It was a wild day in more than one way on Thursday afternoon in Goodyear, Arizona. The Cincinnati Reds and San Diego Padres traded 3-run innings and 6-run innings before the Reds were able to grab the lead for the final time in the bottom of the 8th. The high-scoring affair saw the teams combine for 14 hits and 16 walks on the day.
The Highlights
Chase Burns got into a little bit of trouble in the 1st inning after a walk and a single with two outs, but he would strike out Ty France to end the threat. In the next inning he would work around another walk, picking off the runner while adding in two strikeouts in the inning.
In the bottom of the 2nd inning the Reds would take advantage of a bases loaded situation when Will Banfield cleared the bases with a 3-run double to put Cincinnati on top. The Padres got one of those runs back when Chase Burns gave up a solo home run to Rodolfo Duran in the 3rd inning. After recording a strikeout on the second batter of the inning his day came to an end.
Nick Sando took over and he walked Fernando Tatis Jr. and then gave up a 2-run home run to Manny Machado as San Diego tied the game up. Chase Petty took over the next inning and fired off 2.0 hitless innings.
The offense would reward Petty for his efforts in the bottom of the 5th inning. They would rally for six runs in the inning, getting singles from TJ Friedl and Matt McLain, walks from Eugenio Suarez, Spencer Steer, and Will Benson, and RBI doubles from Elly De La Cruz, Noelvi Marte, and Dane Myers. In unfortunate news, Will Banfield was both the first and last out of the inning, with both outs coming via the strikeout.
For as good as everyone in the Reds dugout may have been feeling after the 5th, they weren’t feeling that way for long. San Diego greeted Graham Ashcraft as rudely as they could in the top of the 6th. He would record just one out, give up four hits, walk two batters, and give up a grand slam to Manny Machado before exiting the game after having given up six earned runs. Minor league pitcher JP Ortiz took over for Ashcraft there and got out of the inning with no further damage.
The Reds did a little bit of damage in the next half-inning to get the lead back. Tyler Callihan took the second pitch of the inning, an 84 MPH change up, and crushed it over the wall in right-center for a go-ahead solo home run. It was the first home run of the spring for Callihan.
Cincinnati’s lead was short-lived. The Padres got the tying run around to the plate after picking up a double and then an RBI single against Zach Maxwell in the top of the 8th inning. Things swung back in favor of the Reds in the bottom of the inning with a little rally that started with a double from Tyler Callihan. He moved up a bag on an infield hit and then scored on an RBI single from Cam Collier as they took an 11-10 lead.
Will Cannon headed to the mound to try and hold onto the 1-run lead in the top of the 9th for Cincinnati. He needed 11 pitches to get three straight outs and seal the victory to move the Reds to 3-2 on the spring.
You can see the box score for this game here.
News and Notes
Chase Burns threw 48 pitches with just 26 strikes on the day. But of those strikes he did throw he got 23 swings and 14 misses.
Elly De La Cruz is now 5-9 this spring and all of his hits have been for extra-bases. He’s smacked three doubles, a triple, and a home run so far out in Arizona.
Spencer Steer went 1-1 with two walks and two runs on the day. Noelvi Marte and Will Banfield both had a double and drove in three runs. Tyler Callihan came off of the bench to go 2-2 with a double and a home run.
Six different pitchers in the game walked more hitters than they struck out. The Padres had six walks and six strikeouts as a team, while the Reds staff had 10 walks and 12 strikeouts.
Chase Petty (2IP), JP Ortiz (0.2IP), Connor Phillips (1IP), and Will Cannon (1IP) all had scoreless appearances on the day for Cincinnati.
Tomorrow the Reds are at home and playing host to the Los Angeles Angels. Scheduled to pitch in that game: Rhett Lowder, Julian Aguiar, Jose Franco, Sam Moll, and Yunior Marte. First pitch is scheduled for 3:05pm ET.