Reds Comeback Leads to Wild 7-6 Win Over Rockies

It looked like an ugly game for the Reds. Pitching, defense, offense — it was hard to find reasons for encouragement. But the bats came to life in the eighth and the bullpen kept it close enough for the Reds to get a wild 7-6 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday. With this important win, the Reds split the series against the Rockies and get back to .500 with a record of 19-19.

Offense

After an uneventful first inning, Eugénio Suárez got things going in the second with a lead-off double that hit off the wall in right center field. After a Tyler Stephenson groundout advanced Suárez to third, Shogo Akiyama brought him home with an infield single that had an xBA of .080, giving the Reds a 1-0 lead. Kyle Farmer would fly out before Akiyama was caught trying to steal second, ending the inning.

In the fourth, the Reds’ offense looked to threaten Rockies starter Antonio Senzatela as Nick Castellanos drew a lead-off walk. After a Tyler Naquin strikeout, Suárez reached on a hit by pitch. With runners on first and second, however, Stephenson hit into the Reds’ second double play of the game.

In the fifth inning, now down 5-1, the Reds’ offense looked to put a dent in the deficit as Akiyama hit a lead-off single into left. Akiyama would then advance to second on a wild pitch before Farmer and Jonathan India hit back-to-back groundouts. Pinch hitter Alex Blandino was then hit by a pitch, but Nick Senzel flied out to end the inning for the offense.

Senzatela had a great day for the Rockies, and didn’t allow a Reds baserunner in the next two innings, giving way to a shaky Rockies bullpen in the top of the eighth. This seemed to be just what the Reds’ offense needed, as India drew a lead-off walk before Tucker Barnhart, who had taken over at first base, hit a single into center field. With runners on first and second, Senzel hit a line drive into right field (xBA .690), but Daza made an excellent defensive play for the out. Castellanos would walk to load the bases, setting up Naquin with a chance to bring the Reds back in the game. Castellanos has been walking a lot recently as he leads the team in BB% since the beginning of May with 11.1%.

Naquin delivered, as he scorched a groundball through the infield (112 mph) into center field, scoring India and Branhart, and advancing Castellanos to third. Next, Suárez hit a sac fly that would bring home Castellanos and reduce the defecit to 6-4. After Stephenson hit a groundball single into right field, Akiyama continued his great day at the plate ripping his third single into center field, scoring Naquin from second.

First 3-hit game for Shogo Akiyama in his MLB career❗️ pic.twitter.com/WLoFziOQ9g

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 16, 2021

Pinch hitting with a chance to give the Reds the lead in the eighth was Jesse Winker, who flied out to end the inning.

In the top of the ninth, facing Rockies’ closer Mychal Givens, India reached first on another hit by pitch. Barnhart almost grounded into a double play, but Givens couldn’t hold onto the throw at first base before Senzel hit a single into center field. With runners at first and second, Castellanos flied out to right, but it was deep enough to allow both Barnhart and Senzel to advance. With runners on second and third, Naquin drew a walk to load the bases for Suárez. With the game on the line, a passed ball from Nuñez allowed Barnhart to score from third before Suárez drew a walk to once again load the bases. In an incredible finish, a wild pitch from newly entered Jordan Sheffield would allow Senzel to score, giving the Reds a 7-6 lead. Stephenson struck out to end the inning.

Pitching

Making his eighth start for the Reds was right-hander Jeff Hoffman. Facing his former team, Hoffman was looking to get back to his early season success. In his last two starts, Hoffman had gone only 6.1 innings and allowed seven earned runs.

Hoffman, however, found himself in trouble almost immediately. After allowing Raimel Tapia to reach on a four-pitch walk, he gave up a single to Connor Joe. With runners on first and second, though, Hoffman struck out Trevor Story on a beautiful slider. Next, Hoffman was able to induce a groundball to second, which should have been an inning-ending double play, but the throw to first from Suárez was late giving the Rockies runners at the corners with two outs, but Garrett Hampson would fly out to end the inning. So, despite laboring a little, Hoffman was able to get out of the inning unscathed.

The next two innings looked really good from Hoffman as he allowed only a single to Josh Fuentes in the second, and struck out two batters.

In the fourth, though, things looked grim after a lead-off double from Ryan McMahon and a walk from Hampson gave the Rockies runners on first and second with nobody out. Next, Fuentes was able to get in front of an inside fastball and ripped it into left field for a two-run double.

After a strikeout of Yonathan Daza on another great Hoffman slider, Dom Nuñez worked a walk before a bunt from Senzatela was airmailed toward first by Hoffman leading another run to score and advancing Nuñez to third. Tapia then hit a sac fly to center that scored Nuñez. Colorado wasn’t done, though, as Joe hit a line drive towards center that Naquin misplayed, letting it bounce off his glove, scoring the Rockies’ fifth run of the inning. With Hoffman’s 34th pitch of the inning, he was able to strike out Story, but the Rockies now led 5-1.

That would be all for Hoffman who went four innings, giving up five hits, five runs, two of them earned, and three walks while striking out five batters. It is tough to point to one thing that went wrong for Hoffman today as his avg EV was a respectable 83.1 mph and his fastball velo (+0.7 mph) and breaking ball spin (+125 rpm) were both above his average on the year.

Below are the hits given up by Hoffman. The two sliders being singles and the three 4-seamers being doubles.

Taking over for Hoffman was right hander Ryan Hendrix. Hendrix looked like he was going to cruise to a one-two-three inning as he quickly got McMahon and Hampson to line out. Fuentes would rip a fastball through the infield into center field before Daza hit a ball into left field, that dropped in front of Akiyama. Some aggressive baserunning by Daza and Fuentes, caused Akiyama to go to second where India let the ball  bounce away from him, allowing Fuentes to score, extending the Rockies’ lead to 6-1. Some ugly defensive play from the Reds’ fielders. Senzatela would fly out to end the inning. Hendrix threw his 4-seamer, which reached 97.3 mph and his slider.

Amir Garrett took over on the mound in the sixth inning, and looked very impressive, striking out Tapia on three sliders. Joe would ground out to second and Garrett would get his second K of the inning, striking out Story. Garrett threw his slider and his 4-seam fastball, with his slider being especially effective. On ten sliders, Garrett got four whiffs and three called strikes.

Entering the game in the bottom of the second was right-hander Art Warren. Appearing in his second inning of work in the series, it would be a good one for Warren who got McMahon and Hampson to pop out before striking out Fuentes on a great slider to end the inning. Warren threw his slider and his 4-seam fastball.

Sean Doolittle was tasked with keeping the score close in the bottom of the eighth. After giving up a lead-off single to Daza, the left-hander struck out Nuñez with his first curveball strikeout of the year. Doolittle then made quick work of pinch hitter Charlie Blackmon, striking him out on three fastballs. After this, Tapia would line out (xBA .810) to Suárez playing shortstop. Doolittle threw his 4-seam fastball and an occasional curveball.

Tejay Antone who hadn’t given up a hit in his last 5.1 innings, was asked to close the door in the bottom of the ninth inning. The Rockies would not go down quietly, however, as Joe hit a lead-off double into left field. Story would pop out before McMahon hit a single into center field that would probably have tied the game, but Joe got a bad read on it, forcing him to hold at third, and in a crazy turn of events Hampson would ground into a beautiful game-ending 4-6-3 double play.

4 + 6 + 3 = W pic.twitter.com/f9opyBLnZ3

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 16, 2021

On the day, Antone threw his slider, curveball and sinker. He wasn’t his usual dominant self, as he allowed four balls to be put in play, all on his slider, but he got the job done today.

Stats

Hardest-Hit Balls

• Tyler Naquin: 112.6 mph | Single in 8th Inning
• Eugénio Suárez: 106.0 mph | Double in 2nd Inning
• Jonathan India: 101,7 mph | Groundout in 3rd Inning

Unluckiest Out of the Day

• Nick Senzel: .640 xBA | Lineout in 8th Inning

Highest Velocities By Pitcher

• Jeff Hoffman: 96.4 mph
• Ryan Hendrix: 97.3 mph
• Amir Garrett: 92.9 mph
• Art Warren: 96.7 mph
• Sean Doolittle: 94.2 mph
• Tejay Antone: 98.4 mph

Highest Pitch Spins

• Tejay Antone: 3150 rpm | Curveball

Most Pitch Movement

• Jeff Hoffman: 56 Inches of Vertical Break | Curveball
• Tejay Antone: 17 Inches of Horizontal Break | Curveball

Team Expected Batting Averages

• Reds | .272
• Rockies | .274

What’s Next?

The Reds return home to Great American Ballpark tomorrow, where they start a four-game series against the San Francisco Giants. On the mound for the Reds will be Sonny Gray and for the Giants, it will be right-hander Logan Webb. First pitch will be at 6:40 EDT.

[Featured Image: https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1120126337673515010/photo/1]