Amir Garrett strikes out twelve Baltimore Orioles, Reds still lose 2-0

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

It's Amir Garrett.  Again.  Who the heck else could it be?

Garrett sliced through the potent Baltimore Orioles lineup with ease on Wednesday, striking out 12 against a lone walk on an absurdly efficient 97 pitches. He became one of the very few Cincinnati Reds starters who could make it through 7 IP this season, and did so with ease.

Garrett's start to his MLB career has been one for the ages, as he's now allowed just 4 ER in 19.2 IP, with 21 Ks against just 3 BB in the process. Cincinnati's rebuild focused so much on bringing in numerous options to help rebuild a once great pitching staff, and while some of the other options have stumbled around him, Garrett sure looks the part of a future rotation cog that's worth building around going forward.

Congrats, Amir, and here's to keeping it rolling.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Wandy Peralta, whose perfect IP (with 3 Ks on just 10 pitches) leaves him the only Red worthy of including next to Garrett on the night.

Key Plays

• A leadoff single by Mark Trumbo in the Top of the 2nd led to the game's first run, as he eventually lumbered around to score after a double by Wellington Castillo and an RBI knock into CF by Jonathan Schoop. Reds trailed, 1-0.
• The Orioles added on in the Top of the 5th when Garrett was tasked with facing their lineup for the third time on the evening, eventually adding a run on a Manny Machado sac-fly after the bases were loaded. Garrett pitched his way out of further damage impressively, however, and the Reds trailed, 2-0.
• After those marked events, Ubaldo Jimenez - of all folks - led the shutdown of the Cincinnati offense. That's where things finished, unfortunately, and the Reds lost, 2-0.

Source: FanGraphs