Reds rough up Kevin Gausman, beat Orioles 9-3 to open series

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Adam Duvall came into Tuesday's outing against the Baltimore Orioles fresh off a series against the Milwaukee Brewers in which he went an unfortunate 0 for 11. Of course, he'd hit well prior to that series, hit plenty in 2016, and hadn't quite looked lost, which made his head-busting outing on Tuesday night that much more enjoyable to watch.

Duvall cranked an early grand slam, tied his career high with 5 ribbies in a single game, added a later double, and looked exactly like the kind of slugger that's long been coveted by the team in the opposite dugout for the evening. That'll do, Doovy, and have a trophy.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Bronson Arroyo, who allowed just 3 ER in 5 rather solid IP; Jose Peraza, who doubled, walked (finally!), was hit by a pitch, stole a bag, and scored 3 runs; Billy Hamilton, who had a 2 hit, 2 run scored night (and also stole a base); Joey Votto, who homered, walked twice, singled, scored twice, drove in a pair, and looks firmly like the Joey Votto we all know and love (unless you actively comment on Facebook posts); Zack Cozart, who singled, walked twice, drove in a run, and scored; and Cody Reed, who fired a perfect inning in relief.

Key Plays

• The Reds jumped out to an early 2-0 lead thanks to a group effort in the Bottom of the 1st. Hamilton singled through the right side to begin things, and he moved over to 2B when Peraza followed with his first walk of the year. Votto then singled into RF to load the bases, and Hamilton then scored on a sac-fly to LF off the bat of Duvall. Peraza then stole 3B, which was convenient since it allowed him to score on Cozart’s RBI grounder up the middle that barely made it out of the infield. Reds led, 2-0.
• Baltimore scraped a run across in the Top of the 2nd when Wellington Castillo donked a 2-out double into the LF corner and scored a batter later when Jonathan Schoop looped a bloop single into shallow CF. Reds led, 2-1.
• Duvall’s slam came in the Bottom of the 2nd to break things wide open, a liner that just stayed inside the LF pole off Kevin Gausman after a Hamilton single, Peraza being hit by a pitch, and a Votto walk (after he’d been down 0-2 in the count). That put Cincinnati ahead 6-1, but they weren’t yet done that inning as Cozart walked, moved over on a single by Scooter Gennett, and scored on Barnhart’s RBI double. Reds led, 7-1.
• Gausman’s night ended when Peraza spanked a double to the wall in CF in the Bottom of the 3rd, and that brought in lefty Vidal Nuno with Votto set to bat. Votto, though, cared not, and worked from another 0-2 hole to a count where he could get a pitch to hit, and turned around a meatball for a 2-run homer that just cleared the wall in RF. Reds led, 9-1.
• Adam Jones swatted a 2-run homer in the Top of the 5th after an Arroyo walk, and that left the Reds ahead, 9-3.
• After that, a combo of Blake Wood, Cody Reed, Tony Cingrani, and Drew Storen combined to shut things down with little trouble, and the Reds picked up a W in the first game of the series. Reds won, 9-3!

Tony Graphanino

Source: FanGraphs

Other Notes

• Both the Reds and the Orioles used Monday’s off-day to reset their pitching rotations, which has made pinpointing the matchups a bit difficult of late. After mutual finagling, it appears that Amir Garrett will start for Cincinnati on Wednesday opposite Ubaldo Jimenez in the second game of the series (which will start at 7:10 PM ET.
• Speaking of the Reds’ jumbled staff, apparently Mark Sheldon mentioned in the 2nd inning radio booth interview that Rookie Davis won’t be able to come off the DL in time to make a weekend start against the Chicago Cubs. That throws yet another wrench into the plans, which now include Tim Adleman being penciled in to start Friday’s series opener. Considering Cody Reed’s appearance in tonight’s game, that just might suggest it’ll be Robert Stephenson on Saturday...
• ...unless, for some reason, Lisalverto Bonilla makes it to the end of the week without being used in long relief, since he was called up earlier today to replace Sal Romano on the active roster. He’s been both a reliever and starter throughout his professional career, but has only been used as a starter so far this season with AAA Louisville.
• Bronson Arroyo is 40 years old and just got his first win in almost 3 years. Hot damn.
• Tunes.