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Don’t look now, but the Reds are back on a winning streak.
Cincinnati took another win over the Brewers on Saturday evening, 4-1, to secure the series win and bump their record up to 7-8.
Anthony DeSclafani has picked up right where he left off in the second half of 2019. The right-hander followed up a strong first outing with an even better performance on Saturday night, holding the Brewers to only two hits and a walk in six scoreless innings. He struck out six Milwaukee hitters, generating 11 whiffs (30% whiff rate) in the process.
Through two starts, DeSclafani has only allowed five hits and a walk in 11 shutout innings. His revamped pitching mechanics are paying huge dividends as he heads into free agency this offseason.
With DeSclafani at 88 pitches and two lefties — Christian Yelich being one of them — due up, Amir Garrett took over in the seventh inning and mowed down the Brewers in order, including two strikeouts. Per usual, his slider was basically unhittable. On five swings against it, he got three whiffs and a weak 75-mph groundout.
In the eighth, Michael Lorenzen allowed back-to-back hits to put runners on the corners with no outs. While a run did score on a sacrifice fly, Lorenzen retired the next two hitters to keep the lead intact.
Raisel Iglesias locked down the Brewers’ best hitters in the ninth. He struck out Keston Hiura on a perfectly placed fastball on the outside corner and got Christian Yelich to ground out before striking out Logan Morrison on a beautifully place changeup. Iglesias’ changeup was masterful — he threw six of them and got whiffs on four.
For the second straight night, the Reds jumped all over the Brewers in the top of the first inning. Phillip Ervin led off with an infield single, Joey Votto reached on an error, and Eugenio Suarez blasted a three-run home run (110.1 mph, 427 feet) to get Cincinnati on the board against left-hander Brett Anderson.
David Bell again loaded his lineup with right-handed hitters against a southpaw, giving starting nods to Ervin, Matt Davidson (who laced a double in the first inning), Curt Casali, and Kyle Farmer. The Reds are 4-1 when facing left-handed starting pitchers this season.
The Reds had a few chances to add on in the following innings but couldn’t come through despite chasing Anderson from the game after only 3.2 innings. They had almost no answers for high-spinning reliever Corbin Burnes, who gave up just a hit and three walks in 5.1 innings.
The only hit against Burnes was a big one, however, as pinch-hitter Shogo Akiyama followed a Kyle Farmer walk with an RBI triple in the seventh inning to give the Reds an insurance run.
Akiyama also drew a walk in the game, reaching base twice for the first time since August 2.
Most Valuable Players
- Anthony DeSclafani: .315 WPA (Win Probability Added)
- Eugenio Suarez: .117 WPA
- Shogo Akiyama: .061 WPA
Play of the Game
- Eugenio Suarez: .181 WPA | Three-run home run in 1st inning
Hardest-Hit Balls
- Eugenio Suarez: 110.1 mph | Home run in 1st inning
- Matt Davidson: 106.5 mph | Groundout in 5th inning
- Freddy Galvis: 101.2 mph | Single in 4th inning
Highest Velocities By Pitcher
- Raisel Iglesias: 97.5 mph
- Michael Lorenzen: 97.2 mph
- Anthony DeSclafani: 96.5 mph
- Amir Garrett: 95.2 mph
Luckiest Hit of the Day
- Phillip Ervin: 16% hit probability | Infield single in 1st inning
Unluckiest Out of the Day
- Curt Casali: 53% hit probability | Lineout in 1st inning
What’s Next?
The Reds will go for the series sweep of the Brewers on Sunday at 2:10 p.m. EST in a battle of aces.
[Photo Credit: Erik Drost]
Desclafani has really taken his pitching to a new level, and he seemed in total control on every batter, every pitch. If he continues, he is going to make a mint in FA. Fun to watch this kind of developing excellence!