The Cincinnati Reds scored 19 runs in what turned out to be an 8-inning game as they pummeled Team Cuba. Cincinnati scored multiple runs in four inning, including an 8-run 8th inning in the exhibition game to get Team Cuba some playing time before they begin their World Baseball Classic Pool play on Friday in Florida.
The Highlights
Rhett Lowder started the game for Cincinnati and he threw 3.0 shutout innings and picked up three strikeouts along the way. He threw 43 pitches during his outing and 29 of them were strikes.
After the Reds failed to come through in the 1st when they had two men on and just one out they made sure to cash in in the 2nd inning with a 2-out rally. Noelvi Marte and Ke’Bryan Hayes picked up singles and then both came in to score when TJ Friedl doubled for the second straight inning. The next inning saw doubles from Sal Stewart and Spencer Steer and then things were capped off with a 3-run home run by Marte to make it a 6-0 game.
Cincinnati played add on in the top of the 4th, as they played as the road team in this one. Elly De La Cruz walked for his second time in the game and Matt McLain had a single before Sal Stewart came through his an opposite field 3-run home run that made it 9-0. In the bottom of the inning Team Cuba would score their only two runs of the game as Graham Ashcraft gave up a walk and two singles that led to a run scoring on a ground out and another on a sacrifice fly.
Ke’Bryan Hayes got one of those runs back in the 5th with a sacrifice fly of his own. In the 6th inning Nathaniel Lower drove in a run with a double as the Reds made it 11-2.
And then the top of the 8th inning happened and Cincinnati had a big rally that included plenty of help from the Team Cuba bullpen. Two batters were hit by pitches and two more drew walks. The Reds scored their first run of the inning on a balk and a second one on a ground out. Leo Balcazar and Will Benson would drive in runs with singles and then JJ Bleday capped off the inning with a 3-run home run that made it 19-2.
Chase Petty worked around a leadoff double in the bottom of the 8th to hold the 17-run lead. Following the inning there was a brief discussion and then the game came to an end.
You can see the box score for this game here.
News and Notes
This game and the stats are not technically a part of spring training, so everything done this afternoon will not be accounted for when you look at stats later on.
The Reds had 19 hits, five walks, were hit by two pitches had seven doubles, three home runs, and they struck out just twice in the game. Noelvi Marte, TJ Friedl, and Sal Stewart all had two extra-base hits in the game. Marte went a clean 3-3. Will Benson was 2-2 after coming off of the bench.
Brock Burke, Anthony Misiewicz, and Luis Mey all threw a perfect inning of relief, while Chase Petty allowed a hit in his shutout inning of work. As a whole the Reds pitchers had one walk and eight strikeouts. The relief group of Burke, Misiewicz, Mey, and Petty threw 48 pitches and 35 strikes between them.
Team Cuba’s starting shortstop for the day was Alexander Vargas. Cincinnati picked him up last August and he spent the final few weeks of the season playing with the Dayton Dragons. He’s still in the organization, but he’ll be with Team Cuba until they are eliminated. He went 1-3 in this game.
In case you missed it earlier today, Hunter Greene is going to get an MRI on his elbow. He doesn’t believe it’s serious, as he’s been dealing with some bone spurs since late last season and believes this is just that coming back. Still, he’s going to get looked at and the team is expected to know more by Tuesday.
Cincinnati returns to the field on Thursday to host the Los Angeles Dodgers at Goodyear Ballpark. The game will be televised on ESPN. Julian Aguiar is listed as the starter for the game that is set to begin at 3:05pm ET.