Rhett Lowder made his first start of the spring and was lights out for Cincinnati. As soon as he left the game, though, the Angels offense went to work and took a lead that they never relinquished as Los Angeles held on for a 4-3 win over the Reds that ended their 3-game winning streak.
The Highlights
Rhett Lowder got the start on Friday for the Reds and he was on top of his game. The right-hander is competing for the final spot in the rotation and he fired off 3.0 hitless innings, walking one batter and striking out three. He needed just 30 pitches to get through his outing and of those 30 pitches he had 21 strikes.
When Lowder exited the game Cincinnati was up 1-0 thanks to a rally in the bottom of the 1st that saw JJ Bleday and Sal Stewart single before Eugenio Suarez walked to load the bases. Jose Trevino then singled in a run to plate a run.
Julian Aguier took over on the mound in the 4th inning and the Angels got to him quickly. They would score three runs in the inning on a 2-run home run by Logan O’Hoppe and then an RBI ground-rule double by Oswald Peraza as they grabbed a 3-1 lead.
Rece Hinds would lead off the bottom of the 5th inning with a triple. Garrett Hampson then came through with a sacrifice fly to score Hinds and make it a 3-2 ballgame.
Los Angeles extended their lead in the top of the 7th against Yunior Marte after he gave up two hits in the inning, including an RBI double to Denzer Guzman that made it 4-2.
Jose Franco pitched the final two innings for the Reds and didn’t give up a hit while striking out five batters. The only baserunner against him came in the 9th when he hit a batter, but he stranded him. Cincinnati would grab a run on a 377-foot solo home run by Blake Dunn in the 9th inning but that would be all they would get as they fell 4-3.
You can see the box score for this game here.
News and Notes
JJ Bleday (2-3, run scored) and Jose Trevino (2-2, RBI) both had multiple hits in the game. Rece Hinds went 1-1 with a walk, triple, and a run scored. Sal Stewart went 1-3. The only hit by a player coming off of the bench was the home run by Blake Dunn in the 9th. As a whole the Reds bench went 1-10.
Cincinnati pitchers combined for 12 strikeouts and just two walks.
Jose Franco now has struck out seven of the 13 batters he’s faced over his two spring outings. He hasn’t walked anyone yet.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand made his spring debut. He came off of the bench and grounded out in the bottom of the 7th inning. He had been recovering from a hamstring issue since the start of spring training.
The Reds hit the road on Saturday as they take on the Milwaukee Brewers. This game will be televised at 3:05pm ET on Reds.tv (which is free during spring training for those in the Cincinnati Reds television market) or MLB.tv if you are out of market. Expected to pitch for the Reds in this game: Hunter Greene, Pierce Johnson, Lyon Richardson, Anthony Misiewicz, Darren McCaughan, Hagen Danner, and Davis Daniel.