Cardinals score more runs than Reds and therefore win the game, 9-2

Joe Nuxhall Honorary Memorial Star of the Game

This was a rough one top to bottom for the Reds, so we might as well give today’s trophy to the only pitcher to appear in this one for Cincinnati and not allow a run. That would be Deck McGuire, who also happens to be the only pitcher on the Reds staff to not allow a run this season. He tossed two innings of shutout baseball with just one baserunner allowed via a hit by pitch. He’s only thrown 4.2 innings over three appearances for Cincinnati since his call-up, but he has yet to allow a run in that time. Considering his minor league numbers this season (2.79 ERA in 168 IP for Pensacola), the 28-year-old’s success isn’t a giant shock, but on a night where he was the only Reds pitcher not to get shelled in at least one inning, it’ll earn him the trophy.

Honorable mentions go to Jesse Winker and Patrick Kivlehan, who drove in a run each, and Keury Mella, who made his big league debut on this final night of the summer season.

Key Plays

• Matt Carpenter put a damper on Rookie Davis’ first start since May 8th from the get-go, working a full count before turning on a lead-off home run to right field. Cardinals led 1-0.
• Davis got a break in the second inning, but St. Louis jumped all over him in the fourth. Davis allowed two doubles in the first three hitters of the inning before back-to-back homers by Dexter Fowler and Paul Dejong made the score 5-0.
• Keury Mella came into the game in the fourth inning to make his major league debut, and retired the side in order on just 10 pitches. He stayed in for the fifth inning, which didn’t go quite as smoothly, as a walk and a double put two in scoring position with one out. That haunted Mella later when Yadier Molina doubled to right field to score both of those runs, and the Cardinals were on the way to cracking this one wide open, 7-0.
• The Reds didn’t make any noise at the plate themselves until the fifth inning. Jose Peraza got the frame started with a lead-off single, and scored one batter later on an RBI double by Patrick Kivlehan. Kivlehan then came around to score on an RBI single by Jesse Winker, and the score was 7-2.
• St. Louis didn’t let up against Luke Farrell in the sixth. A double and two walks loaded the bases for Tommy Pham, who burned the Reds yet again with an RBI single to make it an 8-2 game.
• The Cardinals added one more in the ninth, and that was that. Reds lose 9-2.

Travis Graphner

Other Notes

• Billy Hamilton was activated from the DL today, a day after publicly expressing discontent with the Reds not activating him yet. He’s relegated to pinch run duties (and did not play this evening), but I’d expect some at-bats to come over the weekend.
• The Reds will take a fourth crack at a season series victory over the Cardinals on Thursday, with Homer Bailey toeing the rubber opposite Carlos Martinez. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. EST.
• Tunes.