Comeback falls short as the Reds lose 13-8 in Colorado

by — May 14, 2021 in Game Recap
Comeback falls short as the Reds lose 13-8 in Colorado

An explosion of offense for eight runs in the eighth inning disguised what had been a painful pitching and offensive performance for the Reds. Luis Castillo struggled again with the command of both his changeup and sinker leading to an early deficit the Reds could not overcome.

Offense

Jesse Winker got things going with one out in the first with a soft liner over the shift into right field. Nick Castellanos then walked, putting men on first and second base to threaten early, but a Mike Moustakas ground ball turned into a double play to end the top of the first. Chi Chi Gonzalez then scattered three hits over the next six innings, the hardest being a 100.6 mph groundball single up the middle by Luis Castillo. 

In the eighth, Colorado brought on Lucas Gilbreath. Jonathan India snapped an 0-19 streak on a single through the left side, and Tyler Stephenson ended the shutout bid with a home run to right field (100.2 mph 396 ft.). With one out, Shogo Akiyama then grabbed his first hit of the year on a line drive to left field. 

Ex-Red Robert Stephenson then entered for Colorado. Castellanos welcomed him with a single through the right side of the infield for his second hit of the night before Blandino drove an almost identical groundball base hit to score Akiyama from third. With two outs, Tucker Barnhart and Kyle Farmer joined in on the hit parade with back-to-back singles scoring Castellanos and Blandino, making it 10-5.

After another Colorado pitching change, India was back up and belted a 3-1 fastball for a home run to right-center, bringing the Reds within two. However, in his second at-bat as a pinch hitter, Stephenson struck out to end the inning. The Reds would go quietly in the ninth, with only Winker reaching on a walk.

 

Pitching

Poor pitch location combined with some bad luck led to a rough outing for Luis Castillo. Castillo only lasted three and two-thirds innings giving up eight runs and only striking out three.

Castillo’s first inning began with a Raimel Tapia hard-hit single to left. Connor Joe followed with a deep fly ball to right-center field that sent Nick Senzel into the wall as the ball fell in for a double. Senzel would leave with a left heel contusion from the collision between innings. After a Charlie Blackmon fly ball moved Joe to third, Ryan McMahon shot a groundball to India. With the infield shifted in, India gunned down Joe at home on a perfect throw to Barnhart. The inning was not over for the Rockies, though, as Josh Fuentes took a changeup left over the middle just over the glove of Jesse Winker for a two-run home run.

Below is the heat map of the first inning, displaying how much of the plate Castillo was catching with pitches and the resulting spray chart.

After a hard-hit single started the second inning, Castillo settled in the next two, striking out Chi Chi Gonzales in the second and Charlie Blackmon in the third. However, the fourth inning brought more trouble.

With one out, Yonathan Daza and Alan Trejo singled and then doubled to put runners on second and third. Daza’s single had an xBA of .290, while Trejo’s 70.4 mph exit velocity projected to be a hit only one-fourth of the time. After the Gonzales strikeout and Raimel Tapia walk, Joe flared a soft bloop single to right to score both Daza and Trejo. Blackmon then ripped a ball down the first baseline off the glove of a diving Moustakas to score Tapia. Ryan McMahon followed with a 105.9 mph single to deep center field, plating Joe from third. Josh Fuentes blooped another soft single in front of Akiyama in center field, scoring Blackmon from second and putting an end to Luis Castillo’s night with the Reds down 8-0.

Carson Fulmer entered in with men on first and second and struck out Dom Nunez on a cutter to end the inning. Fulmer did not carry the momentum to the fifth as Daza walked to start the inning. After a fielder’s choice and Gonzales sac bunt moved Trejo to second, Tapia grounded a slow roller to Kyle Farmer at short. Farmer fielded the ball charging but air-mailed the throw into the first base dugout, allowing Trejo to score from third, making it 9-0. 

The Rockies came knocking again in the 6th as McMahon led off with a ground ball past third for a double (xBA of only .210). Fuentes hit another soft liner to center scoring McMahon from second base, which closed the book on Fulmer. Sal Romano came on in relief and retired Nunez, Daza, and Trejo in order to end the 6th. 

After Ryan Hendrix worked out of trouble generated from back-to-back leadoff walks in the seventh with no runs scored, Cionel Perez took over in the eighth with the Reds within two. After a Fuentes fly out, Perez issued a five-pitch walk. Daza drove a ball to deep right for a double, but on the relay, India threw wildly home even though Nunez had stopped at third, which allowing him to score and Daza to move to third. A Trejo sacrifice fly out later, Garrett Hampson drove a 400-foot homer to re-extend the lead to five, where it would ultimately stay.

Stats

Hardest-Hit Balls

  • Nick Castellanos: 104.2 mph | Lineout in 9th inning
  • Kyle Farmer: 103.1 mph | Single in 8th inning
  • Luis Castillo: 100.6 mph | Single in 3rd inning

Unluckiest Out of the Day

  • Eugenio Suarez: .610 xBA | Flyout in 4th inning

Highest Velocities By Pitcher

  • Luis Castillo: 98.3 mph
  • Carson Fulmer: 95.0 mph
  • Sal Romano: 93.6 mph
  • Ryan Hendrix: 97.6 mph
  • Cionel Perez: 96.2 mph

Highest Pitch Spins

  • Carson Fulmer: 2,851 rpm | Curveball

Most Pitch Movement

  • Carson Fulmer: 49 inches vertical movement | Curveball
  • Luis Castillo: 17 inches horizontal movement | Sinker

Team Expected Batting Averages (xBA)

  • Reds: .276
  • Rockies: .249
What’s Next?

The Reds look to bounce back in the second game of the four-game series at Coors Field. First pitch is at 8:40 p.m. EST as Wade Miley faces off against German Marquez in his first game since the no-hitter.

Featured Photo by Nick Tre. Smith/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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