Pitching woes doom Reds in 7-6 loss to Giants

by — April 14, 2021 in Game Recap

Luis Castillo and the bullpen were not sharp on Tuesday, blowing multiple leads to lose the second game of the series to the Giants. After an 8-run first inning (4 runs each), both starting pitchers settled in for the most part before a back-and-forth battle of the bullpens left the Reds on the wrong side of a 7-6 ballgame.

Offense

The Reds came out hot against their former teammate Kevin Gausman, as Nick Castellanos got things going with a single. Joey Votto followed his home run last night, the first ever “splash hit” by a Red, with another homer, this time going opposite field to put the Reds up 2-0.

Eugenio Suarez, bringing in a BB% over 17% — good for the 88th percentile in the league — walked on four pitches. Mike Moustakas then turned on a pitch for the Reds’ second ever “splash hit” in as many nights, putting the Reds up 4-0 in the first.

In the 2nd inning, the Reds got going with two outs on a Jesse Winker walk. Castellanos continued his tear by ripping a double down the left field line into the corner (EV 103.3 mph), allowing for Winker to show off the wheels and score all the way from first base. Castellanos moved to third on the throw home but was stranded to end the inning.

Then, the bats went eerily quiet. Gausman settled in, mixing his splitter and fastball well, and retired the last 13 hitters he faced. Through his six innings, his splitter never saw a vertical break less than 30 inches (his max at 42 inches). The Reds offered at 15 of those splitters and only put two in play, both for outs.

From one former Red to another, Wandy Peralta came on in relief in the 7th and Jonathan India finally broke the streak with a slow-rolling single to third that Evan Longoria thought would go foul. A balk and wild pitch later, India sat at third base when Alex Blandino knocked a bloop single into shallow center past the outstretched gloves of the colliding Tommy La Stella and Brandon Crawford, giving the Reds a 6-5 lead. Peralta got the pinch-hitting Tyler Stephenson to ground into a double play, followed by a Winker groundout to end the inning.

Submariner Tyler Rogers entered in the 8th and the arm slot seemed to really bother some of the Reds hitters. Castellanos chased a curveball up and out of the zone for strike three before Votto struck out swinging as well. Suarez doubled into left, but Moustakas followed chasing a strike three curveball up and out of the zone as well.

Jake McGee locked down the 9th for the Giants, striking out Aristides Aquino and Stephenson looking to end the game.

Pitching

There were flashbacks to Opening Day as Luis Castillo had a rough 1st inning. La Stella opened the game with a single before Mike Yastrzemski decided to visit the bay on his own with a 109.4 mph home run. After Castillo retired Alex Dickerson and Brandon Belt, Longoria hit a sharp single up the middle. Crawford then hit a line drive home run that just cleared the high wall in right field to tie things up at 4 apiece.

After that home run, Castillo — like Gausman — settled in for the most part. He struck out Buster Posey to end the first, then LaMonte Wade Jr. and Gausman to start the 2nd inning. La Stella doubled, but Yastrzemski popped out to end the inning. Castillo cruised through the 3rd and 4th innings, retiring eight in a row until La Stella (sensing a theme?) singled with one out in the 5th. Yastrzemski followed with a single, but Castillo got Dickerson to ground into a 1-6-3 double play to end the inning. Castillo’s performance landed somewhere between his first two starts, and he ended the night after 5 IP with 98 pitches, 7 Ks, and a 5-4 lead.

Sean Doolittle came on in relief in the 6th and did not last the inning. Longoria launched a 417 foot homerun (EV of 106.9 mph) to tie the game at 5. Doolittle struck out Crawford, but then gave up a single to Posey before yielding way to Carson Fulmer.

Carson Fulmer gave up a triple on a 2-2 fastball to Austin Slater, giving the Giants a 6-5 lead. Darin Ruf struck out to end the inning, but the damage had been done.

Cionel Perez entered a tied 7th inning and started with back-to-back walks to Donovan Solano and Yastrzemski. Mauricio Dubón grounded into a fielder’s choice on a diving play by Eugenio Suarez, who flipped to India at second.

With one out, Lucas Sims entered in another high-leverage situation with men on first and third. Flores drilled a sac fly to deep center with plenty on it to score Solano from third, making it 7-6. Sims struck out Longoria to end the inning.

Cam Bedrosian took the bump for the 8th and struggled to find consistent control, issuing a walk to Crawford. Posey hit a hard ground ball that India ranged and dove to his right to keep in front for the force out at second. Slater followed with a single to right, moving Posey to third. Former Red Curt Casali struck out swinging. Solano walked on five pitches before Bedrosian struck out Yastrzemski on a 3-2 fastball. All in all, it took 32 pitches and was stressful, but it gave the Reds a chance in the top of the 9th.

Stats

Hardest-Hit Balls

  • Joey Votto: 108.1 mph | Flyout in 5th inning
  • Mike Moustakas: 106.6 mph | Home Run in 1st inning
  • Joey Votto: 104.7 mph | Home Run in 1st inning

Unluckiest Out of the Day

  • Joey Votto: .490 xBA | Flyout in 5th inning

Highest Velocities By Pitcher

  • Luis Castillo: 98.3 mph
  • Sean Doolittle: 95.1 mph
  • Carson Fulmer: 93.0 mph
  • Cionel Perez: 96.5 mph
  • Lucas Sims: 94.7 mph
  • Cam Bedrosian: 94.3 mph

Highest Pitch Spins

  • Cionel Perez: 3,007 rpm | 4-seam Fastball

Most Pitch Movement

  • Cionel Perez: 52 inches vertical movement | Slider
  • Luis Castillo: 19 inches horizontal movement | Sinker

Team Expected Batting Averages (xBA)

  • Reds: .213
  • Giants: .286
What’s Next?

The Reds will finish their road trip tomorrow with the rubber match against the Giants. Tyler Mahle will face off against another former Red, Johnny Cueto. First pitch is scheduled for 3:45 pm EST.

Featured Image: Frank Jansky (Icon Sportswire)

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Chris Duzyk

Chris began his Reds fandom with family trips from central Kentucky to Riverfront Stadium. At a young age, he had to learn to swing a wiffle ball bat left handed to properly imitate Ken Griffey Jr. and Sean Casey in backyard games against his brother. A graduate from Centre College, he was able to combine his love of baseball statistics and analytics often into his statistics and econometrics courses. He currently is living in Northern Kentucky where all it takes is a simple walk across the bridge to enjoy the games. Find him on Twitter @cduzyk.

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