finished their road trip 8-1 overall.

Looking at the National League Central standings, Cincinnati is squarely in second place and just half a game back of the Milwaukee Brewers. After a nine-game, 10-day road trip, the Reds now return to Great American Ball Park for the week. The Colorado Rockies will come to town first followed by an off day Thursday and a three-game weekend set with the Atlanta Braves. Monday’s starting pitcher has yet to be announced for the 7:10 p.m. EST first pitch. Ben Lively and Andrew Abbott will finish the series on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Andrew Abbott Wins Pitcher’s Duel for Reds

Cincinnati Reds rookie Andrew Abbott has entered some elite company after another dazzling start. The left-hander is now 3-0 after three big league starts and has yet to allow a run. In fact, he is the first pitcher since 1893 to begin his career with three scoreless starts of five innings or more. On Friday night in Houston, Abbott threw six shutout innings while allowing just four hits to earn the victory. Seeing that 3-0 record with a 0.00 earned run average is pretty incredible. It has been a heck of a start to the 24-year-olds career for the Reds.

Abbott was great, but Astros starter J.P. France went toe-to-toe with him for most of the game. However, Tyler Stephenson squeaked one over the left field wall to get on the board in the seventh inning. Then, Kevin Newman doubled to bring in Will Benson making it a 2-0 game. That extra run would prove to be necessary for Cincinnati.

After Buck Farmer and Lucas Sims turned in clean seventh and eighth innings respectively, Alexis Diaz was handed the ball with a 2-0 lead in the ninth. It was not his sharpest outing, but the Reds closer still got the job done. A leadoff double by Jose Abreu got the inning started and he advanced to third base on a fly out to deep left field. Abreu then scored on a groundout to shortstop to make it 2-1. Diaz walked the next batter who then stole second base to put the tying run in scoring position. However, he induced a line out to center field to end the game. The Reds would take the series opener by a score of 2-1.

Offense Powers Reds to Seventh Straight Win

On Saturday evening in Houston, the Cincinnati Reds simply put it on the defending World Series champions. Jonathan India got the party started in the top of the first inning with a two-run home run. The Reds would never look back from there. Houston got one run in the third, but Cincinnati answered in both the fourth and fifth innings. Will Benson continued his excellent stretch at the plate with a two-RBI single in the fifth that made it a 5-1 game. Since returning to the Major League roster, Benson was hitting .346 as of Saturday night.

Tyler Stephenson, Kevin Newman, and Matt McClain all added runs for the Reds in the later innings before finishing with 10 runs on 13 hits. On the mound, Hunter Greene was strong once again. The 23-year-old flame thrower pitched six innings allowing two runs on five hits. After a rough start to the season, Greene has settled in and is now 2-4 with a 3.93 earned run average. Ian Gibaut allowed a home run to Jose Altuve in the seventh, but Buck Farmer and Fernando Cruz shut things down in the eighth and ninth innings respectively.

The 10-3 victory secured yet another series win for the Reds. It was also the seventh straight win for the ball club as they climbed above .500 at 36-35. Unofficially dubbed “America’s Team”, this Cincinnati Reds squad just might be the most exciting group in all of baseball.

SWEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!

And this one belongs to the Reds. Those sweet words have now been said after eight straight games as Cincinnati has its longest winning streak in over a decade. After a pitcher’s duel on Friday and an offensive explosion on Saturday, Sunday’s win was a little bit harder to come by. The Astros quickly built a 2-0 lead in the first inning and led 5-2 after four innings. However, in typical fashion, the Reds simply would not go away.

Jake Fraley singled to right field driving in Matt McClain in the top of the sixth inning making it 5-3. Then, Spencer Steer stepped up to the plate with two outs and drove one 409 feet to left center field that tied the game up at 5-5. That score held through the seventh, but Jonathan India went to the opposite field for a go-ahead solo home run in the eighth inning. But without Alexis Diaz available in the bullpen things would get a little hairy in the bottom of the ninth.

Ian Gibaut walked the leadoff batter to begin the ninth. Jose Abreu struck out, but Yainer Diaz singled to put runners on the corners with one out. Chas McCormick came through with a game-tying single as the Astros still had two runners on with one out. However, after an intentional walk, Gibaut induced a 5-4-3 double play to get out of the inning and extend the game to extras.

The top of the 10th quickly went the way of the Reds. TJ Friedl laid a perfect sacrifice bunt down the third base line that was overthrown, scoring Nick Senzel from second base. Friedl advanced to second base on a fly out to right field and then Elly De La Cruz singled to drive him in. Finally, Jake Fraley came through with a RBI groundout to build a much more comfortable 9-6 advantage.

In the bottom of the 10th, Alex Young quickly recorded an out on his first pitch of the inning. The Astros would push across one run on an Alex Bregman single to make it 9-7. However, that is as close as they would get. Cincinnati came away with a 9-7 victory to finish off the series sweep. The Reds are now 37-35 on the season.