Reds Fly With Angels

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The Reds jumped ahead of the Los Angeles Angels and kept pressing the gas pedal.

It was the fourth straight win for the Reds, who took a 11-3 decision.

Dilson Herrera,who is not throwing in spring games to nurse his shoulder, singled to open the second inning; his first of two hits against Angels starter, Garrett Richards.  Jesse Winker singled. Both moved up on a wild pitch and scored on Tucker Barnhart’s single.

Reds’ starter Brandon Finnegan gave up a solo home run to Jefry Marte in the bottom of the inning.

Scott Schebler hit a triple with two outs and scored on Herrera’s double.

The Angels fought back against Finnegan.  Yunel Escobar singled and scored on Kole Calhoun’s home run.

Finnegan pitched three innings, allowing three runs on three hits and a walk.  He struck out two.

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“My goal was to throw strikes.  That’s what I did, so I’m happy about it,” Finnegan said. “I walked a guy a couple of pitches got away from me.  I threw a good pitch on the homers both times. They were looking for them, cheated to it and barely got them out.  They were good pitches that’s all that matters.”

Anthony DeSclafani’s elbow setback may prevent him from pitching opening day.  The assignment could fall to Finnegan by default.

“Everybody wants to start opening day,”  Finnegan said.  “Every starter should want that. It sucks for DeSco if he can’t. It would be two years that he would have gotten the start and didn’t get to. I want him to be healthy from opening day to the end of the season but if they ask me to do it, I’m going to do it.”

The Reds got a run back in the fifth.  Zack Cozart singled to leadoff.  Schebler reached on an error by Danny Espinosa.  Cozart advanced to third when Herrera flied out. Winker’s second hit of the game and fifth in two days plated Cozart with the unearned run.

Raisel Iglesias pitched two perfect innings. Jimmy Herget pitched one scoreless frame in which he wisely walked Mike Trout.

Tony Renda hit a two-run home with Zach Vincej, who singled, scoring ahead of him.

Patrick Kivlehan tripled to extend his hitting streak to five games.  When the ball got past centerfielder Ramon Flores, Kivlehan took a big turn at third.  He wanted to score but Billy Hatcher wisely held him.

The Reds got one scoreless inning from Nick Rout. Tyler Mahle closed the game with two scoreless innings.
The Reds added four more runs in the ninth. Kivlehan had his second hit of the game.  Renda doubled for his second hit and Phillip Ervin added a double.  The Angels helped with a couple errors.

The Reds are looking to fill out a versatile bench.  Kivlehan is in a competition with Hernan Iribarren, Arismendy Alcantara, Ryan Raburn, Tony Renda and Desmond Jennings for two, maybe three open spots.

The competition for bench spot have proven to be tight so far.

“Awesome. It’s been great, rotation, bullpen, bench,” Price said. ‘There is some great competition.  There are a lot. It’s fun to watch.”

Notes: Bronson Arroyo will pitch in an All-Star game at 10:00 on Tuesday March 7.  “We tried to schedule a ‘B’ game but opted for an in-camp game.”  It will be one inning in a controlled environment  “It is a transition from throwing bullpens. He’s going to ramp it up a little bit. He will pitch competitively and see how he bounces back,” Price said.  If things go well, Arroyo will pitch in a Cactus League game March 12....Anthony DeSclafani is tentatively scheduled for another bullpen session on March 7.  The Reds are hoping DeSclafani will appear in a Cactus League game between the 13th and 15th of March. That will give him a minimum of four starts. “It depends on if he gets through these games healthy and where we slot him in the rotation,” Price said.  If he needs an extra start the Reds can put him at the back end of the starting rotation to start the season.