Amir Garrett roughed up again, Cleveland downs Reds 8-7

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Eugenio Suarez was having a casual off-day on Tuesday prior to being asked to pinch hit in the Bottom of the 7th. It just so happened that the Cincinnati Reds trailed the Cleveland Indians by 3 runs at the time, and Suarez stepped to the plate with a pair of runners on.

One meatball later, Suarez had tied the game, his 10th dinger of the season having just cleared the wall in RF to bring the score level. It ultimately wasn’t quite enough to get the W, but was an impactful AB nonetheless.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Joey Votto, who singled, doubled, scored twice, and walked twice; Austin Brice, who fired a pair of clean innings in relief; Billy Hamilton, who singled, drove in a run, and walked; Adam Duvall, who singled, doubled and drove in a pair of runs; Scooter Gennett, who doubled, scored a run, and walked;

Key Plays

• Francisco Lindor is a really, really, really good baseballer. He baseballed a Garrett meatball well into the LF seats for a solo homer in the Top of the 1st, and the Reds trailed early, 1-0.
• The Reds struck back immediately off Carlos Carrasco, however, getting back to back doubles from Votto and Duvall, the latter of which drew the score level at 1-1.
• Carrasco walked Scooter Gennett to begin the Bottom of the 2nd, and Scooter then moved up to 2B when Carrasco grazed Peraza with a pitch. That brought up Garrett, who helped himself with a butcher-boy double into the RF corner that brought in Gennett. Billy Hamilton then lifted a soft single into CF that brought in Peraza and left runners on the corners, but the rally was then thwarted by Hamilton getting caught stealing 2B and Zack Cozart popping out. Reds led, 3-1.
• Cleveland put a hurtin’ on Garrett in the Top of the 3rd, however. Lindor walked to begin the trouble, and he scored on a double into the RF corner by Michael Brantley. Brantley then scored on a single into LF by Carlos Santana, and Santana then sauntered home on Edwin Encarnacion’s mammoth 2-run homer into the 2nd deck in LF. The damage wasn’t yet finished, however, as Yan Gomes followed E5’s homer with a solo shot to CF. Reds trailed, 6-3.
• Encarnacion, in case you forgot, has always been a big fan of hitting in GABP, and he showed that again in the Top of the 5th with another homer into LF, this time a solo shot. Reds trailed, 7-3.
• Hamilton’s walk led off the Bottom of the 7th, and Carrasco’s evening was done a batter later after Cozart struck out. That brought in lefty Boone Logan to face Votto, who singled up the middle, before the LOOGY was pulled in favor of Bryan Shaw, who promptly allowed a single to Duvall that scored Hamilton. That brought Suarez to the plate, who worked the count full before smoking a 3-run dinger over the RF wall to tie the game 7-7.
• Drew Storen took over for the Top of the 8th, and that went crappily. He walked Bradley Zimmer to begin the inning, and while Zimmer was eventually out at 3B after oversliding the bag, Encarnacion - who reached on an error by Gennett at 3B - scored on a Storen wild pitch, which just kicked in the guts of the comeback. Reds trailed, 8-7.
• The Reds nearly tied the game in the Bottom of the 8th against Andrew Miller, but Jose Peraza was nailed at the plate for the final out of the inning while trying to score on a shallow single into RF by Cozart. Unfortunately, that was the last chance the Reds had at the plate, as they left a pair of runners stranded in the Bottom of the 9th, too, losing 8-7.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Garrett’s final line was, shall we say, not so good. 5 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K, 4 dingers allowed on 99 pitches. His season ERA is now in Bob Steve slash Cody Reed slash Rookie Davis territory, in case you’re still keeping track of the other young arms that have struggled this year.
• The Ohio Cup will continue on Wednesday, this time in Cleveland. First pitch is scheduled for an earlier-than-usual 6:10 PM ET, so plan accordingly. Trevor Bauer will toe the rubber for the home squad, whereas Lisalverto Bonilla will start for the third time with the Reds.
• Tunes.