Zack Cozart homers, Reds walk everyone and lose 13-4

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Zack Cozart hit his 20th homer of the season. Deck McGuire made his MLB debut and got a nifty double-play ball to get the Reds out of one of their many jams as part of his 1.2 scoreless innings pitched.

You should probably motor on down to Key Plays.

Key Plays

• Cozart and St Louis Cardinals starter Lance Lynn were teammates at Ole Miss, which is even more “huh” inducing when you realize Lynn grew up in the same Brownsburg, Indiana as both Drew Storen and Tucker Barnhart. Well, that small world got awkward in the Top of the 1st when Cozart clubbed a solo homer off Lynn well into the LF seats, and the Cincinnati Reds led, 1-0.
• Unfortunately, Yadier Molina still Yadiers around the St. Louis lineup, and he’s a large proponent of making sure that all walks will haunt. Matt Carpenter coaxed a leadoff walk to begin the Bottom of the 1st, and he was safe at 2B when Cozart botched the throw to 2B on an otherwise routine grounder off the bat of Tommy Pham. Jose Martinez was out on a deep fly to CF for the 2nd out of the inning, but it allowed both runners to move up a bag and bring Molina to the plate, and he responded with a double down the LF line to score them both (unearned, at that). Reds trailed, 2-1.
• The Cards tacked on another trio of 2-out runs in the Bottom of the 2nd, as Harrison Bader’s leadoff single and later walk of Carpenter (again) bit Bob when Tommy Pham tripled them both in with a bash to the wall in right-center. Paul DeJong then mashed a meatball off the LF wall for an RBI double, and the Reds trailed, 5-1.
• St. Louis scored again in the Bottom of the 3rd as Randal Grichuk’s sac-fly into CF brought in Molina, who had walked (drink) to begin the inning. That was a 6-1 Cards lead.
• Alejandro Chacin took over for the Bottom of the 4th, walked Carpenter, and...well, the Reds exited the inning down 8-1.
• The Reds finally inched back off Lynn in the Top of the 5th. Schebler doubled, Adam Duvall plated him with a single, and Kivlehan then scored Duvall with triple to the wall in right-center. A subsequent ball hit up the middle off Lynn by Jesse Winker brought Kivlehan in, and the Reds trailed just 8-4.
• DeJong took Rookie Davis deep in the Bottom of the 6th to put the Reds in a bigger bind, 9-4. Jose Martinez then singled and stole 2B, which put him in a perfect spot to score when Molina later singled into RF. Reds trailed, 10-4.
• Ariel Hernandez took over for the Bottom of the 7th, walked the leadoff hitter, and that guy then scored. If you’re not sensing a pattern, treat this as a Choose Your Own Adventure post and return to Key Play #2. If you’re sensing this as a pattern, stick around in this Key Play - the one where Hernandez walks 4 guys in the inning, including one with the bases loaded that brings in a run, and then allows another RBI single to leave the Reds down 9 runs. Fortunately, McGuire’s MLB debut got the 6-4-3 double play to get out of that jam, and the Reds were down...I dunno, they were down by a ton.
• Reds lost, 13-4.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Scooter Gennett reportedly exited the game with what’s been described as “left hand inflammation,” which doesn’t sound fun. I suppose it’s better than “spontaneous left hand combustion,” though.
• Joey Votto had 2 singles and it poured down rain for much of this game. That’s probably worth emphasizing for those of you that actually read this far.
• Wednesday’s contest between these two is another 8:15 PM ET game, so plan accordingly. Tyler Mahle will get another start for the Reds, and he’ll be opposed by Cardinals rookie Jack Flaherty.
• Tunes.