The Los Angeles Dodgers got out to an early 4-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st inning, and while the Reds did battle back early on to draw the game within a run they never could slow down the Dodgers offense. Cincinnati would fall 9-5 on Thursday night and drop to 9-9 on the spring.
The Highlights
Nick Lodolo did not have a good start to this game. Elly De La Cruz saved a hit against the first hitter of the bottom of the 1st, but the next four hitters reached base before the second out of the inning was recorded. Former Red Santiago Espinal then doubled in two runs to cap off a 4-run inning.
Cincinnati would get a run back in the top of the 2nd thanks to some control issues with Dodgers starter Cole Irvin as he walked Dane Myers before giving up a 1-out single to Noelvi Marte. Back-to-back walks to Ke’Bryan Hayes and Rece Hinds then brought in a run. The next inning the Reds would get two more runs as Noevli Marte singled in Sal Stewart and then a wild pitch brought in Dane Myers as the road team cut the Los Angeles lead to 4-3.
The lead expanded in the bottom of the inning when the Dodgers got a 2-out single from Alex Call that was followed up by a 2-run home run from Max Muncy. Nick Lodolo would get out of the inning after that, and toss a perfect 4th inning to complete his day.
Tejay Antone took over for Lodolo to begin the 5th and he gave up a leadoff single on the first pitch of the inning. Teoscar Hernandez then hit a 2-run home run three pitches later. The next two batters also reached base before Antone retired the next three batters to get out of the inning after throwing 31 pitches.
Cincinnati would get some help from the Dodgers in the top of the 7th inning. Prospect Hansel Jimenez reached on a throwing error to begin the inning. He came in to score when Carlos Jorge doubled the other way. Jorge would score later in the inning on a passed ball, bringing the score to 8-5 in favor of the Dodgers. The score didn’t remain there for too long as Kyle Nevin hit a solo home run off of Brock Burke to push the home team’s lead to four runs.
From that point forward neither team would score and Los Angeles held on for a 9-5 win.
You can see the box score for this game here.
News and Notes
Noelvi Marte picked up two hits and drove in a run. It’s his second straight day with multiple hits. He’s now hitting .313/.333/.625. He only has one walk this spring in 33 trips to the plate and it came back on February 24th.
Dane Myers had a hit and drew a walk on the night. He entered camp perhaps competing for a job, and if he was he’s done all he can to secure it as he’s now hitting .350/.552/.650 with nine walks and just two strikeouts.
Sal Stewart had a hit and a walk in the game. He now has as many walks as strikeouts this spring – five – in his 33 plate appearances. Stewart is hitting .321/.424/.571 with two home runs.
The Reds only had one extra-base hit in the game – a double from Carlos Jorge that had an exit velocity of 68.4 MPH. He was likely due that one, though, as entering the game he had six batted balls on the spring and five were 100 MPH or higher off of the bat and that had resulted in just one hit.
Yunior Marte and Anthony Misiewicz each threw a shutout inning of relief in the game. For Misiewicz that lowered his ERA to 1.80 through his 5.0 innings this spring.
Friday will see the Reds playing two games and both of them will be against the San Francisco Giants. The game on the road will begin at 7:05pm ET. The game in Goodyear will begin at 9:05pm ET. Only the home game will be covered on the radio, though if you have MLBtv or their audio package the Giants crew is covering the game in Scottsdale. Scheduled to pitch on the road: Chase Burns, Chase Petty, Luis Mey, Hagen Danner, and Lyon Richardson. Scheduled to pitch at home: Brady Singer, Pierce Johnson, Zach Maxwell, Connor Phillips, and Graham Ashcraft.