Cincinnati Reds trounced by Cleveland in 9-2 loss

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Wade Miley threw a no-hitter last night, which was certifiably awesome.

We should probably all still relish that moment for another day.

Key Plays

• Walks, as they are wont to do, will haunt. Luis Castillo walked Amed Rosario in the Bottom of the 1st, a guy who entered play today with a 4.5% career walk rate, and it burned. Rosario scored when Eddie Rosario doubled to the wall in LF, and the Reds were behind early, 1-0.
• Cleveland played add-on in the Bottom of the 2nd, and it once again was courtesy of Reds foibles. Josh Naylor and his 3.8% walk rate on season coaxed a leadoff, 5-pitch walk off Castillo, and that burned big after Tyler Naquin simply dropped a pop-fly in LF a batter later. That put Naylor in scoring position, and after a bunt and productive sac-fly, Cleveland had another run on the board. Reds trailed, 2-0.
• The Reds offense got it going a bit against Aaron Civale in the Top of the 3rd, however. A 1-out single into CF by Nick Senzel began things, and he moved to 3B on a subsequent double down the RF line by Winker. A walk to Nick Castellanos followed, and Senzel then scored on a sac-fly by Mike Moustakas. Reds trailed, 2-1.
• Struggling to miss bats has been a major issue for Castillo this year, surprisingly, and the Bottom of the 4th showcased a bit of why. He repeatedly missed his spots while leaving balls out over the plate, and a series of singles to Josh Naylor, Jake Bauers, and Austin Hedges then followed to plate another Cleveland run. Later, an error by Kyle Farmer at 2B on a would-be inning-ending double play left the bases instead loaded for Cesar Hernandez, who emptied the bags with a triple into the RF corner. Reds trailed, 6-1.
• If you click on the little ‘Source: FanGraphs’ link below the Tony Graphanino down there, it’ll show you just how this one wrapped up. Trust me, at this point you’ve read pretty much all you really need to know.
• Tyler Naquin socked a solo dinger in the Top of the 9th against his own club, and that’s plenty well worth mentioning. The Reds still lost hard, though, 9-2.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Luis Castillo certainly wasn’t helped by his defense in this one, but he sure didn’t do a ton to impress in his own right, either. He induced just three - three - swings and misses on his 84 pitches, allowing 6 runs (4 earned) in just 4.0 IP. He entered play with the 8th lowest strand rate among the 141 MLB pitchers who’d thrown at least 20 IP this year, and that somehow managed to get worse, too. Not good.
• Sunday’s series finale will feature Tyler Mahle on the bump for the Reds opposite Cleveland starter Sam Hentges, who’ll be making his first career big league start. He’s a 6’6” lefty, so it’ll be interesting to see which lefty bats ride the pine for the Reds to begin tomorrow. First pitch is set for 1:10 PM ET.
• Tunes.