The Reds lost.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Raise your hand if you’d ever heard of Dylan Floro prior to his call-up last week.

Now that I’ve seen zero hands, it’s worth a gradually building slow-clap for Floro, as he bailed out the Cincinnati Reds after another abbreviated start by Brandon Finnegan, and did so by firing 3 innings of scoreless relief, in which he fanned 2, allowed 3 hits, and walked just a lone St. Louis Cardinal.

Welcome to The Rebuild: Phase II or VIIX or MMLXXV.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Alex Blandino, who singled twice (and drove in a run); Jesse Winker, who singled twice; and Kevin Quackenbush, who fired a scoreless inning of relief.

Key Plays

• Two dinks and a walk loaded the bases for the Cardinals against Brandon Finnegan in the Bottom of the 1st, and Yadier Molina drove in a pair of them on a ground rule double that bounced over the wall in right-center. Jedd Gyorko then followed with a sac-fly to deep LF, and the Reds trailed immediately, 3-0.
• A 1-out walk to Tommy Pham haunted - as you might expect - as Jose Martinez backed that with a double in the Bottom of the 2nd to put the Reds in a 4-0 deficit.
• This all sucks so freaking hard. Wait, this is ‘Key Plays...’
• Yep, still sucks.
• The Reds got a run in the Top of the 3rd, as back to back singles from Hamilton and Winker left runners on the corners, and Billy came home on a Jose Peraza sac-fly. Reds trailed, 4-1.
• Cincinnati tried mounting a rally in the Top of the 9th, but a 4-6-3 hit into by Tucker Barnhart largely thwarted that. Still, Scooter Gennett ended up on 3B after the DP, and he scored on Blandino’s RBI single into LF. That, though wrapped the scoring, and the Reds fell yet again, 4-2.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Brandon Finnegan pitched. As in, he threw pitches, and did so as the first Cincinnati pitcher of the game. Ergo, he is a ‘starting pitcher.’ His final line: 3 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 2 K on 76 pitches, which just screams send him to AAA to actually get ready and healthy enough to be a big league starter.
• Prior to the start of this one, Scott Schebler was activated off the 10-day DL, and Cody Reed was optioned to AAA Louisville, as the Reds announced.
• Homer Bailey and Carlos Martinez will face off on Saturday in a match-up of de facto aces - at least by 2018 standards. It’s a matinee, with first pitch set for 2:15 PM ET.
• Lord it’s the same ol’ tune - fiddle and guitar. Where do we take it from here?