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Another dismal defensive showing proved costly for the Reds on Monday in a 6-3 loss to the Giants. The Reds’ infield, playing out of their normal positions, made a couple of errors along with several misplays that cost outs or advanced baserunners that will not be as easy to spot in the box score tomorrow. Ultimately, the five-run hole was too much as the bats tried to mount another late-inning comeback.
Offense
The Reds hit Logan Webb early and often, but unfortunately, right at the Giants’ defense. In the first inning, Jesse Winker lined out to center field before Nick Senzel shot a 106 mph line drive up the middle with an xBA of .610. Second baseman Mauricio Dubon made a sliding backhanded play to get him at first.
Eugenio Suarez started the second with a single over the shortstop. After a strikeout, Tucker Barnhart hit a 101.8 mph line drive single to center. Jonathan India grounded a slow roller to Wilmer Flores that the third baseman fielded but lazily threw to first, pulling Darin Ruf off the bag. Sonny Gray struck out with the bases loaded before Winker grounded a slow roller to first to end the threat and the inning.
The hard hits continued in the third as Senzel logged another 100+ mph ground out. Nick Castellanos and Tyler Naquin followed with 108.5 mph and 109.9 mph singles, but a Suarez groundball produced a double play and ended the inning.
The Reds did not threaten again until the seventh inning when Tyler Stephenson pinch hit and walked. On a pitch in the dirt, Stephenson read the ball well and got a great jump to advance to second. Winker singled through the left side of the infield for his second hit of the game, ending the shutout.
As they did Sunday, the Reds chipped away again in the eighth, this time with back-to-back home runs by Naquin (106.5 mph 384 feet) and Suarez (108.3 mph 365 feet).
b a c k . t o . b a c k pic.twitter.com/qm1xHLkEoJ
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 18, 2021
Unlike on Sunday, the Reds were not able to complete the comeback. The submariner, Tyler Rogers, entered for the Giants in the ninth to close out the game. Stephenson started the inning, singling to center, but Winker grounded to Crawford for a double play. Senzel reached on a throwing error in the next at-bat, but Castellanos flew out to center to end the game.
Pitching
While Sonny Gray was not as sharp as Reds fans have seen this year, he received little help defensively as errors added baserunners and elevated his pitch count throughout his five innings of work. The first inning began with a five-pitch walk to Mike Tauchman. Buster Posey grounded the ball up the middle to Suarez, who flipped to India at second, but the throw to Kyle Farmer at first pulled him off the bag. While not a perfect throw, a first-baseman with more experience at the position likely has the footwork to stay on the bag for the second out.
Mike Yastrzemski then pulled a groundball with an xBA of .150 that went off Farmer’s glove at first and hit Posey’s foot for an infield single. Darin Ruf followed with a 67.4 mph dying line drive over a mistimed jump by India at second base. Brandon Crawford lined a ball up the middle with the bases now loaded that ricocheted off Gray’s glove right to India. India bobbled the ball and compounded the mistake by tossing the ball over Suarez’s head at second base. Senzel was able to grab the ball and gun down Yastrzemski at the plate for the second out. A Wilmer Flores fly out mercifully ended the inning after only allowing one run.
After a 1-2-3 second inning with three ground outs, Mike Tauchman led off the third with a single. Gray dialed in, recording two of his three strikeouts on the day, getting Posey and Ruf swinging.
The fourth inning saw Crawford reach again on an error after grounding a ball right to Suarez that he lost on the exchange. Flores followed with a low line drive that landed in the first row of the right-field bleachers (103.1 mph, 357 feet). Gray retired the next three, including a Mauricio Dubon strikeout on a chased slider out of the zone.
The top of the order returned in the fifth for the Giants for their third time through the order. Tauchman and Posey both grounded out before Gray left a 3-2 fastball off the inside over the plate. Yastrzemski belted a ball 430 feet to right-center field (105.7 mph), bringing the score to 4-0. After walking Ruf, Crawford lined out to end the inning and Gray’s night.
Carson Fulmer came on in the sixth, allowing a groundball single off the glove of a diving Suarez. A 4-6-3 double play off the Alex Dickerson groundball erased the runner before Dubon blasted a fastball over the middle of the plate for a home run to center field (104.8 mph 411 feet). Fulmer struck out Webb on four pitches to end the inning. Fulmer pitched a clean seventh inning to the top of the order striking out Yastrzemski.
Cionel Perez appeared in the eighth, walking Ruf to lead off the inning. After striking out Crawford, Flores ripped a double down the line. Winker came up and fired to second base late, but on his slide, Flores popped up while India was still applying the tag for the second out of the inning. After another walk to Austin Slater, Perez threw over, picking Slater off and inducing a run down. Farmer’s back was always to third base, and Ruf was able to score as he threw to second base. While not an error, it was another example of the infield being out of position and not having experience in situations such as a first and third rundown.
Newly acquired off waivers from Pittsburgh, Michael Feliz entered in the ninth. After walking Dubon to open the inning, Feliz mixed his fastball and slider to keep the Reds within striking distance. Steven Duggar grounded out to first before Tauchman struck out swinging on a fastball. After fooling Posey on sliders to begin the at-bat, Posey popped out to Senzel, still out in front.
Stats
Hardest-Hit Balls
- Tyler Naquin: 109.9 mph | Single in 3rd inning
- Nick Castellanos: 108.5 mph | Single in 3rd inning
- Eugenio Suarez: 108.3 mph | Home run in 8th inning
Unluckiest Out of the Day
- Nick Senzel: .610 xBA | Groundout in 1st inning
Highest Velocities By Pitcher
- Sonny Gray: 94.9 mph
- Carson Fulmer: 95.5 mph
- Cionel Perez: 97.8 mph
- Michael Feliz: 95.3 mph
Highest Pitch Spins
- Sonny Gray: 3,149 rpm | Curveball
Most Pitch Movement
- Sonny Gray: 20 inches horizontal movement | Sinker
- Sonny Gray: 63 inches vertical movement | Curveball
Team Expected Batting Averages (xBA)
- Giants: .237
- Reds: .327
What’s Next?
The Reds take on the Giants for game two tomorrow evening at Great American Ball Park. First pitch is at 6:40 p.m. EST as Luis Castillo and the Reds will welcome back Anthony DeSclafani.
Featured Image: Dustin Bradford/Icon Sportswire
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Horrible IF play, but nice to see Nick Senzel playing 3rd base. As noted by others, the Reds have 5 position players who are 3rd basemen: Senzel, Suarez, Moose, India, Castellanos. And I just looked it up and Farmer has played almost exactly the same number of games at 3rd base as 2nd base. So you could say 5 and one half. And it shows.
Ruf broke for home right away, when Farmer still had the ball. All Farmer had to do was throw home.
Farmer did not turn to freeze him at third or throw straight through to India. In that situation, India can run Slater back to first while seeing the whole field if Ruf decides to break home. A more experienced 1st baseman is much more comfortable in that situation and it probably plays out differently.