After taking two of three from the Angels, the Reds send Zack Littell (9-8 3.52 ERA) to the mound for game one of three against Arizona. The Diamondbacks counter with Ryne Nelson (6-3 3.58 ERA) after taking two of three from Cleveland.
Arizona 1-0 (Bottom 1st)
Similarily to the series in Los Angeles, the Reds starter got hit for an early run tonight. Geraldo Perdomo drew a four pitch walk to leadoff the game, and two batters later Corbin Carroll singled to put runners on 1st and 3rd. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. then hit a sac fly to RF to make it 1-0. Littell was able to get out of the inning by striking out Pavin Smith, limiting the damage to one run.
Cincinnati 2-1(Top 2nd)
The Reds didn’t let Arizona have the lead for long. Nelson walked Noelvi Marte, and got Spencer Steer to flyout before before Ke’Bryan Hayes strolled to the plate. Hayes hit a missile to left CF that drove Marte in from 1st. Jose Trevino then singled through a drawn in infield to make it 2-0. Nelson was able to work out of further trouble but not before the Reds grabbed an early lead.
Arizona 4-2 (Bottom 3rd)
After working around a bases loaded jam in the 2nd, he got burnt in the 3rd. Gabriel Moreno hit a drive to LF and gave the D-backs the lead back 4-2. TJ Friedl made a diving catch in CF to end the 3rd and keep the deficit at two.
Tie 4-4 (Top 8th)
After not doing much since the 2nd, Cincinnati’s offense got a little boost from it’s best player. Elly De La Cruz lead off the 6th with a triple, coming in to score on an Austin Hays groundout. This made the score 4-3. Cincinnati’s pitching kept the Diamondbacks in check until the 8th when Miguel Andujar would hit a pinch-hit double, and Elly then drove him in with a single to RF. And despite Diamondback pitching retiring 20 out of 23 batters, the Reds forced extras in Arizona.
Cincinnati 5-4 (Top 10th)
In the 10th, Cincinnati took advantage of a huge D-back error to grab the lead. Reliever John Curtiss fielded a Trevino bunt and threw it over the 1st basemans head to allow Hayes to score. Curtiss would get some help from Corbin Carroll to nab Trevino at home to get out of the inning with no further damage.
Tie 5-5 (Bottom 10th)
These snakes just won’t go away! They followed a similar gameplan as the Reds, sac bunting to 3rd, then Ketel Marte won a 13 pitch battle to drive in the tying run. They would get no more runs, leading us to a second game going 11 innings in a week.
Arizona (6-5 Final/11)
It would go no further than 11, as Arizona got Andujar to ground out and then Friedl would get doubled off on a soft liner to SS to end the top half of the 11th. Arizona would then walkoff on a Gurriel Jr. single to bring Carroll in and win the game.
The bullpen pitched their asses off and kept the Reds in the game tonight. Elly was the only Red with multiple hits, as the offense had another night in which it seemed lifeless. Tomorrow night we will see Andrew Abbott attempt to right the ship for Cincinnati against Nabil Crismatt.
Win: Jalen Beeks (4-1 4.07 ERA)
Loss: Scott Barlow (6-2 3.47 ERA)
