Dateline: Cincinnati
The bright side for the Reds on Sunday (092026) was the Chicago Cubs couldn't be the second team this week to douse the visiting clubhouse with Chamagne.
The Cubs came close.
They returned to Chicago with the knowledge that if the Arizona Diamondbacks lose to the New York Yankees this afternoon they clinch at least a tie for a playoff berth. A tie with Arizona guarantees them a spot in the postseason. The question to be decided this week against the Miami Marlins and the Boston Red Sox is where in the playoff seeding they will be.
Crow-Armstrong had three hits, scored three runs and hit his 45th home run of the season to tie Kyle Schwarber for the Major League lead in a 9-1 route of the reeling Reds in their last home game.
The Cubs got to Rhett Lowder for five runs in three innings. Lowder gave up six hits and three walks, including a bases loaded walk to Nico Hoerner.
"It was walks hits and not putting the ball where he wanted to," Terry Francona said. "
David Peterson started the game for the Cubs and allowed just three hits, including JJ Bleday's 23rd home run of the year.
The Reds got a scoreless inning from Luis Mey but a "feel good" story turned sour. Carson Spiers had an emotional return, coming back from "Tommy John" surgery a year ago. His triumphant return lasted one out before Michael Conforto belted his 15th home run of the year. Pedro Ramirez followed with a single. Spiers struck out Miguel Amaya but Crow-Armstrong hit his home run to extend the lead to 8-1.
Spiers settled in a bit by retiring six straight batters seven out of eight until Seiya Suzuki hit his 25th of the season that landed inside the batter's eye, 440 feet from home plate. Although Spiers struck out the last two batters he faced the game was out of reach.
"I know he was mad when he came out," Francona said. "I told him, to think about where he was. Even though he was throwing the ball real good in Triple A, his velocity was down a tick. You will pitch a couple more times and have a normal off season and get stronger."
The Reds managed four hits, including an infield single by Elly De La Cruz; singles by Matt McLain and Will Banfield.
The big downer for the Cubs is Alex Bregman was hit in the face with a foul ball off the bat of Michael Busch. Bregman was removed from the game and taken to the hospital. There were few details after the game.
The Reds fell to their lowest level of the season, 12 games below .500 with six left to play. They haven't had been down that many games since the end of the 2022 season in which they were 62-100.
No comments:
Post a Comment