RC+ Recap: Reds late rallies fall short, lose to Royals 5-4

by — August 12, 2020 in Game Recap

After falling behind 5-0 through the first six innings, the Reds rallied for 4 runs in the 7th and mounted huge threats in both the 8th and 9th inning but fell short. The Reds lost 5-4 and split the 2-game series with the Royals. The two teams match up again next week for two more.

Wade Miley started his second game of the season after being on the IL for a groin pull. Miley struggled through the first inning, getting behind batter after batter, giving up a double, fielder’s choice, walk and single, but limiting the damage to one run. It took 33 pitches to get through the first, half missed the strike zone. On the second batter of the second inning, Miley covered first and seemed to tweak his leg somehow. The Reds medical staff and David Bell came out to visit, but Miley stayed in. But after walking the next batter on four pitches, Bell was back, this time to remove Miley. He’d thrown 44 pitches and finished 1.2 innings. That’s the same number of innings Miley made it through his first start. Miley said after the game he felt fine, but had only thrown 32 pitches in his warmup start at Prasco.

Tyler Mahle came in to relieve Miley. Mahle had been warming up before the game started, so entering the game early couldn’t have been a surprise. Miley may have been on a limited pitch count. Mahle wasn’t sharp, having trouble locating his fastball. He also grooved a slider to Sal Perez for a solo home run. One of the runs he gave up was on a HBP, two wild pitches and a sacrifice fly. Mahle did strike out six batters in 3.1 innings, but also walked three to go along with the HBP and wild pitches.

Tejay Antone pitched the 6th and 7th and gave up an RBI double on an 0-2 fastball that was supposed to be above the strike zone but ended up Right Down Broadway. Otherwise Antone pitched well, striking out four in two innings.

The Reds offense did nothing for six innings against Royals starter Brad Keller. But the Reds bats whirred to life against the Royals bullpen in the bottom of the 7th. Jesse Winker, Freddy Galvis and Josh VanMeter each homered and Nick Senzel walked and was driven in on Galvis’ homer. The Royals lead was cut to 5-4.

Amir Garrett pitched a shutout 8th inning. Then the Reds threatened in their half of the 8th. Joey Votto led off with a walk. David Bell put in Travis Jankowski to pinch run for Votto. That move paid off immediately as Jankowski made it to third with one out on Winker’s single up the middle. With Jankowski on third instead of second, the Royals pulled their infield back and let Winker steal second, giving up the tying run on a ground ball. But Senzel and Galvis followed the fate of Eugenio Suarez earlier in the inning by watching a called third strike to end the threat.

Suarez is batting .115/.270/.246 with four extra base hits.

Nate Jones pitched a shutout 9th inning, giving up a walk. In the 9th, VanMeter led off with a walk. Bell brought Michael Lorenzen in to pinch run. Tucker Barnhart came up to bat. Barnhart is mired in a horrible season at the plate, hitting .167 with no extra base hits. You hate to give up an out with a bunt, but with Barnhart batting so poorly, a bunt at least keeps you out of a double play, in theory. But Barnhart bunted right into the Kansas City defense (note: bunting against a major league pitcher throwing 100 mph is hard) and they forced Lorenzen at second.

The drama wasn’t over, though. Shogo Akiyama and Nick Castellanos walked to load the bases with one out. But Christian Colon hit into a game-ending double play.

Hardest-Hit Balls

  • Josh VanMeter 108.5 mph | home run
  • Jesse Winker 108.3 mph | home run
  • Kyle Farmer 103.1 mph | ground out

Highest Velocities by Pitcher

  • Tejay Antone 97.3 mph
  • Nate Jones 95.7 mph
  • Tyler Mahle 95.0 mph
  • Amir Garrett 95. 0 mph
  • Wade Miley 91.3 mph

Luckiest Hit of the Day

  • Freddy Galvis 16% hit probability | Single

Unluckiest Out of the Day

  • Joey Votto 96% | Line out
  • Jesse Winker 95% | Line out
  • Eugenio Suarez 86% | Line out
What’s Next?

The Reds next host the Pittsburgh Pirates on a long 4-game weekend series. The Pirates were 3-13 heading into tonight’s game. These are the Reds starters lined up for the series. 

  • Thursday – Anthony DeSclafani
  • Friday – Sonny Gray
  • Saturday – Trevor Bauer
  • Sunday – Luis Castillo

Thursday’s game matches Anthony DeSclafani against Trevor Williams.

EARLY START: First pitch Thursday night at GABP is 5:10 p.m. 

[Featured image: https://twitter.com/Reds/status/933509191909740544/photo/1]

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Steve Mancuso

Steve Mancuso is a lifelong Reds fan who grew up during the Big Red Machine era. He’s been writing about the Reds for more than ten years. Steve’s fondest memories about the Reds include attending a couple 1975 World Series games, being at Homer Bailey’s second no-hitter and going nuts for Jay Bruce at Clinchmas. Steve was also at all three games of the 2012 NLDS, but it’s too soon to talk about that.

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