Michael Toglia To IL

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

The Reds placed Michael Toglia on the 10-day injured list with a dislocated right shoulder.

Toglia injured the shoulder making a diving catch in the first inning in Friday(082126) against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

 The Reds recalled switch hitting infielder/outfielder Ivan Johnson from Triple A Louisville.

Toglia had three hits, two doubles in 26 at bats. He played in 10 games.

Johnson has played in 12 games with the Reds and has a single in 12 at bats.

He is hitting .255 in 71 games at Louisville with eight doubles and 11 home runs.

JJ Bleday Hits For The Cycle As Reds Roll Diamondbacks

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

The Reds JJ Bleday hit for the elusive cycle as the Reds cut the head off the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-5.

Bleday doubled off Arizona starter, Michael Soroko in the first inning driving Elly De La Cruz. He tripled in the third to drive in Sal Stewart in the third. Bleday singled in the fourth and hit his 21st home run in the sixth. 

It was the fourth cycle in baseball this season. It was the Reds’ first since De La Cruz did in on June 23, 2023.

 The offensive assault helped the Reds build a 6-0 for Reds starter Rhett Lowder.

Lowder gave up Nolan Arenado’s 21st home run in the bottom of the fourth.

But the Reds got that run back against former teammate Zack Littel, on De La Cruz’ 21st home run.

The Diamondbacks scratched out a run in the fifth.

The Reds got that back too.

Bleday led off the sixth with his 21st home run, giving him the last piece of the cycle and three RBI for the game.

Arenado reached base in the bottom of the sixth on catcher’s interference by Tyler Stephenson. Tim Tara followed with his eighth home run.

Lowder finished with a win and a quality start. He pitched six innings, allowing four runs, three earned on six hits and a walk with one strikeout.

The Reds expanded the lead with his first career home run to lead off the seventh.

Stephenson scored De La Cruz with a single. Matt McLain hit his 13th home run off Dennis Santana.

Luis Mey pitched a scoreless seventh.

Tony Santillan allowed a run in his first appearance back from a strained left oblique.

TeJay Antone retired the side in order, striking out Arenado to finish the win.

Eric Davis hit for the cycle on June 2, 1989 against the San Diego Padres. The Reds have had just three in 37 years.

The Reds Did Not Forfeit As The Score Suggests

     

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

The Reds could have had a group outing at Roman’s Oasis in Goodyear and skipped the series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks for all the good it did them to show up.

The 9-0 final score is the same score that is recorded as a forfeit. The Reds were nice enough to show up to give the good people of Phoenix something to watch while escaping the heat in air conditioned Chase Field.

 The Diamondbacks singled Reds’ starter, Nick Lodolo, to help Los Serpientos circle the bases six times on 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings.

Jordan Lawler did hit a two-run home run, his second of the season and Ryan Waldschmidt hit a double but eight singles and four stolen bases did most of the damage.

On the other hand, left hander Eduardo Rodriguez improved to 13-4 with 5 2/3 innings of shutout baseball. He allowed four singles. The Reds got lead off singles by Sal Stewart and Dane Myers in the fourth but stranded them. Light hitting TJ Friedl got his first hit in 32 at bats and Ke’Bryan Hayes singled in the fifth but Elly De La Cruz hit into a double play to end the inning.

The Diamondbacks bullpen finished off the Reds.

The Reds started and ended the game with three starters hitting under .200.

Matt McLain, Hayes and Michael Toglia, who was replaced by Friedl after he separated his right shoulder while making a diving catch in the bottom of the first. Toglia started the game hitting .115. McLain finished the game at .198. Friedl finished at .160 and Hayes at .155.

Will Banfield had his first at bat of the season, striking out to end the non contest.

The Reds were shutout for the third time in nine games. They scored just one run in another three games in the period.

The Reds are dead last in baseball in batting average .225 and on base percentage .305.

Tony Santillan Is Back

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Tony Santillan’s fight with his left oblique is over.

The Reds re activated him from the injured list and optioned Zach Maxwell back to Louisville. 

life."

Santillan allowed one earned run in his last 5 2/3 innings. He totaled a 1-4 record with a 5.23 ERA in 34 appearances with five saves. 

 

He was placed on the injured list on June 26. He missed 49 games. The Reds were 24-25 in those games.

Dane Myers Dropped A Game Ending Fly To Open The Floodgates For the Cardinals

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Dane Myers has saved several games with great catches in center field. On this day his muff with two outs in the ninth with the Reds leading 5-4 turned into an ugly 10-9 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Jordan Walker hit his 26th home run and second in two games in the third inning, putting Reds' starter, Brady Singer, in a 4-0 hole.

Rookie JJ Wetherholt was hit by a pitch in the first inning. Ivan Herrera singled. Wetherholt went to third on a flyball to deep right by Alec Burleson. He scored on a groundout by Walker for an RBI.

Walker forged a tie with Sal Stewart at the top of the MLB RBI list with 94, passing teammate Burleson, who has 92. The numbers were temporary.

Wetherholt singled and Herrera walked in front of Walker's homer to straight away center field.

The Reds got to Cardinals starter Michael McGreevy in the sixth inning. Bottom of the order hitters, Hector Rodriguez and Ke'Bryan Hayes singled to open the frame. Elly De La Cruz struck out on a checked swing on a 3-2 pitch. Stewart walked to load the bases. JJ Bleday singled to score Rodriguez. After Tyler Stephenson struck out. Matt McLain hit his 12th home run of the season and second career grand slam a 5-4 lead that they carried into the ninth inning.

Singer pitched six innings and allowed four runs on five hits, one walk and two hit batters, one of which scored. He was in line for a win until the improbable happened.

Julian Garcia and Tejay Antone pitched scoreless innings and with De La Cruz as the DH. Stewart and McLain turned double plays in the sixth and seventh inning.

The wheels fell completely off in the ninth. 

Brock Burke made his league leading 65th appearance and was looking for his third save of the year.

Pinch hitter Jose Fermin singled to open the inning. The third hit batter was Bryan Torres, who was trying to bunt. The Reds challenged the hit batter call on the field, claiming it was foul. The call was upheld. Blaze Jordan hit a fly to deep center. Myers caught it and nearly threw out Torres going to second base. Burke struck out pinch hitter Everson Pereira. Wetherholt lifted a fly to left center. TJ Friedl and Myers were right there. It glanced off Myers glove for a two-base error and put the Cardinals in the lead.

Burke never got that third out. 

Burleson singled to drive in Wetherholt for his 93rd RBI. Walker and Joshua Baez walked to force home a run. 

Zach Maxwell came in and gave up Fermin's second single of the inning that scored two more runs. Masyn Winn struck out to end the inning after six runs crossed the plate.

The Reds battled back against George Soriano.

McLain walked but Michael Toglia struck out. Dane Myers walked an Friedl struck out swinging. He has no hits in his last 29 at bats.

Eugenio Suarez pinch hit and single in McLain for his 1,000th career RBI. De La Cruz walked. 

Riley O'Brien replaced Soriano.

Stewart reclaimed the major league lead in RBI at 96 with a two-run single. Bleday and Stephenson walked to make it a one-run game. McLain hit a hard line drive to right that Walker caught on the run to give O'Brien his National League leading 33rd save.

Sal Stewart Blasts Key Blow To Even The Series

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Sal Stewart's amazing rookie season exploded in front of his closet rival for Rookie of the Year with a three-run home run that the Reds used to take a 5-4 win to even the series at two games apiece with the St. Louis Cardinals.

The Reds went through the bottom of the fifth inning with four lonely singles in the last 14 innings, after being shut out on three singles on Tuesday. Matt Liberatore, the Cardinals' starter,  struck out the side in the fourth and two more in the fifth. 

"There was a lot of frustration, you know," Stewart said. "We haven't been playing the way we're capable of, starting with myself. It was exciting putting some runs on the board."

Stewart erased the frustration.

"One Sal is a really good hitter. I know he relishes those opportunities," Terry Francona said. "I'm thankful he does because up to that point we really had nothing going. It was like the last couple days, I mean McLain swung it and that was really all we had. Elly hit the line drive they couldn't quite get. Sal had a beautiful swing. We hung on for dear life."

Matt McLain doubled off the base of the left field wall in the sixth. Elly De La Cruz lined a single off the glove of  JJ Wetherholt, who is another candidate for Rookie of the Year,  into right field. McLain had to hold to make sure it wasn't caught. Sal Stewart hit a 2-1 pitch 422 ft off the base of the batter's eye in center field for his 27th home run and collected RBI's 92,93 and 94 to take over the Major League lead from Burleson.

Chase Burns retired the first seven Cardinal batters he faced. Blaze Jordan got an infield single that bounced off Eugenio Suarez glove and fielded by De La Cruz in short left field but he had no play. 

Wetherholt doubled to the gap in right centerfield. Dane Myers played it off the wall and threw to De La Cruz, who relayed the ball home in plenty of time to get Jordan for the third out.

The Cardinals got to Burns in the fourth inning. Alec Burleson walked and moved up on a wild pitch. With two outs Nathan Church singled through the hole at shortstop to score Burleson. Masyn Winn walked to send Church to second. Bryan Torres singled to right to plate Church.

The Reds didn't get a base runner until number nine hitter, Matt McLain singled to center. Cardinals' starter, Matt Liberatore, struck out De La Cruz.

It took Burns, who was trying to earn his 15th win against two losses, off the hook.

He pitched five innings, allowed two runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out six. Burns has pitched at least five innings in each of his 24 starts. He has allowed two runs or fewer in 20 of them.

"I try to do that every time, six innings, five innings," Burns said. "I was just trying to make good pitches. I was almost out of gas."

He threw 104 pitches.

"His pitch count was really high," Francona said. "They (Cardinals) did a really good job. They made him work really hard. That's probably the last thing I wanted him to do was throw 100 in five innings. That's tough. The kid competes like crazy. He got through that which was huge."

Brock Burke walked two Cardinals in the seventh inning but stranded them. Luis Mey walked one but struck out three in the eighth inning.

The Reds added insurance in a steady drizzle in the bottom of the eighth against Justin Bruihl. 

Jose Trevino singled up the middle. He went to second on a wild pitch. McLain bunted to third, Jordan bobbled it then threw it down the first base line. Trevino trotted home. McLain stole second and went to third on De La Cruz deep fly to center. Stewart was walked intentionally. Dane Myers laid down a squeeze bunt that scored McLain and no one covered first. Suarez walked to load the bases. Defensive specialist Ke'Bryan Hayes ran for Suarez. Tyler Stephenson took the count full but was called out on strikes. 

Jose Pagan survived some drama in the top of the ninth. He hit Wetherholt with a pitch, leading off the inning. Pagan retired Ivan Herrera on a routine fly to center. Burleson hit a smash that Stewart knocked down, he recovered to step on the bag to finish Burleson. Jordan Walker hit his 25th home run to make it a one-run game. It gave him 90 RBI on the season, two behind Burleson's team-leading 92. Jose Fermin brought on the drama with a double to left field. He went to third on a wild pitch as the count went full to Masyn Winn. Win hit a slow roller to Pagan, who had mud caked on his spikes. Pagan threw him out to earn his 15th save of the season. 

He has nine saves and three wins in his last 12 appearances.

Tony Santillan And Graham Ashcraft Nearly Ready For Prime Time

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

The Reds bullpen has been stretched to its limit this season to the point that the organization began to stretch late inning relievers, Luis Mey and Zach Maxwell out to pitch more than one inning.

In the meantime, Tony Santillan has been recovering from a strained oblique and Graham Ashcraft is nursing a strained elbow.

Santillan pitched a scoreless inning on Tuesday (081826) against Indianapolis. He struck out two and threw 15 pitches, nine for strikes. It was his third rehab outing.

"The plan is to activate him on Friday, give him a couple days to regroup and make sure he's ok. We will activate him on Friday in Arizona," Terry Francona said. 

Ashcraft threw live batting practice at Great American Ball Park on Thursday (081526). 

"He will throw to hitters Saturday in Louisville," Francona said. "He will pitch in Louisville on Tuesday (082526)."

Maxwell pitched 2 1/3 innings on Tuesday night. He had pitched 2 1/3 in Louisville in his last time out.

"He threw 41 pitches and had five days off," Francona said. "Brad (general manager Meador) have talked a lot about this. A lot of time the guys that are eighth and ninth pitchers at Triple A, when they come up here, they're not. You need them to go longer. They have been trying to make a point of stretching those guys out. Like Mey, the same thing. I think it helps them to throw strikes. It doesn't limit you to making a roster move after somebody pitches."

Spencer Steer will see a specialist in Arizona about his wrist injury.

Andrew Abbott Got No Support And Falls To The Cardinals

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

Finally with good weather while he was on the mound, Andrew Abbott pitched as well as he ever has. The problem was the Reds' anemic offense mounted no threat at all as the Reds fell to the St. Louis Cardinals, 3-0.

Abbott handled every other batter in the Cardinals' lineup but Masyn Winn, who had two doubles (although one was truly a foul ball) and a home run.

The home run would be enough as the Reds have scored one or fewer runs in six of their last 10 games.

In his last three starts, Abbott had to deal with oppressive heat, and heavy rain. He handled each but couldn't survive the lack of run support.

Abbott threw strikes on his first 17 pitches.

"That was the mission tonight to be in the zone," Abbott said. "Get ahead of guys and make them swing at what I want to throw, when I want to throw it. Me and (acting pitching coach Matt) Tracy talked about that this week. I was behind in the count a lot this year and got hurt with the ball in the zone. They can't take a pitch off. They have to be ready to hit."

The Cardinals' Kyle Leahy and the Reds' Abbott traded zeroes until Masyn Winn hit his fifth home run of the season in the fifth inning.

"It was a cutter in. It was a pretty good pitch. You have to tip your hat," Abbott said.

Winn had the first two Cardinals' hits. He hit a double in the second inning.

Leahy gave up singles to Sal Stewart, Ke'Bryan Hayes and Dane Myers in his five innings. He didn't walk a better and struck out six before turning the game over to Ryan Stanek. Leahy won for the 10th time this season.

"We did a good job of getting his pitch count up but didn't have anything to show for it," Terry Francona said. "It was frustrating."

Winn doubled with one out in the seventh inning and scored on a double by Jose Fermin. Abbott was relieved by Zach Maxwell after Fermin's double.

"The ball was foul. I came in and looked at it. I'm not sure if you can challenge it or not," Abbott said. 

He pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on four hits with two walks and six strikeouts.

"I thought Abbott was really good," Francona said. "He gave up a solo home run to win but he was in the strike zone with all his pitches. We've got to find a way to score some runs for him."

Maxwell gave up a bloop single to Pedro Pages but retired the last two batters to strand the runners.

Jordan Walker led off the eighth with an infield single. Alec Burleson belted a double to the gap in left center to put runners on second and third with no outs. Joshua Baez drove in the Cardinals' third run with a fly out to center. Maxwell finally got Winn out on a routine fly to right to end the inning.

The Cardinals bullpen pitched four innings of hitless baseball.

Riley O'Brien pitched a perfect ninth for his 32nd save.

Could Dane Myers Home Run Been A Hal King Moment?

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

It looked like the Reds were going to drop a double header to the St. Louis Cardinals that would have put them 5 1/2 games behind the Cardinals and 7 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres for the final Wild Card position.

There were two outs and the bases empty when Dane Myers pinch hit for Jose Trevino in the bottom of the ninth with the Reds trailing 5-4 against Peter Strzelecki who was one out away from a win.

Myers, who also homered in the first game of the double header, launched a 1-0 pitch into the left field stands to tie the game.

Instead of dropping a double header, right then and there, the home run sent the game to extra innings. Elly De La Cruz singled to score ghost runner, Tyler Stephenson with the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

Will the moment become the spring board to propel the Reds to the 2026 playoffs with 37 games remaining? That is to be determined. 

Long time Reds fans point to a moment in 1973 in which the Reds trailed the Los Angeles Dodgers by 11 games in the first game of a double header on July 1, 1973. The Dodgers had Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton about to complete a 3-1 victory when lifetime backup catcher, Hal King, came to the plate with two on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning with a .182 average and two home runs.

King was brought brought up on June 20 after catching 38 games at Triple A Indianapolis, hitting .252 with seven home runs.

Tony Perez doubled to lead off the ninth inning but Sutton, who was a nine-game winner at the time, retired Bobby Tolan on a pop up to second base. Sutton struck out Larry Stahl. Johnny Bench pinch hit for Dave Concepcion. The Dodgers elected to walk Bench intentionally. Reds manager Sparky Anderson sent King up to bat for Bench's backup, Bill Plummer. 

King and Sutton went to a 2-2 count before launching his second home run of the season over the right centerfield fence at Riverfront Stadium to win the game. The Reds won the second game 3-2 in 10 innings.

The Reds went on a run of 60-26 and allowed them to overtake the Dodgers and win the National League West title.

King also homered in another pinch hit appearance in the 10th inning on August 17 to provide the winning run against the New York Mets, who the Reds ended up playing in the NLCS.

The Mets went on to the 1973 World Series against the Oakland Athletics.

Noelvi Marte Optioned Will Banfield Third Catcher Recalled

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Dateline: Cincinnati  

The Reds sent a .189 hitting outfielder to Triple A Louisville and recalled a third catcher.

Noelvi Marte hit .189 in 63 games with seven doubles, six home runs and 15 RBI. Since August first, Marte appeared in 12 games and had four singles in 30 at bats (.133) with 10 strikeouts.

His defense has also lapsed. 

Will Banfield, a 26-year old catcher, the second round pick of the Miami Marlins in the 2018 draft out of Brookwood High School in Snellville, Georgia will join the Reds for the third game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Banfield caught in 78 games in Louisville and was hitting .262 with 12 doubles, 11 home runs and 46 RBI for the Bats.

He was with the Reds for 10 games last season, while Tyler Stephenson was on the injured list and had a single in 10 at bats.

Tyler Stephenson has been one of the Reds' most productive hitters since June. Starting June 7, Stephenson is hitting .309 with 10 doubles, eight home runs and 22 RBI. He has slashed .309/.380/.537 for an OPS of .916. The catching rigors requires more days off. The Reds can now use him as a designated hitter to get him off his feet for a game here and there with Banfield here.

"It is just a chance. We got a kid here (Banfield) who can catch and throw really well," Terry Francona said. "We talked about a number of different scenarios and we thought this might be the best way to help our roster. He's a great kid. Hopefully, this can be a little bit of a learning experience while he's here. Stevo's had a big load too. This should help."

Francona asked Marte how things were going as they told him about the demotion.

"He said, not very well," Francona said. "It is kind of a pivotal time for him. He will probably find a way to get some hits in Triple A but he's got to play with some urgency and get after it. Be the first one out there, don't be the last one out there, take charge in the outfield. He has all the tools to be an every day player. Saying that, when you're playing, you have to find a way to help your team win. It is not just getting hits. It's playing the position and being accountable for so many different things. He was just having a tough time by his own admission."

Banfield has been learning on the job in Louisville.

"He's really done a good job, like learning how to follow the scouting report a little bit more and the game plan. He came from Miami where they were kind of calling stuff for him," Francona said. "He's chipped in offensively, way more than he did in the past."