The Reds rollercoaster continued today as they fell 10-9 against the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday, and dropped the series to their division rival 3-2. The game was a wild ride that saw a Matt McLain grand slam, one of the most head-scratching plays you might ever see by a Reds outfielder, and a historic stat line from Brock Burke (but not in a good way).
St. Louis opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI groundout by Jordan Walker, who followed that up with a three-run home run in the third inning to make it 4-0. The Reds responded in the sixth inning, scoring five runs, capped by a Matt McLain grand slam to jump out to a 5-4 lead.
The Reds bullpen held St. Louis in check and forced the Cardinals to their last out in the ninth. JJ Wetherholt hit a long fly ball that should have been the final out of the game, but Dane Myers called off the left fielder and dropped the ball, allowing Fermín and pinch-runner Masyn Winn to score. Iván Herrera was intentionally walked, but Alec Burleson punished the Reds with an RBI single to score Wetherholt. Jordan Walker and Joshua Báez drew consecutive walks, forcing in another run. Fermín then singled again to drive in two runs, and the damage was done.
But Cincinnati continued to fight.
In the bottom of the ninth, Matt McLain walked, Michael Toglia struck out, and Myers walked. After TJ Friedl struck out, pinch-hitter Eugenio Suárez hit an RBI single to score McLain. Elly De La Cruz walked to load the bases, and Sal Stewart followed with a two-run single to score Myers and Suárez, giving him 96 RBIs on the year, still the most in all of baseball. JJ Bleday and Tyler Stephenson drew consecutive walks, forcing in De La Cruz. The game ended when McLain lined out to deep right to signal an end to the Reds comeback.
It was McLain’s second career grand slam, and after today his batting average this year is finally at .200. With his RBI Eugenio Suarez now has 1,000 on his career.
But all of that will no doubt be overshadowed by the error from Myers in the outfield. It was a head-scratching decision from an otherwise very capable fielder who has been one of the bright spots for Cincinnati this year. And Brock Burke certainly didn’t do the team any favors.
According to OptaSTATS, Burke became the only MLB pitcher since earned runs have been officially tracked in both the AL & NL (1913) to enter the game in the 9th inning or later and finish with 0 earned runs, 6+ runs allowed and 2 or fewer hits allowed.
It is quite a feat, just not one that will leave fans celebrating.
Even former Reds outfielder Tommy Pham weighed in. He insinuated that Myers’ decision was motivated by a desire to inflate his numbers rather than to allow his teammate to make the smart play. While it’s impossible to know exactly what went through Dane’s mind as he tried to track the ball down, Pham’s opinion will no doubt ignite an interesting debate about how this one ended.
