Michael Lorenzen homers, Jesse Winker has big day in Reds’ 16-13 loss to Brewers

The score and how it fluctuated would’ve made this a game to remember had it happened in the regular season, as the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers put up runs in bunches in back and forth fashion.

The Reds jumped out to as much as a 6-0 lead before Milwaukee ultimately stormed back against Cincinnati pitching. Michael Lorenzen got the start for the Reds and had far from his best outing of Cactus League play, ultimately allowing 2 ER in his 3.0 IP by yielding 3 hits and a less-than-stellar 4 walks (against a lone K). He did homer, however, which might’ve been the aspect of him being a starting pitcher that was the most appealing about his afternoon.

On the whole, it was a rather drab day for the Cincinnati pitchers, as the issued 8 walks against just 5 Ks, allowed 16 hits, 16 runs (14 earned), and blew what should’ve been a solid lead in a 16-13 come-from-ahead loss. So it goes, sometimes.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Jesse Winker went 3 for 4 with a double, a run scored, and 4 ribbies, and is now hitting an impressive .406 this spring. Y’know who also hit .406 as a sweet-swinging lefty in his early 20s?

Ted Williams. That’s right, Ted Williams. There is absolutely nothing not in-common with Ted Williams about Jesse Winker, who is truly the next Ted Williams, and for that he gets today’s JNMHSotG. Interestingly enough, despite Ted Williams’ career spanning from 1939-1960 and Joe Nuxhall playing from 1944-1966, the latter never once pitched to the former. Pre-interleague play, and whatnot.

This section has gone completely off the rails, and for that I apologize.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Lorenzen, who homered; Adam Duvall, who went 2 for 3 2ith a walk, 2 runs scored, and a ribbie; Brandon Dixon, who also went 2 for 3 with a walk; and Jose Peraza, who went 2 for 4 and is somehow actually hitting .286 this spring.

Key Plays

• The Reds did some 2-out damage off Wade Miley in the Bottom of the 1st, eventually loading the bases in front of Winker, who responded with a 2-run double into RF to put Cincinnati ahead early, 2-0.
• Miley was tagged for 4 more runs in the Bottom of the 2nd, as singles by Tucker Barnhart, Billy Hamilton, and Phil Gosselin drove in an initial run, a Joey Votto sac fly plated another, and Duvall’s double plated Gosselin all the way from 1B. A single by Brandon Dixon then left runners on the corners, and Winker singled to bring in Duvall. Reds led, 6-0.
• Walks haunted Lorenzen in the Top of the 3rd. He issued free passes to Christian Yelich and Eric Thames to begin the inning, and then loaded the bases on a Domingo Santana. A Travis Shaw single got one run in, and another scored on a 5-4-3 double play. Reds led, 6-2.
• Lorenzen’s homer came in the Bottom of the 3rd, a solo blast over the wall in LF. Reds led, 7-2.
• After Lorenzen exited, Jackson Stephens took over on the mound, and the wheels pretty well fell off for everyone in the Top of the 6th after the Reds and Brewers traded runs in the 5th inning. Ji-Man Choi began the half-inning with a solo homer, and Stephens then allowed walk-single-double to drive in 2 more runs, with Eric Sogard doing the doubling. A productive grounder moved Sogard up to 3B, and after another walk, he later scored on a sac-fly by Domingo Santana that chased Stephens to the showers. Kyle Crockett took over, allowed a Shaw single, another run on a Barnhart passed ball, a walk, a double steal, and a 2-run single by Jesus Aguilar. Cripes. Reds trailed, 10-8.
• The Reds opened the Bottom of the 6th by going single-walk-walk, and Dixon made it four hitters in a row to reach with his RBI single, and the Reds then leveled on Winker’s RBI groundout. Game tied, 10-10.
• Gameday crapped completely out for 15 minutes. There was lots and lots of basketball on. The Reds said themselves that the score was 13-11 at one point and, well, we should probably take their word for it. So, the Reds probably trailed, 13-11.
• Ah. Gameday hath returned, just in time for me to find out it was Dylan Floro who was in charge of the most recent run-allowing. He came on for the Top of the 7th - that’s when Milwaukee got to 13 runs - and he allowed a 14th in the Top of the 8th on a Nick Franklin double that scored yet another Beer. Oh good lord, Milwaukee is scoring...scoring again...it’s the Top of the 9th and they’ve got 16 runs...make it stop...
• The Reds mounted a mini-rally in the Bottom of the 9th, getting to 13 runs after RBI hits from Phil Ervin and Alex Blandino, but that’s mercifully how this one closed. Reds lost, 16-13.

Other Notes

• The Enquirer’s John Fay has some quotes from Bryan Price regarding the starting rotation, and it’s worth a read. There are also details on the return to camp of Luis Castillo after the birth of his daughter, with Fay noting that he’s scheduled to pitch on Tuesday in a minor league game. That puts him on schedule to start the second game of the season.
• Dilson Herrera cleared waivers and was outrighted off the roster earlier this week, likely due to the shabby shape of his shoulder in other teams’ eyes. That said, he was apparently back to fielding on back fields today, as The Athletic’s C. Trent Rosecrans noticed. That’s a great development.
• Sal Romano pitched in that minor league game, and Rosecrans has an update on his final line, too.
• Cody Reed gets a chance to start on Friday for the Reds, his first such opportunity of Cactus League play this year. Cincinnati will be up against the San Francisco Giants in Goodyear, with first pitch set for 4:05 PM ET. There will be no TV feed, however.
• Tunes.