The Cincinnati Reds got shutout in the series opener but they came back the Yankee Stadium on Saturday afternoon and returned the favor by taking New York to the proverbial wood shed in a blowout 10-2 win. The series is now tied up with each team having a win under their belt and looking towards Sunday’s finale for a series victory.
It didn’t take very long for the Yankees to grab a lead. After the Reds went down in order on strikeouts in the top of the 1st inning, New York jumped ahead 1-0 on a Paul Goldschmidt into right-center.
Two innings later the Reds got in on the action. Edwin Arroyo got a rally started with a 1-out double. Blake Dunn followed up with a walk and then two batters later Sal Stewart doubled to plate both runners as Cincinnati took the lead. Two innings later it was Stewart once again coming through, this time with a sacrifice fly to extend the lead to 3-1. Will Warren would walk Nathaniel Lowe on five pitches to put two men on for Spencer Steer and he put an end to a long slump with a long 3-run home run to make Warren pay.
Andrew Abbott found himself in trouble in the bottom of the inning after giving up back-to-back 1-out singles and then a 2-out walk that loaded the bases. The lefty clamped down and ended the threat with a strikeout of Paul Goldschmidt. Abbott returned for the 6th and again got himself into trouble as he gave up two singles to start the inning before the Reds went to the bullpen to bring in Tejay Antone. The reliever got the job done, getting two infield pop ups and then a lazy fly ball to right field to strand both runners and hold onto the 6-1 lead.
Cincinnati’s offense put together a rally in the 8th, loading the bases with three singles. They had two outs and hadn’t capitalized yet, but it was once again Sal Stewart coming through. The rookie split the left-center gap with a 3-run double to make it 9-1 and give himself six RBI on the day. Dane Myers then came off of the bench to pinch hit against the Yankees lefty reliever and he doubled off of the wall in left to bring in another run to extend the lead to 10-1.
New York would score a run in the bottom of the 8th inning on a groundout after starting the inning with back-to-back singles. That was all they would get as Chase Petty came into the game for the bottom of the 9th and shut things down for the Reds in what turned into a 10-2 win.
Key Moment of the Game
Spencer Steer’s 3-run home run in the 5th inning that turned a 2-run game into a 5-run game and essentially put things away.
Notes Worth Noting
Edwin Arroyo had a 4-hit day. This was his first multi-hit game in the big leagues.
Sal Stewart’s six RBI matched a career high. He had six RBI back on April 15th against the San Francisco Giants.
Arroyo, Stewart, Nathaniel Lowe, and Blake Dunn all had multi-hit days.
Andrew Abbott lowered his ERA to 3.83 on the season. Since April 30th he’s made 10 starts and has an ERA of 2.73.
Since joining the Reds on May 6th Tejay Antone has a 2.75 ERA in his 19.2 innings pitched. On top of that he’s allowed just one of eight inherited runners to come in to score, saving the rest of the pitching staff’s butts.
The Reds had seven doubles and a home run in the game. New York had just one extra-base hit on the day.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs New York Yankees
Sunday June 21st, 1:35pm ET
Chase Burns (8-1, 2.01 ERA) vs Elmer Rodriguez (0-1, 4.15 ERA)