Tyler Mahle strikes out 12, Michael Lorenzen hits grand slam as Reds trounce Brewers

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Tyler Mahle allowed an Eric Thames dinger, but who on this roster doesn’t? Said dinger aside, the Cincinnati Reds rookie was once again rather tremendous on Saturday. The rookie righty struck out a full dozen Milwaukee Brewers in his 5.2 IP, with only some early high pitch-counts and late defensive failures behind him helping to foil his day.

His final line - 5.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R (1 ER), 3 BB (1 IBB), 12 K on 113 pitches - certainly shows how largely un-hittable he was on the day (non-Thames-in-GABP edition), and he lowered his season ERA to a tidy 3.83 in the process.

Of course, this here section is going to be two-headed tonight, as Michael Lorenzen’s continued tear as a - /checks notes - hitter continued, as he blasted yet another grand slam, this time on a towering fly ball down the LF line that broke the game open for good. Two way players seem to be all the rage these days after Shohei Ohtani’s brilliant start and the fanfare around both Brendan McKay and Hunter Greene a year ago, but perhaps the Reds have had a talent capable of excelling in such a role on their roster already for years and are just now reaping the rewards.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Scooter Gennett, who had a 3-hit day against his former club, including a double, walk, 3 runs scored, and a ribbie; Adam Duvall, who singled twice, walked, drove in a trio, and scored twice; Eugenio Suarez, who had a 2-hit day and was walked intentionally; Jesse Winker, who singled in a run and also walked; and David Hernandez, who tossed another scoreless inning of relief (with a walk and 2 Ks).

Key Plays

• Grass is green. Your sneakers smell like ass on humid summer days. That big yellow ball in the sky is hotter than all hell. Eric Thames hits homers against the Cincinnati Reds. These are the things of which we are certain. The Reds trailed 1-0 after Thames’ first at-bat of the day.
• The Reds finally got around to doin’ things in the Bottom of the 5th, and it came with some serious help from the Brewers. Jhoulys Chacin walked both Adam Duvall and Curt Casali to begin the inning, and they were both safe along with Mahle when the Cincinnati pitcher dropped down a bunt as 1B Jesus Aguilar charged, for some reason, leaving nobody to cover at 1B. Schebler then smacked a sac-fly into CF to score Duvall, but that was unfortunately all the scoring they’d do at that time. Game tied, 1-1.
• Cincinnati immediately gave that run back, however. Suarez double-clutched a would-be routine groundout by Hernan Perez to open the Top of the 6th, and that allowed him to beat the throw. Perez then scored when Jonathan Villar laced an opposite-field double to the corner in LF, with Villar taking 3B on the throw home. That proved large when Villar was later able to come home on a groundout to 2B, and the Reds trailed, 3-1.
• The Reds loaded the bases again with nobody out in the Bottom of the 6th, after singles by Scooter and Suarez were followed by a Jesse Winker walk. That prompted Jim Riggleman to turn to Tucker Barnhart to pinch-hit for fellow catcher Casali, and that paid off when Tucker dumped an RBI single into RF. Unfortunately, that’s all they got this time, too, and they still trailed, 3-2.
• Lefty Mike Zagurski took over for Taylor Williams after Jose Peraza begin the Bottom of the 7th with a single, and after he threw approximately five pitches over the course of 20 minutes - with umpteen throws to 1B - he walked Joey Votto. Scooter then greeted him with some lefty-on-lefty thumping with an RBI double to the LF wall, and after Suarez was walked intentionally, Winker poked a single into LF to give the Reds a 1-run lead. Of course, things were far from over for the Reddos, as Duvall added a 2-run single, Tucker singled to re-load things, and Lorenzen then stepped in with his pinch-hit thunderfork of a grand slam, and the Reds held a commanding 10-3 lead.
• Milwaukee catcher Erik Kratz took the mound and pitched the Bottom of the 8th inning, and the Reds smacked a few singles off of him sandwiched around a walk, scoring another pair of runs to wrap the damage. Reds won, 12-3.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Prior to the game, the Reds traded minor league catcher Joe Hudson to the Los Angeles Angels for some cold, hard cash. Best of luck to Joe, who was selected in the 6th round of the 2012 MLB Draft by the Reds.
• Cincinnati pitchers struck out an impressive 18 Beers on the day, which set a team record for a 9-inning game. I haven’t seen that many beers go down that quickly in GABP since the last Red Reporter meet-up.
• Matt Harvey will take on the Brewers in Sunday’s series finale, and he’ll be opposed by impressive rookie starter Freddy Peralta from Milwaukee. First pitch is set for the usual Sunday start time of 1:10 PM ET.
• Tunes.