Benches briefly clear as Reds fall to Cubs 3-2

by — May 1, 2021 in Game Recap

The Reds’ offense could not capitalize on a solid start from Luis Castillo, falling to the Cubs 3-2. They managed just six hits, with two of those hits and both runs coming in the first inning. The positive takeaway today was that Castillo looked better than he has looked in previous starts. The most excitement came in the eighth inning, when the benches briefly cleared after Javier Baez took issue to Amir Garrett’s strikeout celebration.

Offense

The Reds were able to strike early against Cubs starter Zach Davies. Tyler Naquin led off the game with a double off the wall in left center field. Nick Castellanos then grounded a ball down the line at third base, reaching after a poor throw ended up in the outfield. Castellanos advanced to second and Naquin scored on the play, ruled a single and an error. After a groundout advanced Castellanos to third, Mike Moustakas hit a deep fly ball that was caught on the warning track, allowing Castellanos to score. That sacrifice fly had a 104.2 mph exit velocity and came with a 69% hit probability.

The next Reds batter to reach was Naquin in the third, reaching via hit by pitch. Joey Votto later drew a two out walk, making it first and second. Moustakas then drew a walk of his own to load the bases. Eugenio Suárez left the bases loaded, chasing a low pitch to strike out and end the inning.

Tyler Stephenson hit a line drive single in the fourth, and Kyle Farmer added a single of his own on the next pitch to make it first and second. Luis Castillo then bunted a ball back to the pitcher, allowing Davies to go to third base for the force. Naquin then drew a walk to load the bases, his third time reaching in three plate appearances. Castellanos then grounded out to second base, leaving the bases loaded for the second straight inning.

Farmer was the next Red to reach, as he was hit on the elbow with a pitch in the sixth inning. They were unable to do anything with it, stranding Farmer on base.

Stephenson led off the ninth with a 106.6 mph single. Pinch hitter Tucker Barnhart then lined a single into right field, advancing pinch runner Jeff Hoffman to third. The next two batters struck out, and then Castellanos grounded out to end the game. The team did not score again after scoring two in the first inning.

Pitching

Luis Castillo was dealing early, striking out a pair in the first inning while sitting around 98 mph with the fastball. The second inning was much of the same, again striking out a pair.

Castillo allowed the first Cubs hit to lead off the third inning, a double to Nico Hoerner after a long at bat. Tony Wolters then singled to left, moving the runner up to third. Zach Davies then dropped down a late bunt, with Votto opting to go to first rather than the plate, giving the Cubs their first run. Castillo then got a groundout and strikeout to end the inning.

Castillo allowed three straight two out hits in the fourth. The first was a 113.3 mph double to right center by David Bote. The second was a fastball to Jason Heyward, immediately after the broadcast mentioned how poorly Heyward was hitting on non-fastballs this season. The third was a line drive to right field where Castellanos made a good throw to get Heyward at the plate and end the inning. The Cubs ended up scoring one run in that inning, tying the game at 2-2.

With one out in the fifth, pinch hitter Eric Sogard reached on a ground ball to shortstop that was ruled an infield hit, but appeared to be a throwing error on Suárez. The next batter singled into right field. After bobbling the ball in the outfield, Castellanos threw to the cutoff man Suárez, who threw Sogard out at third. Senzel then made a great diving catch for the third out of the inning.

Castillo allowed a leadoff single to Javier Baez in the sixth and then issued a walk to Anthony Rizzo. After getting a fly out, David Bell made the move to the bullpen. Castillo ended up pitching 5 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits, striking out five and walking one. He recorded 12 swings and misses (22% whiff rate) and had a 29% CSW (called strikes plus whiffs) rate.

Sean Doolittle came in to relieve Castillo. He struck out the first batter but allowed a hit to the second batter, scoring Baez and giving the Cubs the 3-2 lead. Doolittle then struck out Wolters to end the inning.

Heath Hembree came in to pitch the seventh inning. Hembree retired the side in order, striking out two. Hembree stayed in to start the eighth, striking out Baez before being taken out of the game.

Amir Garrett came in to finish off the eighth. He struck out Rizzo and showed some emotion, which Baez took exception to. The benches cleared and warnings were issued, but no players were ejected from the game. After the delay, Garrett retired the next batter on a fly out to end the inning.

Ryan Hendrix came on to pitch the ninth inning. He pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out two.

Stats

Hardest-Hit Balls

  • Tyler Stephenson: 106.6 mph | Single in 9th inning
  • Nick Castellanos: 105.4 mph | Groundout in 4th inning
  • Tyler Naquin: 104.5 mph | Double in 4th inning

Unluckiest Out of the Day

  • Mike Moustakas: .690 xBA | Sacrifice Fly in 1st inning

Highest Velocities By Pitcher

  • Luis Castillo: 98.7 mph
  • Sean Doolittle: 93.9 mph
  • Heath Hembree: 96.2 mph
  • Amir Garrett: 97.2 mph
  • Ryan Hendrix: 98.3 mph

Highest Pitch Spins

  • Heath Hembree: 2984 rpm | Slider
  • Heath Hembree: 2953 rpm | Slider
  • Heath Hembree: 2943 rpm | Slider

Most Pitch Movement

  • Sean Doolittle: 44 inches vertical movement | Curveball
  • Luis Castillo: 24 inches horizontal movement | Changeup

Team Expected Batting Averages (xBA)

  • Cubs: .274
  • Reds: .247
What’s Next?

The Reds conclude the Cubs series with an afternoon game at Great American Ball Park. First pitch is at 1:10 p.m. EST as Tyler Mahle faces off against Trevor Williams.

For more in-depth thoughts on today’s game and a preview of what’s ahead, consider subscribing to The Morning Spin, our daily newsletter. We’ll also analyze Reds news, give you a Stat of the Day, answer your burning questions, and more. You can get three issues for free; after that, it’s just $5 per month. Join us!

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Kyle Berger

Kyle Berger is a lifelong Reds fan who has lived in the Cincinnati area for his entire life. Kyle has always been interested in the analytics side of baseball, and recently graduated from Miami University with a degree in Business Analytics. You can follow him on Twitter @KB_48, where most of his Tweets are about the Reds or baseball in general.

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