Reds Crush the Pirates in 14-1 Win

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Wow, this is a fun Reds team. Tonight’s torture of the Pirates came from Wade Miley’s sharp pitching and a hot offense. By the end of the 2nd inning, the Reds were up by 5, and they never let up.

Offense

General manager Nick Krall had some very interesting comments about the Reds developing a new approach to hitting. More than just taking walks and hitting the ball in the air, the Redlegs are trying to put the ball in play by hitting to all parts of the field—something we covered last week. This new hitting approach worked well tonight, with the Reds completely clobbering the Pirates over nine innings.

The Reds came out strong in the first inning with a blast to right field from Tyler Naquin. Rumor has it that the ball never landed and is now floating around the earth like a satellite.

Welp, there goes the no-hitter. pic.twitter.com/LkUnzlpaVw

— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) April 6, 2021

The offense caught fire during the second inning, in which they put up four more runs. Mike Moustakas got the party started with a single to shallow right field. Nick Senzel followed it up by singling to center, bringing Moose to third. Jonathan India continued his hot start by singling to left field, scoring Moustakas. Three more runs were knocked in with another Naquin home run.

Two more runs came in the fourth inning. Senzel singled to centerfield and advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt. India, the Red Sparrow, brought him home on a sacrifice fly to left field. Tucker Barnhart then singled to centerfield and advanced to second base on a wild pitch. He was advanced to third base by an infield singer from the pitcher, Wade Miley. He scored from third when Naquin hit into a fielder’s choice, bringing the score to 7-0.

Then came the 5th inning. My oh my, that 5th inning. The Reds started with Joey Votto grounding out into the shifted defense. Eugenio Suarez then proceeded to walk, and Moustakas singled to center. Senzel also reached first on a walk. This brought India to bat with the bases loaded. He singled to opposite field, scoring Suarez. The inning continued with a two-run double from Barnhart and a two-RBI single from Naquin. After a double from Nick Castellanos, Votto grounded out and mercifully ended the inning.

The Reds weren’t done beating the Buccaneers after the 5th, though. During the 6th inning, India tripled (This guy really impresses me. If my wife is reading this, when my birthday rolls around, I think a Jonathan India jersey would be pretty sweet. Alternate red please!) to score Senzel. This was followed up by a single from Barnhart, scoring India. 14-0 Reds.

Pitching

Tyler Naquin will deservedly receive much of the attention from this game, but Reds fans can feel very good about what was demonstrated on the mound tonight. One of the concerns many people had going into this season involved Wade Miley. He put many of those concerns to rest with a dominant outing. Miley pitched like he was late for a date, not giving the Pirates much time to get settled. Over the course of six innings, Miley struck out six, walked one and gave up two hits and no runs. The left hander induced weak contact and kept the ball in the infield, giving Suarez plenty of opportunities to flash the leather at shortstop.

Sal Romano came in in the 7th inning and pitched through the 8th. He gave up two hits, one of them a home run, and retired six batters.

Carson Fulmer was brought in during the 9th inning, with the Reds up by 13 runs. Bryan Reynolds led off the inning by grounding out. After giving up a single to Colin Moran, Fulmer finished off the final two Pirates to seal the Reds victory.

Stats

Hardest-Hit Balls

• Tyler Naquin: 113.5 mph home run
• Tyler Naquin: 106.3 mph home run
• Nick Senzel: 104.0 mph single

Unluckiest Out of the Day

• Mike Moustakas: .560 xBA | Groundout

Highest Velocities By Pitcher

• Sal Romano: 94.5 mph
• Carson Fulmer: 93.9 mph
• Wade Miley: 91.8 mph

Highest Pitch Spins

• Wade Miley: 2,990 rpm | Changeup

Most Pitch Movement

• Wade Miley: 57 inches vertical movement | Curveball

Team Expected Batting Averages (xBA)

• Pirates: .270
• Reds: .337

What’s Next?

Tomorrow, let’s bring out the brooms. The Redlegs look to keep the winning streak alive, with Luis Castillo taking the ball for game three of the home series against the Pirates. Game time is 12:35 p.m. EST, with Cincinnati facing right hander, Chad Kuhl.

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Featured Image: https://twitter.com/Reds/status/1293621837201637377/photo/1