Pirates walk off to win 3-2 over Reds

---

The Reds lose 3-2 to the Pirates off a Raisel Iglesias blown save.

Tejay Antone made his 3rd start (8th appearance) of the season pitching 5 innings allowing only 1 earned run. Antone has not pitched since August 29th but did not miss a beat. The rookie Antone continued to dazzle hitters striking out 6 batters allowing only 5 hits. 

Coming into the game Antone ranks among the best in nearly every category (92nd percentile in K%, 94th percentile in avg Exit Velocity, 97th percentile in xwOBA). Most notably Antone is a near league leader with his spin rate for both his fastball and curveball (95th percentile in curve spin, 98th percentile in fastball spin). Read into my previous post about Antone’s elite spin rate here. Antone is also in the 94th percentile with his whiff % relying heavily on his slider at a 52.5 whiff % and a 44.8 put away %. Antone was making batters miss badly with his slider and curveball keeping batters off-balance each at-bat. 

Tejay Antone, Filthy Breaking Balls. 😷 pic.twitter.com/m97BcSrdrX

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) September 6, 2020

Antone made his longest start of the season at 5.0 innings and pitched brilliantly. Antone has proven himself to be a necessity in the Reds bullpen and is making an argument for a role in the starting rotation. He certainly has been an unexpected bright spot for the Reds in 2020.

With the Reds having the off-day tomorrow, David Bell went to his best arms in the bullpen to take care of the Pirates. Amir Garrett and Nate Jones came on to pitch in the 6th and 7th innings and both had very easy 1,2,3 innings. Raisel Iglesias came into the game with 1 out in the 8th inning and runners on 1st and 2nd inherited from Michael Lorenzen. Iglesias shut the Pirates out in the 8th inning but allowed 4 hits in the 9th inning leading to 2 runs and the Reds loss. A walk-off by Eric Gonzalez in the 9th inning resulted in a blown save by Iglesias.

Nick Castellanos mashed a 2-run home run at 108.5 mph in the top of the 3rd inning to get the Reds on the scoreboard. He hit the ball hard in each of his at-bats in the game (102.4 mph, 108.5 mph, 95.0 mph) and now has 12 HR and 27 RBI this season – both team highs. His home run was the Reds’ only meaningful hit of the game.

Very Kuhl swing, Nick! pic.twitter.com/RyN0X5Yhw9

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) September 6, 2020

The Reds only managed 3 hits and Castellanos’ home run proved to not be enough for the Reds win. The Reds now drop to 18-23 losing another much-needed win.

Luckiest Opponent Hit

• Adam Frazier: 0.230 xBA | Single, 3rd inning

What’s Next?

With 19 games remaining on their regular season schedule, the Reds have an off day tomorrow that sets up a monumental 6-game stretch on the road. They start in Chicago with three night games (8:15 pm ET) against the Cubs then travel to St. Louis for a weekend series with the Cardinals. It’s the final time the Reds face either of these teams in the 2020 regular season.

The Cubs will go with Alec Mills vs Tyler Mahle on Tuesday, Yu Darvish vs Trevor Bauer on Wednesday, and TBD vs Sonny Gray on Thursday. 

Featured image: https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1292506272185692160/photo/1