Cincinnati bats go quiet, Reds lose to Twins 3-1

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Scott Schebler hasn’t really missed a beat since returning from the 10-day DL, picking up his hot bat right where he’d left it prior to being hit on the elbow with a pitch in early April.

On Saturday, the Cincinnati Reds DH (for the day) clubbed a homer to put the lone run on the board for the day, and he added a walk for good measure. Given that he was dumbly predicted by Red Reporter dot com to be the breakout star of the Reds in the 2018 season, we’ll gladly accept any and all high-fives while Schebs is going good - and right now, he’s going reeeeal good.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Devin Mesoraco, who went 2 for 3 with a double and a walk; Dylan Floro, who fired 2.0 scoreless innings, scattering a pair of hits with no walks and 3 Ks; Austin Brice, who tossed 1.1 scoreless innings himself; and Adam Duvall, who doubled and walked.

Key Plays

• Jake Odorizzi flipped a near eephus-like breaking ball to Schebler in the Top of the 2nd, and the burly lefty waited patiently before clubbing in into the seats in right-center for a solo dinger. Reds led, 1-0.
• The Twins punched back against Sal Romano in the Bottom of the 4th, and did so with some help from the Reds defense. Eddie Rosario led off with a single, and he came around to score on Eduardo Escobar’s RBI double down the RF line. Escobar moved up to 3B when Jesse Winker bobbled the ball in RF, and that put him in position to later score on Robbie Grossman’s sac fly. Reds trailed, 2-1.
• Mitch Garver is the name of a real, live baseball player. Mitch Garver Mitch Garver’d a solo homer into the LF seats to lead off the Bottom of the 5th, and the Reds found themselves down 3-1.
• Fin. That was is. Reds lost, 3-1.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Sal Romano was decent enough on the day, but was far from his best. His final line: 4.2 IP, 6 H, 3 R (2 ER), 2 BB, K on 89 pitches.
• Tyler Mahle will look to take another no-hitter into a 7th inning when he takes the mound in the series finale on Sunday. He’ll be opposed by Minnesota starter Jose Berrios, the budding ace of this Twins staff. First pitch is again scheduled for 2:10 PM ET.
• Tunes.