One big inning for Kansas City was all they needed on Satruday afternoon in Arizona as they picked up a 6-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds. The loss brought the Reds record back to the .500 mark in Cactus League play as they fell to 6-6.
The Highlights
Kansas City would get on the board early as former Red Jonathan India led off the bottom of the 1st inning with a home run – his first of the spring. Nick Lodolo found himself in trouble to start the next inning, too, when he gave up a leadoff double and then a single to follow. The lefty clamped down and struck out the next three batters to get out of the game.
Cincinnati would threaten a few times in the first three innings but was unable to come through. That changed in the 4th when Spencer Steer doubled to start the inning and then came in to score when Christian Encarnacion-Strand smacked a 2-out double to tie the game up.
Nick Lodolo returned for the bottom of the 4th inning and faced two batters without recording an out after giving up an infield single and walking a batter. Reliever Sam Benschoter came on to relieve him and threw six pitches to get a ground out and a groundball double play to get out of the inning unscathed.
Pierce Johnson came on to fire off a perfect 5th inning. Things did not go as well for Caleb Ferguson when he took over for the 6th. He would give up five runs on five hits and two walks while getting just two outs before being replaced by Trevor Kuncl. He would walk the first batter he faced but follow up with a strikeout to strand the bases loaded.
Hagen Danner and Anthony Misiewicz both threw a shutout inning to follow to keep the score at 6-1 heading into the 9th inning. Cincinnati got a leadoff double in the inning from Will Banfield and he grabbed third base on a wild pitch. He would then come in to score on a ground out by Carlos Jorge to make it 6-2. Tyson Lewis picked up an infield single and then moved to third when Shane Sasaki doubled, but they would be stranded there as the game ended on a groundout.
You can see the box score for this game here.
News and Notes
Spencer Steer went 2-3 with a double. After starting the spring 0-6 he’s gone 5-11 with two doubles, five walks, and two strikeouts. This was also his first start in seven games that wasn’t at first base. He got the start in left field in this one.
Nick Lodolo had four strikeouts in his 3.0 innings. The bullpen also had four strikeouts but they threw 5.0 innings.
Eugenio Suarez is in the lineup tonight for Venezuela as they face off against Team Israel in the World Baseball Classic.
Sunday will be a busy day for following Reds baseball if you choose to. They will play two games. At 4:05pm ET they will face off in Goodyear against the Arizona Diamondbacks. At 4:10pm ET they will also have a road game against the San Diego Padres. Both games will be available to watch through Reds.tv or MLB.tv as they are listed as the Free Game of the Day. Scheduled to pitch against Arizona: Brady Singer, Emilio Pagan, Tony Santillan, and Graham Ashcraft. Scheduled to pitch against San Diego: Chase Burns, Chase Petty, and Zach Maxwell.