The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game
Tyler Mahle was largely brilliant again in his start, something he’s made a habit of doing so far in 2019. It’s simply too bad that once again his offense let him down...considering they just got no-hit by Oakland Athletics starter Mike Fiers.
(Fiers, for the record, entered play on Tuesday with a 6.81 ERA through his first 8 starts of the year, but I digress.)
Mahle fanned 8 against a lone walk in his 6 IP outing, surrendering 3 hits and just a lone ER, one that maybe sorta shouldn’t have been a run at all had the defense pulled its full weight. Or the offense. Man, how is this team 15-21?
Whatever. Congrats to Oakland and Mike Fiers, who has entered the realm of ‘random pitchers with very low career WAR totals who have multiple no-hitters to their name’ alongside Homer Bailey.
Key Plays
- The Top of the 2nd saw Stephen Piscotty roll around the bases and score on a Jurickson Profar double into the RF corner, despite the fact that the throw from Yasiel Puig to catcher Tucker Barnhart seemed to have reached the catcher’s glove in plenty of time before the tag was missed. That left the Reds behind, 1-0.
- Profar smoked a 2-out laser off Robert Stephenson in the Bottom of the 7th, too, though this one was elevated enough to clear the wall for a solo dinger. Reds trailed, 2-0, and when a team fails to get even a single hit, that’s a recipe for a loss.
Tony Graphanino
Source: FanGraphs
Other Notes
- Joey Votto had a would-be dinger robbed by Ramon Laureano in this one, because of course.
- The start of this game was already set to be a late one for the Eastern Time Reds, but then a delay of over 90+ minutes due to lighting issues meant this was always destined to be a super late evening for Cincinnati. Not that it showed, or anything...
- At least it wasn’t another 1-run loss?
- Wednesday’s game will feature the return of former Oakland ace Sonny Gray to his old stomping grounds, as he’ll get the start for the Reds against the A’s opposite lefty Brett Anderson. First pitch is again scheduled for 10:07 PM ET, though who knows what the bees and the lights and the sewer system will dictate between now and then.
- Even-managed-at-least-one-hit-tunes.