Mike Minor allows 5 runs in season debut, Reds fall 8-5 to Nationals

Mike Minor has been on the IL since Spring Training and, after a setback, he finally made his Reds’ debut tonight against the Washington Nationals. Unfortunately for the Reds, that did not go as well as we all hoped. He allowed 5 runs on 6 hits in 4 innings of work with no walks and 4 strikeouts.

The Reds, as they did yesterday, got on the board in the bottom of the first inning on a 2-run home run by Tommy Pham that went in and out of the glove of Nationals’ center fielder Anthony Robles. That lead didn’t last long, because a slew of base hits and home runs saw the Nationals up 5-2 by the end of the 3rd inning. The Nats weren’t done as it didn’t take long for them to increase that lead to 8-2, thanks to the performance of Lane Thomas who hit 3 dingers on the night.

The Reds did make it a little more respectable, as Joey Votto followed up singles by Nick Senzel and Brandon Drury with a 3-run dinger to left to cut the lead to 3 runs. Unfortunately that’s all the Reds could muster and would end up falling 8-5.

Tony Graphanino (Link)

Notes

• The Nationals used quite a few former Reds to defeat their old team tonight. Josiah Gray, who was drafted by the Reds in 2018 in the trade for Yasiel Puig, threw 6 solid innings in his start while Tanner Rainey pitched in relief.
• Joey Votto is .286/.412/.738 since coming back off the Covid IL.
• The Reds try and retake the series lead tomorrow as they send Tyler Mahle (2-5, 5.53) back to the hill. He’s coming off his best start of the season where he flirted with a no-hitter.
• Tunes.