Tyler Mahle holds Pirates in check, Reds win 3-2 to sweep series

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Tyler Mahle was at his best for the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday in their series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He got bit by Ke’Bryan Hayes and Bryan Reynolds once each, though there’s absolutely zero shame in that given the talent possessed by both. Beyond that, though, he bowled right over the Pittsburgh lineup like a 16 lb ball.

He scattered just 4 hits outside Hayes’ homer and Reynolds’ double, failed to issue a single walk, and fanned 10 Pirates in his 7.0 IP of work, looking as effective on his 110th and final pitch of the day as he did on his initial offering. When his location matches his stuff like it did today, he’s an incredibly potent member of what’s got the chance to be a starting rotation that makes serious waves down the stretch this season.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Jesse Winker, who singled, doubled, walked, and scored; Shogo Akiyama, who walked twice; Joey Votto, who swatted a 109 mph piss-missile of a single that was nearly another dinger (and drove in a run anyways); Michael Lorenzen, who fired a scoreless 8th; and Mychal Givens, who locked it up in the 9th.

Key Plays

• Bryan Reynolds swatted a double off Mahle in the Top of the 4th, and he later scored on what was ruled an RBI-single despite it pretty clearly being an error by Eugenio Suarez, who cut left in front of Kyle Farmer at SS and booted a broken-bat grounder. Reds trailed, 1-0.
• Winker flipped a double down the LF line to open the Bottom of the 4th, and he only managed to make it to 3B when the liner off the bat of Nick Castellanos fell in for a hit under Reynolds’ sliding glove in CF. Votto then hit a ball so damn hard off the CF wall that only Winker managed to score, but the game was then tied, at least. Castellanos then scored on a Tyler Stephenson groundout to 2B that was basically a botched 4-6-3 double play attempt, and that proved fruitful when Farmer plated him with a ribbie double. Reds led, 3-1.
• Ke’Bryan Hayes launched a loud, loud dinger over the wall in left-center in the Top of the 6th, a solo shot off Mahle that made it a tighter 3-2 affair, though this time - THIS TIME - the Cincinnati bullpen made that hold up for the win, the sweep, and the beer I just cracked in celebration.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Luis Castillo will start for the Cincinnati Reds tomorrow in a makeup game at The Jake in Cleveland, a one-off on the banks of the Great Lakes before the Reds head south to Atlanta. Hey, now that I think about it, the Cleveland Guardians didn’t even exist when this original game was scheduled. Anyway, first pitch Monday is set for an early 6:10 PM ET, so plan accordingly, even though Cleveland hasn’t yet settled on a starting pitcher.
• That was perhaps the single most rambling Other Note in my history of scripting them, and for that I apologize.
• Tunes.