Seventh inning implosion sinks Reds in 9-5 loss to Cardinals

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Jesse Winker, like the rest of his teammates, struggled mightily to start the season. While his overall slash line of .162/.262/.405 doesn’t look great, he came into today’s game hitting .385/.500/1.077 with 3 home runs, 5 RBI, 3 walks, and only 1 strikeout. He continued that hot streak today by going 2 for 5 and adding a 3-run blast to tie the game in the 5th. Have a trophy, Wink.

Honorable mentions are due to: Yasiel Puig, for going 2 for 4 with a double and his first home run of the season; Eugenio Suarez, for going 1 for 3 with a double; Michael Lorenzen, for pitching 2 solid innings and going 1 for 1 with a RBI double; and Robert Stephenson, for striking out 2 in a scoreless inning and continuing his fantastic start to 2019.

Key Plays

• The Cardinals wasted no time getting to Anthony DeSclafani, as they put up a 4-spot in the top of the 1st. Matt Carpenter led off the game with a walk and then moved to 3rd on a double by Paul Goldschmidt. After Carpenter was thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice groundout by Paul DeJong, Marcell Ozuna would come up and crush a 3-run blast to right to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. After a groundout by Yadier Molina, Tyler O’Neill would absolutely demolish a ball to left for a solo dinger. Cardinals led, 4-0.
• Things were pretty quiet until the bottom of the 5th, where the Reds would even things up. Jose Peraza reached on a throwing error by Matt Carpenter and then moved to third on a single by Tucker Barnhart. Michael Lorenzen, who had come into the gave for DeSclafani in the top of the inning, would hit a line drive to left to score Peraza. He was able to advance to 2nd when Ozuna let it hit off his glove. It ultimately didn’t matter how far Lorenzen advanced on that play, because everyone would score when Jesse Winker deposited a ball into the left field bullpen to tie the game at 4-0.
• The top of the 7th was not kind to the Reds. Amir Garrett would relieve Lorenzen and throw only one pitch, which was taken into the left field bullpen by Matt Carpenter. Jared Hughes would come in and get 2 quick outs before allowing a bomb to Marcell Ozuna. That’s when the wheels fell off of Hughes. He would allow a single to Yadier Molina, a walk to Tyler O’Neill, and another single to Dexter Fowler to load the bases. Zach Duke would come in and then walk Kolten Wong to bring the lead to 7-4. That would bring up Jose Martinez, who lined a pitch up the middle to bring in 2 more runners. Mercifully, the inning would come to an end, but not before the Cardinals had built a 9-4 lead.
• The Reds cut into the lead in the bottom of the 8th, as Yasiel Puig would lead off with a solo homer to center field. After a strikeout by Eugenio Suarez, Matt Kemp would pinch-hit for Scott Schebler and line a single to center. A 4-pitch walk to Curt Casali would put runners on 1st and 2nd. That would chase Cardinals’ reliever Andrew Miller from the game and bring in Jordan Hicks, who would hit Derek Dietrich with a 2-strike pitch to load the bases. That HBP would force Dietrich out of the game, and since Kyle Farmer was announced as the pinch hitter, Tyler Mahle would have to run for him. Farmer would ground into a force out to second to end the inning. Cardinals led, 9-5.
• The Reds wouldn’t get anything going in the 9th and would end up falling to the Cardinals, 9-5.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• The home run by Matt Carpenter in the 7th inning was the first run he had allowed all season. All dingers aside, he’s had a stellar start to the year.
• The Cardinals batted around in two separate innings in this game. That, folks, is not a recipe for winning baseball games.
• The Reds continue their road trip with a trip to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers. Luis Castillo looks to continue his hot start to the season. He will be facing off against Clayton Kershaw, who of course will be making his first start of the year against the Reds. First pitch is scheduled for 10:10PM EDT.
• Tunes.