by 
Kyle Farmer and Joey Votto both had three hits to lead the offense coming from behind multiple times throughout the game. Tyler Mahle threw a shaky but ultimately serviceable five innings, and after the first man out of the bullpen, the rest combined for four shutout innings.
Offense
The Reds got on the board quickly in the first. With a walk to open the inning, Jonathan India has reached base safely in 14 consecutive games where he has an at-bat. With one out, Tyler Stephenson flared a single to right-center, and Joey Votto followed with a ripped double down the first baseline to score both Stephenson and India to take the lead.
No caption needed (but we'll give you one anyway).
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) July 23, 2021
While threatening in the second and third innings advancing runners into scoring position with two outs, the Reds were not able to push anything across. Kyle Farmer bucked that trend in the fourth with a one-out line-drive home run right over the left-field fence (106 mph 365 feet) to get the lead back 3-2.
*extreme Dr. Evil voice*
Laser! pic.twitter.com/NHRentV7nF
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) July 24, 2021
India kept his night going with a single to left and Jesse Winker followed with a double down the line. However, India was unable to score being held at third base and a Stephenson flyout to center ended the inning.
Down 5-3, the Reds came back again in the bottom of the seventh. Stephenson opened the inning waiting on a curveball and shooting it through the right side of the infield for a single. Votto followed with a 103 mph line drive to right field for a single, moving Stephenson to third. Eugenio Suarez came to the plate and pulled a groundball down the left-field line for a double, scoring Stephenson and moving Votto to third. A wild pitch scored Votto to tie the game 5-5 and moved Suarez to third. Aristides Aquino hit a ball to right field that Suarez attempted to tag up and score on. Carlson came up throwing and beat Suarez by a step or two in a play that was not all that close to ultimately end the threat.
Tied in the bottom of the eighth, Kyle Farmer singled through the left side for his third hit of the game. Tucker Barnhart grounded a ball back to the pitcher, but Giovanny Gallegos rushed and threw the ball away leaving men at first and second with no outs. After an India flyout and a Winker walk loaded the bases with one out, Stephenson drove a fly ball deep enough to score Farmer from third giving the Reds a 6-5 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.
Pitching
Tyler Mahle had his ups and downs but ultimately went five innings with five strikeouts, four walks, and two solo home runs. Mahle’s fastball was tagged for both home runs as the decrease in spin rate and movement continues to be a point of concern. In the end, Mahle left a 3-2 lead after making some big pitches to get himself out of a jam in the fifth.
Mahle opened the game by striking out Dylan Carlson with a great mix of fastballs and splitters. Then Paul Goldschmidt stepped to the plate and destroyed a baseball to the upper deck in left field (112 mph 448 feet) to give the Cardinals a quick 1-0 lead. After another single, Mahle settled in with a groundout and his second strikeout to end the inning.
The second inning was more of the same as Harrison Bader opened the top half with a line-drive home run (107.2 mph 409 feet). Again, Mahle responded by getting a groundout before a seeing-eye single dribbled past first base. After the pitcher’s sac bunt, Mahle struck out Carlson again to end the threat.
The third and fourth innings only saw a base runner apiece, neither making it past first base. However, with one out in the fifth, Mahle pitched himself into trouble by walking three consecutive batters to load the bases. Mahle bore down, striking out both Tyler O’Neill and Paul Dejong on his hardest thrown fastballs of the day at 97 mph to get out of the jam.
Edgar Garcia came on in relief in the sixth and was unable to record an out. The Cardinals opened with a double and single to left field putting runners on the corners. A deep fly to right was overrun by Aristides Aquino and fell in and bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double to score both runners. Another single to move runners back to the corners ended the night for Garcia.
Ryan Hendrix came in with two men and no outs and limited the damage. Carlson hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score the runner from the third and make it 5-3, but Hendrix retired the next two to get to the bottom of the sixth.
R.J. Alaniz opened the seventh hitting O’Neill with a pitch and walking Matt Carpenter. Even though Alaniz got Bader to chase a slider low and away for a strikeout, David Bell went to the pen again for Tony Santillan. Santillan responded with a strikeout and lineout to end the threat.
Brad Brach threw a clean eighth inning, striking out two batters swinging to keep the game tied going into the ninth.
Heath Hembree struck out the side in the ninth for the save.
That's five Ws in a row against the Cards! pic.twitter.com/th9TCsyBB7
— Bally Sports Cincinnati (@BallySportsCIN) July 24, 2021
Stats
Most Valuable Players
- Joey Votto: .363 WPA (Win Probability Added)
- Eugenio Suarez: .190 WPA
- Kyle Farmer: .169 WPA
Hardest-Hit Balls
- Jesse Winker: 109.0 mph | Double in 4th inning
- Kyle Famer: 106.0 mph | Home Run in 4th inning
- Joey Votto: 104.4 mph | Single in 3rd inning
Unluckiest Out of the Day
- Alejo Lopez: .760 xBA | Flyout in 6th inning
Highest Velocities By Pitcher
- Tyler Mahle: 97.4 mph
- Edgar Garcia: 95.6 mph
- Ryan Hendrix: 98.7 mph
- R.J. Alaniz:93.0 mph
- Tony Santillan: 96.8 mph
- Brad Brach: 94.1 mph
- Heath Hembree: 95.6 mph
Highest Pitch Spins
- Heath Hembree: 2,977 rpm | Slider
Most Pitch Movement
- Tyler Mahle: 20 inches horizontal movement | Splitter
- Tony Santillan: 46 inches vertical movement | Slider
Team Expected Batting Averages (xBA)
- Cardinals: .249
- Reds: .287
What’s Next?
The Reds and Cardinals continue the series with an evening game at Great American Ball Park. First pitch is at 7:10 p.m. EST as Luis Castillo faces off against Jake Woodford.
Featured Image: https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1154459459864842241
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!
Nice writeup, Chris, it was a pleasure to read the “happy recap”.
The four relievers (not counting the minor league call ups) struck out 8 of 12 hitters without allowing a single base runner. It was Santillan who struck out Bader after coming in with a 2-0 count due to Alaniz’ injury. I know Santillan has not pitched well in relief, but he has upside, hopefully he can build on this.
Is Wainwright that good a fast ball hitter ? Hembree only threw him one fastball out of seven pitches. After a 1-2 count, nothing but sliders, almost walking him. Maybe he was reading the card for pitching to Yadi Molina ?
Stephenson is so impressive under pressure, just stays calm and methodically does his thing.
I think sending Suarez home on Aquino’s fly ball made sense. It was hit deep enough, Carlson threw a bullet right on target. The Cardinals have an excellent defensive OF.
Close call. The ball wasn’t hit as deep as it looked. The radio broadcast was fooled, too and said on replay it was too shallow. The Cardinals do have a great defensive OF, although Bader’s throw in the 8th was way off. What the third base coach has to factor in is who is on deck and whether he can hit a sacrifice fly. The two factors that weigh against sending Suarez are: only one out, Suarez is slow. But close call. Anything but a great throw and he’s safe.