Bucs Squander Early Chances, Fall 5-1 In Ten Frames

Today’s Game: Good start for Trevor Cahill; three Reds, three grounders, three down. Kevin Newman singled and moved along on a wild pitch, but two whiffs made for a quiet inning spun by Sonny Gray. Mike Moustakas opened the second with a big fly, his 18th homer in 47 games v the Bucs. The next runner reached when Cahill dropped a throw covering first, but Trevor got back on the bar stool and polished off the frame. Erik Gonzalez ricocheted a ball off the pitcher to second, and after a challenge was rewarded with an infield rap. Ben Gamel singled after a Wilmer Difo force and another wild pitch advanced the pair, but the 8-9 hitters left them there. Three bouncers, three outs for Cincy in the third. Tom walked to open, and a force and third wild pitch move K-Man to second. Two more whiffs kept him there; the Pirates are already 0-for-5 w/RISP, with four of the outs via K’s. A leadoff single followed by a fly and 4-6-3 DP made for a quiet Reds’ fourth. A Difo knock and Gamel walk with an out set up Pittsburgh once again, and they were stranded once again.

A two-out single by the Redlegs in the fifth was harmless. Newman singled with one away, then Evans and Polanco followed with raps to knot the score. On the play, Phil pulled up at second and left the game. Yet another wild pitch took them to second and third, but E-Gon’s bouncer ended in a tag out at home. Tejay Antone took the hill and fanned Difo; got a run but 1-for-10 RISP in five innings…not precisely clutch. After an out in the sixth, Sam Howard was brought in to go L/L against Jesse Winker. After a whiff, he gave up a pair of walks. Clay Holmes came in and closed the door. The Pirates went down 1-2-3. A leadoff knock in the seventh was forced (a DP call was successfully challenged), then the runner went to second on a wild pitch by Holmes. Another hit put Reds on the corners and Chasen Shreve got the call. He got a big punchout, then won an eight-pitch foulfest against Nick Senzel, earning a flyout and a Cincy zero. Sean Doolittle took command of the hill and fanned two in a quiet frame.

Shreve gave up a single and Dave Bednar was called in. A single and three whiffs later, the Reds had another goose egg in the eighth. Lucas Sims fanned another pair of Bucs (that’s 12 if you’re keeping count) in a clean inning. In came Richard Rodriguez for the ninth, and he allowed a single and a couple of hard outs while keeping the score knotted. Sims whiffed two more and it’s on to bonus, ghost runner baseball. Duane Underwood took the mound, and the first batter knocked in the free runner, and was singled to third. A walk loaded the sacks, and an out later, Eugenio Suarez’s double cleared them. Heath Hembree took the ball to mop it up, and not a ball left the infield to ice Cincy’s 5-1 win.

Seven hits, a walk, four wild pitches in five innings…and one run, then sleepwalking against a meh Reds bullpen that held Pittsburgh hitless for 5-1/3 IP. That was the ballgame. The most notable plus was that Trevor Cahill tossed a second straight strong ballgame, breaking out of his every-other-start mold.

Notes: 

• Kevin Newman had two hits while Ben Gamel had a knock and a walk.
• Fraze’s 12-game hitting streak came to an end today as he went 0-for-2 as a sub.
• When Phil Evans was hurt, Fraze (his pinch runner) stayed in the game at second, Difo went from second to third and Gonzalez went from the hot corner to first, the first time he’s been at the position since 2018 with Cleveland. All we’ve got on Evans is he has an unspecified leg injury.
• The attendance was 4,515. 
• Rule 5 pick RHP Jose Soriano (recovering from Tommy John surgery) is expected to start his rehab assignment within the next 5-7 days. His rehab can extend to 60 days before he needs to be activated.

Tomorrow’s Game: The Giants open a four-game stand at 6:35, with the game aired by AT&T SportsNet & 93.7 The Fan. Wil Crowe goes against Anthony DeSclafani.