Singer And The Swinger Stage Series Win

 

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Brady Singer pitched into the seventh inning for the third straight game and Sal Stewart stays high on the Major League Baseball RBI leader board to stage the Reds second straight series win.

The 5-3 win over the Seattle Mariners secured the Reds second series win coming out of the All-Star break.

 They have 61 games remaining and need to play at the .667 pace, they forged on this road trip to give themselves a chance to play in the postseason again.

Singer had the measure of Josh Naylor in his career mostly spent in the American League.

Naylor had just three hits in 28 career at bats against Singer. He blooped a pitch that even the long outstretched reach of Elly De La Cruz couldn’t catch. Then the first baseman, built like a beer league softball player, stole a base for the 21st time. To put the stolen base in perspective. Reds speedster, De La Cruz stole his 16th in the first inning. Cal Raleigh, who is struggling through a down year after a 60 home run season, singled to right center to give the Mariners a lead.

The Reds got even and more against Mariners starter Emerson Hancock. JJ Bleday launched his 17th home run to lead off the fourth. After two outs Tyler Stephenson hit his 12th double of the season and took third on a wild pitch. Dane Myers hit a ground ball that Cole Young stopped with a dive but couldn’t throw Myers out as Stephenson scored.

Seattle got the runs back in the bottom of the inning.

Dominic Canzone singled to start the inning. He was forced at second. Naylor hit a ground rule double down the third base line against a shifted infield. Raleigh popped out but Luke Raley singled to put the Mariners back on top.

Edward Bacardi relieved Hancock. Edwin Arroyo drew a one out walk. Ke’Bryan Hayes singled. De La Cruz flies out but Sal Stewart hit a drive to right that turned Canzone in a circle for Stewart’s 21st home run and three more RBI for 74 in the season. It is just two off the Major League leading 76 by Jordan Walker and CJ Abrams.

Of Stewart’s 21 home runs 11 have been to right field.

“I think there are guys who relish those opportunities. He can drive the ball so well to right field,” Terry Francona said. “That changed the whole game. He’s so strong. He’s got great hitter hands. The ball jumps off his bat.” 

Singer got two out in the seventh but issued his lone walk of the game to number nine hitter Westin Wilson. It was his last batter. 

Singer pitched 6 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs on six hits. He struck out six.

“He’s working ahead. First pitch strikes,” Terry Francona said. “He’s staying down when he wants to. He’s not walking people. We played pretty good defense today. I think he’s a good pitcher. He got off to a tough start. He had a blister coming out of camp. He kind of found his stride. He takes pride in taking the ball. There is a lot to be said about that.”

Brock Burke made his 51st appearance in relief of Singer. He is one appearance behind Toronto Blue Jays Maso Fluharty for the MLB lead.Burke got Colt Emerson out on a fly out to left. 

Julio Rodriguez hit a one out double off Burke but he got Canzone and Randy Arozarena on ground outs back to him.

“That was big,” Francona said. “We talked about not using him today but he said he was ok.”

Emilio Pagan got his ninth save and second in two days with a perfect ninth.

 

Resurgent Brady Singer Responsible For Winning Road Trip

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Brady Singer started the road trip on a winning note. When he takes the mound in the series finale against the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday afternoon, his outing will decide if the Reds go to St. Louis with a 4-2 record of 3-4.

Singer is 4-9 with a 4.56 ERA in 19 starts. Since June 1st, Singer is 2-4 but has a 2.76 ERA in eight starts that includes three of seven innings or more.

 His last start against the Colorado Rockies in the first game back from the All-Star break, he won a 7-2 decision with seven innings with two runs on four hits, no walks and six strikeouts.

Singer made seven appearances, six start against the Mariners with a 1-2 record and 3.93 ERA.

His last start against the Mariners was on April 17 last season, resulting in an 11-7 loss for the Reds in 10 innings. He pitched 4 1/3 innings, allowing four runs  three earned on six hits and three walks. Singer struck out six. Luke Raley hit a two-run home run off him.

Emerson Hancock was his mound opponent that day, pitching five innings giving up two runs on five hits, including a home run to Austin Hays.

Hancock is a 27-year old right hander who was the Mariner’s first round choice in the 2020 draft out of the University of Georgia.

He is 6-4 with a 3.17 ERA in 18 starts. Hancock is 1-2 in his last five starts. On July 5, he pitched seven scoreless innings against the Toronto Blue Jays with two hits, two walks and five strikeouts in a 4-0 win. His last start was on July 12. He pitched 1 2/3 innings with no runs on no hits and a walk.

This will be his second appearance against the Reds.

Reds Seven Games Under After 100 Games

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Three home runs and a scoreless outing by Chase Burns lifted the Reds to a 4-2 win to improve to 46-54 with 62 games to play.

Elly De La Cruz crushed his 17th home run of the season, leading off the game against former Reds ace, Luis Castillo. 

Eugenio Suarez, who was Castillo’s teammate in two cities, hit his 13th leading off the fourth inning. 

 Sal Stewart’s sacrifice fly added the Reds third run. It was his sixth sacrifice fly of the year and gave him 71 for the season. He is fourth in baseball five RBI shy of CJ Abrams and Jordan Walker who lead baseball with 76. Only Johnny Bench (1970) and Sam Crawford (1901) have driven in that many runs 100 games into the season.

Nathaniel Lowe hit his 12th in the ninth inning to give the Reds some cushion.

Burns pitched five scoreless innings with three hits, two walks and six strikeouts.

The Reds are monitoring his innings as he posted his 12th win against one loss. It is the sixth game in which he put up a scoreless start of five innings or more. 

“He gets it. He’s a pretty sharp kid. I know he loves competing but we do have to keep an eye on him, Terry Francona said. “I told him there’s going to be a day where you’ll probably get two more innings but just not now.” 

Tejay Antone pitched an inning and gave up the third home run of the season for Weston Wilson. Julian Garcia gave up Julio Rodriguez’ 15th home run in his inning.

Emilio Pagan had one strikeout in a perfect ninth to notch his eighth save.

The Reds have 62 games to pass up five teams and make up 5 1/2 games to slip into the last playoff spot, currently held by the Pittsburgh Pirates, who come to Great American Ball Park to play a four game weekend series, set to start July 30.

Reds Young Starting Pitching The Good And Bad

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Coming out of the All-Star break the Reds will find out what their young group of first round starters are made of.

After veteran Brady Singer held off the Colorado Rockies for seven innings in a 7-2 win.

They turned duties over to the number ones in the final two games of the season. 

Rhett Lowder (2023 draft),who was sent to the bullpen to make room for Hunter Greene (2017), both first rounders. Pitched the next two games.

Lowder was clobbered in a 10-2 loss. He allowed eight runs for the second time this season.

After three relief appearances in which he allowed one run in seven innings, Lowder pitched 2 1/3 innings with eight runs on 11 hits. The bright spot was he issued no walks but the Rockies hit three doubles and a triple before Julian Garcia took over.

Greene had a awful first start against the Baltimore Orioles when he gave up  eight runs on seven hits and four walks in 3 1/3 innings.

He won his secord start against seven scoreless innings in a 4-0 win over the Chicago Cubs. He defeated the Rockies in a 9-6 win over Colorado with six innings, with three earned runs allowed on three hits and a walk with 12 strikeouts.

Andrew Abbott a second round pick in 2021, pitched six strong against the Seattle Mariners on Monday night allowing one unearned run in six innings on four hits and two walks. He struck out six.  His record fell to 5-6 with a 3.89 ERA when the Reds were shut out by George Kirby and three relievers. 

Next up is All-Star Chase Burns, the first pick in the 2024 draft with an 11-1 record and a 2.54 ERA. He signed a seven year extension with the Reds with a team option for 2033. 

Burns just two years removed from the draft and called Franchise by his teammate, has pitched 102 2/3 innings in his first full big league seasons. He has 118 strikeouts and 37 walks in those innings.

Burns will start against the Mariners in the second game on Tuesday (072126).

The Mariners start against former Reds ace Luis Castillo, 3-8 and a 4.93 ERA.

Chase Burns Signed Long Term

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Nick Krall, the Reds President of Baseball Operations, announced today that the 23-year old All-Star right handed pitcher, signed an extension through 2033 for $105 million.

The seven year deal gives tge Reds two starting pitchers locked up long term.

 Hunter Greene signed a six-year deal with a team option for 2029 for $53 million.

Greene is 26.

The Reds players refer to him informally as the Franchise.

He was named to the 2026 Bational League All-Star team with an 11-1 record and a 2.54 ERA. 

Brady Singer Pitches Spencer Steer Slams And Scrams

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Brady Singer pitched seven innings for the third time in five games. Spencer Steer homers twice once over the wall once inside the wall in Reds 7-2 win over the Colorado Rockies in Denver. 

The start of the second half got off quickly for the Reds. Elly De La Cruz singled on the first pitch from rookie Gabriel Hughes. Sal Stewart drove in his team leading 66th run of the season.

 Singer pitched four perfect innings until TJ Rumfield touched him with a single to left in the fifth. Kyle Karros grounded into what appeared to be a double play but De La Cruz relay pulled Stewart off the base at first. Willi Castro singled Karros to third and Troy Johnston tied the game with a sacrifice fly. 

Hughes walked JJ Bleday one out into the sixth. Jimmy Herget, who broke in with the Reds, gave up a two-run home run to Steer. It was his 15th. Eugenio Suarez followed with his 12th the ninth set of back-to-back homers hit by Reds batters.

In the seventh Ke’Bryan Hayes reached second on a throwing error by Ezequiel Tovar. De La Cruz singled him to third. Stewart’s 67th RBI came on a sacrifice fly.

Castro’s eighth home run in the seventh kept Colorado in the game.

Singer left after the inning. He pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits. He issued no walks but hit a batter and struck out six.

Steer led off the eighth against Jeff Criswell. Steer hit a drive to the right center field gap. It hit off the base of the wall and took a hard left turn past Jake McCarthy. By the time right fielder Tyler Freeman ran it down, Steer was well around second base and dived into home with his 16th home run.

De La Cruz’s fourth hit of the game was his 16th home run. He increased his average to .282.

Brock Burke pitched a scoreless eighth and Tejay Antone a scoreless ninth.

Brady Singer Opens Second Half

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Brady Singer will open the second half of the season on Friday against the Colorado Rockies. 

Singer was 3-9 with a 4.72 ERA in the first half.

He closed out the last five games with a 1-3 record and 28 2/3 innings, included starts of seven innings and 7 1/3. He allowed nine runs for a 2.83 ERA. 

Singer pitched 7 1/3 innings in his last start o  July 9 against the Philadelphia Phillies. He allowed the only run in a 1-0 loss on four hits, a walk and two hit batters while striking out five.

He is 2-0 with a 1.89 ERA in three career starts against the Rockies. His last start against them was on July 12 last year. He gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk while striking out seven. Singer allowed a home run to Ryan Ritter.

Gabriel Hughes, a 25-year old righthander will pitch for the Rockies. He was the Rockies first pick (10th)in the 2022 draft out of Gonzaga University.

Hughes is making his second career start since he made his first appearance on July 3. He has no record and a 3.00 ERA. He pitched six innings as a starter against the Los Angeles Dodger and gave up three runs on four hits and two walks.

It is his first game against the Reds.

Dane Myers Activated

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

The Reds activated Dane Myers from the 10-day injured list. 

Myers injured his left shoulder making a catch in Milwaukee on June 29. He missed 11 games in which the Reds had a 4-7 record.

Ivan Johnson was optioned to Triple A Louisville.

Reds Close Out First Half On The Frowning Side Of The Scoreboard

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Alex Bregman took out a season of frustration out on the Reds this weekend, closing out the first half with an 8-4 win over the Reds.

It is the sixth win in seven games for the Cubs against the Reds. The Reds limp into the break with a  43-52, the season low point at nine games under .500.

The Cubs finish the first half with a 54-42 record, 10 1/2 games ahead of the Reds, who have dropped 22 of 18 games against National League Central Division rivals.

"It is always big when they score after you take the lead. I know it happens but when you score, you've got to shut them down," Terry Francona said. "The guys need to get away and rejuvenate. Our record certainly anywhere near what we want it to be. We know that. Still, it's a good group and they play hard. They're exhausted. This will be good for them."

Andrew Abbott walked Pete Crow-Armstrong to start the game. The Cubs center fielder stole second and raced to third on a fly out to center by Seiya Suzuki. Alex Bregman lofted a bloop into shallow center field with the infield playing in. Spencer Steer making his second start, ever in center got a glove on it but couldn't catch it. Michael Busch doubled off the base of the right field fence for an RBI double.

Walks have haunted Abbott all season. He has walked four per game and 10.3 percent of batter faced. It is worse than his rookie campaign which was 3.6 per game and 9.6 percent. Those numbers improved each year until this season.

The Reds tied and passed the Cubs in the bottom of the third against Matthew Boyd. Ke'Bryan Hayes singled on the first pitch of the inning. Elly De La Cruz forced him at second just beating the relay from Nico Hoerner. Sal Stewart hit his 22nd double of the season with De La Cruz holding third.

Stewart is for off the pace of the Major League lead in doubles and it is the most by a rookie.

Steer grounded out to shortstop as De La Cruz scored. JJ Bleday singled to left to tie the game and went to second on the throw home. Eugenio Suarez hit his 11th home run of the season into the upper deck in left to give the Reds a 4-2 lead. 

It was Suarez' 200th home run of the list. He is 11th on the Reds list. Eric Davis is 10th with 203.

Walks spooked Abbott again. He walked Carson Kelly. Busch hit his second double in nearly the same spot of his first. Hoerner grounded out to Edwin Arroyo behind second base. For some unknown reason Kelly held third as Hoerner was retired. Abbott loaded the bases when he walked Ian Happ. Dansby Swanson struck out swinging. Kevin Alcantara hit a ground ball up the middle with Arroyo poised to field it but the ball hit second base and bounded into center for a game tying, two-run single. Crow-Armstrong was ruled safe on a ground ball to Arroyo but instead of putting the Cubs up a run, Crow-Armstrong was called out after a Reds' challenge.

"We had some walks. We started the inning. We were unlucky with the ball hitting the base but if we don't have the walks it doesn't matter," Francona said. "Command was a challenge for him. He was at 79 pitches after four. That's a lot. When you see four straight fastballs missing the zone, that's when he's not feeling his best."

The Cubs have 417 walks as a team the most in Major League Baseball.

"They're a good group. We got unlucky there with a bad bounce. It was the third time through the lineup. We were looking for matchups," Abbott said. "I was trying to keep us in the game. With 79 or 80 pitches it saps you of your energy."

In his last start Abbott didn't walk anyone.

"I fell behind some guys. I started nibbling, like my dad would say. I don't want to make a mistake and throw it right down the middle," Abbott said. "I think it is a testament to who they are too. They never come off their approach. They're going to make you throw strikes. They don't chase a lot either. You saw what Hunter (Greene) and (Nick) Lodolo did. They didn't fall behind. I fell behind and really had to grind to get them out."

Chase Petty, called up today when Nick Lodolo was placed on the injured list with a blister, relieved Abbott.

Abbott pitched four innings, allowed four runs on four hits and a costly three walks. He struck out three.

Petty pitched two scoreless innings but left after a leadoff double by Dansby Swanson in the seventh. Sam Moll came on to strike out pinch hitter Pedro Ramirez. Crow-Armstrong singled to put the Cubs ahead 5-4. Suzuki reached on an infield single. 

Pierce Johnson relieved Moll.

Alex Bregman hit a three-run home run his ninth of the season to extend the Cubs lead to 8-4. It was his second home run in two days.

"We didn't get the guys out that we were supposed to," Francona said. 

Nick Lodolo's Blister Puts Him On The Injured List Chase Petty Recalled

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Nick Lodolo left the game with the Chicago Cubs in the sixth inning on Saturday (071126). 

The Reds placed him on the 15-day injured list on Sunday. They brought starter/reliever Chase Petty back from Louisville.

 

The Reds resume the season on Friday in Colorado.

Brady Singer will pitch the first game. Lodolo was scheduled for the second game but Rhett Lowder will return to the rotation. Hunter Greene will close out the Colorado series. Andrew Abbott will open the series in Seattle with Chase Burns following him.

Burns will attend the All Star game but will not pitch. He has some tightness in his legs from covering home plate on a wild pitch.

The Reds and Burns are being cautious. They don’t want the adrenaline of appearing in the Mid Summer Classic will cause an over extension making the injury worse.

Outfielder Dane Myers is going to work out in Arizona during the break to be ready for the second half.

Blake Dunn’s elbow feels better and is getting closer to a return.