The Cincinnati Reds had 13 hits on Monday afternoon as four players put together multi-hit days in the series opening win against the Houston Astros and future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Houston Astros (75-62) |
3 | 6 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (65-73) | 5 | 13 | 1 |
| W: Spiers (5-5) L: Verlander (3-5) SV: Wilson (2) |
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| Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Julian Aguiar was starting on short rest, which is an odd thing to ask of a guy in his early 20’s making just his 4th big league start for a team that entered the day 16 games out of 1st place. And his defense didn’t help him out much in the top of the 1st inning, but the rookie was able to work around a dropped pop up to keep Houston off of the scoreboard.
The Reds started their half of the inning out with three consecutive walks, leading to a run coming across on a sacrifice fly from TJ Friedl that put the home team up 1-0. Ty France then came through with an RBI single that made it 2-0.
Houston would get both of those runs back two innings later. Aguiar walked Jason Heyward to lead off the inning and then gave up a ground-rule double. After a ground out, the Reds opted to intentionally walk Yordan Alvarez to load the bases to set up a double play. The move didn’t work out as Yainer Diaz came through with a 2-run single just over the outstretched glove of a leaping Jonathan India.
Cincinnati would get a runner into scoring position in both the 3rd and 4th innings but couldn’t cash in. They got a 2-out rally going in the 5th when Ty France and Jake Fraley singled to put runners on the corners. Fraley then stole second base. That set up Santiago Espinal who hit a blooper into no-man’s land in shallow right that fell in for a 2-run single to make it 4-2. That was the last pitch of the game for Justin Verlander as Houston called on Kaleb Ort to enter from the bullpen. Espinal would steal second off of him and then score when Amed Rosario singled up the middle to extend the Reds lead to 5-2.
The Astros would try to put together a rally of their own in the next inning. After a double play erased a leadoff single, back-to-back walks were followed up by a single that loaded the bases. Carson Spiers was able to escape the jam, though, getting a ground out to end the inning and hold onto the 3-run lead.
Spiers ran into problems in the 7th after walking Jose Altuve and giving up a 1-out ground-rule double to Yordan Alvarez. That led to a pitching change as Emilio Pagan entered the game and gave up a sacrifice fly that cut the lead to 5-3. He would then strike out Jeremy Pena to end the inning.
After a perfect 8th inning, Emilio Pagan returned for the 9th inning with Cincinnati up by two runs. He gave up a leadoff bloop single to Jason Heyward, but got an out on a sacrifice bunt that moved the runner up and turned the lineup over. Pagan followed up by striking out Jose Altuve, but was then lifted for Justin Wilson who came on to face lefty Yordan Alvarez with two outs. Before Wilson even threw a pitch, Heyward took third base on defensive indifference. After falling behind 3-0, Wilson would get a line out to center to seal a 5-3 win.
Key Moment of the Game
Santiago Espinal’s 2-run single in the 5th inning. It put the Reds up 4-2 and turned out to be all that they needed.
Notes Worth Noting
Ty France went 4-4 on the day. He’s hitting .284/.346/.453 in 29 games since joining the Reds.
Tyler Stephenson, Santiago Espnial, and Amed Rosario all had 2-hit days. Jonathan India went 1-3 but also drew two walks.
Sam Moll’s 1.1 perfect innings lowered his ERA to 2.63 on the year.
The High-A Dayton Dragons picked up a 1-o win this afternoon. That clinched the second half division title and qualifies them for the playoffs for the first time since 2017. Dayton and broadcaster Tom Nichols got some love and recognition from MLB Network’s Jon Morosi after the game, too.
What a thrill to hear the great ?@TomNichols02? call the final out as the ??@DragonsBaseball? clinch their first postseason berth in 7 years. Congratulations to Dragons owners Greg & Marti Rosenbaum, who made the trip here for the game. ?@MiLB? ?@Reds? pic.twitter.com/8nXRpFL95Q
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) September 2, 2024
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Houston Astros vs Cincinnati Reds
Wednesday September 4th, 6:40pm ET
Spencer Arrighetti (7-11, 4.63 ERA) vs TBA
