Mahle and Antone Brilliant in Frustrating Loss

by — April 21, 2021 in Game Recap

I woke up this morning to three inches of snow on my lawn. Three inches this late in the year! While my dog had a blast frolicking around in the white death, yours truly was much less thrilled. My gut told me that with such a weird start to the day, it was going to be a weird game. The snow had to be some sort of an omen of things to come.

Looks like that was the case.

The Reds had a shutout going into the 9th inning. After Reds pitchers dominated through the first 8 innings, Amir Garrett gave up the lead in the form of a three-run home run to Josh VanMeter. The Reds then gave up 5 runs in the 10th inning, ultimately losing 8-5 to the Diamondbacks.

Offense

After three innings of scoreless baseball, the Reds were able to get a run during the fourth inning. Following a high flyout to right field by Tyler Naquin, Eugenio Suarez hit a hard line drive single to left field on a hanging breaking ball. If he’d hit it any higher, it likely would have cleared the fence. Joey Votto followed this hit up by walking on four straight pitches. Nick Senzel then singled to left field on a hard hit ground ball. With the bases loaded, Jonathan India hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Suarez. After a popout by Kyle Farmer, the inning was over.

The Reds were able to plate two more runs during the fifth inning. Tyler Stephenson led off the inning. After working the count full, Stephenson sent a hard single past short. He was able to advance to second base on a sacrifice bunt from Tyler Mahle. Jesse Winker then sent a ball screaming down the right field line. It took an unexpected hop off the fence, allowing Winker to triple and scoring Stephenson. Winker scored on a sacrifice fly from Tyler Naquin.

Arizona pitcher Taylor Clarke entered the game in the 9th inning after the Reds coughed up the three-run lead. Senzel led off the inning, lining out sharply to left field. Clarke then proceeded to walk Mark Payton. After working the count full, Farmer popped out to shallow right center, bringing Stephenson to the plate. Stephenson hit a bloop to right field. Payton raced home after the ball got past right fielder Kole Calhoun, but he was thrown out after hesitating at second base, sending the Reds into extra innings.

Down 8-3 to start the bottom of the 10th inning, Alex Blandino scored Tyler Stephenson on an RBI double. Blandino was brought home with a single from Naquin, bringing the score to 8-5.

Pitching

Tyler Mahle was brilliant in this start. Before the game, he mentioned that he might have been tipping pitches during his last performance against the Giants. Whether he was or not, the Diamondbacks seemed to struggle to keep up with him. Over 6.2 innings, Mahle only allowed two hits and two walks, giving up no runs. He also struck out nine hitters.

Three of those strikeouts came in the first inning. Pavin Smith led off and struck out on three straight pitches. Veterans Kole Calhoun and Asdrubal Cabrera had similar struggles, both also striking out.

After striking out the side, Mahle gave up a single to David Peralta, who hit a 98.4 MPH ball off of Mahle’s leg. Mahle didn’t appear rattled, though, and induced a pop out from Eduardo Escobar. Mahle then struck out both Stephen Vogt and Nick Ahmed to end the inning.

Very little action occurred during the 3rd, 4th or 5th inning. Mahle was perfect over those three innings, striking out three more hitters. He started to struggle a bit during the 6th inning. He issued a walk to Nick Heath to begin the inning and followed that by hitting Andrew Young with a pitch. With two runners on, Mahle induced a double play. After a groundout from Kole Calhoun, Mahle was out of the inning.

Mahle came out to pitch again in the 7th inning. While he did not finish the inning, he was still dominant. After giving up a weak infield single to Asdrubal Cabrera, Mahle got two more outs through a strikeout of David Peralta and a flyout from Eduardo Escobar. With two outs, Mahle issued a walk to Vogt.

Tejay Antone relieved Mahle with two runners on. He started off by walking former Red Josh VanMeter to load the bases. With the go-ahead run at the plate, Antone settled down to strike out Nick Heath and end the inning. He returned during the 8th inning, when he dominated the Diamondbacks, striking out the side. In spite of Antone’s dominance, David Bell chose to give the save attempt to Amir Garrett.

Amir Garrett relieved Antone in the 9th inning and quickly made Reds fans nervous. Over the course of the inning, he greatly struggled to find the strike zone, giving up a leadoff walk to David Peralta. After being thrown three balls in a row,  Eduardo Escobar flew out to right field. With one out and one on, Garrett walked Carson Kelly, bringing VanMeter to the plate as the tying run. The former Red sent a long home run to right field, tying the game.

Carson Fulmer relieved Garrett in the 9th with two outs. On his first pitch, he hit Wyatt Mathisen, putting the go-ahead runner on first base and bringing Pavin Smith to the plate. The inning ended with Blandino making a stellar play at second, sliding to stop a ground ball and flipping it to first for the out.

Cionel Perez came in during the 10th inning. Under the new extra innings rule, Pavin Smith started at second base. Kole Calhoun led off the inning with a deep fly ball to left field. While Winker caught it for the out, Smith tagged up and advanced to third. Asdrubal Cabrera was intentionally walked to set up the double play. David Peralta then hit a weak ground ball to Alex Blandino, who mishandled the ball after trying to barehand it and throw home, allowing Smith to score.

Jose De Leon relieved Perez in the 10th with two runners on and one out. Eduardo Escobar singled on the first pitch to right center to load the bases. De Leon followed this up by hitting Carson Kelly, bringing in another run. After striking out pitcher Taylor Clarke, De Leon threw a wild pitch, allowing David Peralta to score. Josh Rojas then reached on a walk. Wyatt Mathisen singled to right field, bringing two more Diamondbacks home.

Stats
Hardest Hit Balls
  • Nick Senzel: 107 MPH l Single in the 2nd inning
  • Tyler Naquin: 104.3 MPH l Flyout in the 4th inning
  • Eugenio Suarez: 101.3 MPH l Single in the 4th inning
Unluckiest Out of the Day
  • Jonathan India: .420 xBA l Groundout in 2nd inning
Highest Pitch Velocity
  • Tyler Mahle: 96.4 MPH
Highest Pitch Spins
  • Tejay Antone: 3,124 RPM l Curveball
Most Pitch Movement
  • Tejay Antone: 59 inches vertical movement l Curveball
  • Tejay Antone: 20 inches horizontal movement l Curveball
Team Expected Batting Averages
  • Reds: .258
  • Diamondbacks: .145
What’s Next?

The Reds look to avoid being swept tomorrow in game three against the Diamondbacks. Hopefully, getting Nick Castellanos back will turn their luck around. Game time is 12:35 PM, with Jeff Hoffman facing off against right handed pitcher Taylor Widener.

Photo by Rick Ulreich/Icon Sportswire

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Mike Perry

Mike is a lifelong Reds fan who grew up watching games at Cinergy Field with his family. A recent MBA graduate, Mike has always had a passion for data analytics and uses his understanding of big data to better understand and appreciate what is happening on the baseball diamond and in the front office. When he's not watching baseball, you can find Mike and his wife frequenting different restaurants and coffee shops in the area. For questions and inquiries, please reach out to [email protected].

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