For most of the game it was all Angels all of the time. Jose Soriano was dominant on the mound for Los Angeles and while the Reds would score six runs in the final two innings against the bullpen the early deficit was too much to overcome for Cincinnati in the 9-6 loss.
The game did not get out to a great start for the Cincinnati Reds. Mike Trout hit a blooper into shallow center that sparked a rally in the 1st inning as the Angels followed up with four more singles in the inning to plate three runs. Andrew Abbott struggled in the 2nd inning, too. He walked Zach Neto to start a rally this time. Trout followed up with an RBI double into left and moved to third on a single by Jo Adell. A sacrifice fly followed to give Los Angeles a 5-0 lead, but the trail runner was thrown out at third base on the play to end the inning.
Andrew Abbott’s first pitch of the 4th inning was hit 10 rows deep into the stand in left field as the Angels made it 6-0. Five pitches later Abbott had walked Bryce Teodosio and that ended his day as Cincinnati called in Kyle Nicolas from the bullpen to take over. He picked up exactly where Abbott left off, firing eight straight balls to walk Zach Neto and Mike Trout to load the bases. That warranted a mound visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson. A grounder was stopped on a dive by Elly De La Cruz, who threw to third base while still laying on his chest to get a force out, but a run scored on the play as the Angels went up by seven.
Los Angeles would get to the Reds bullpen for another run in the 7th inning when Brock Burke allowed a walk and a double before being replaced by Sam Moll. The lefty allowed a run to come in that was charged to Burke on a groundout as the Angels pushed the lead to 8-0.
Cincinnati almost kept Los Angeles off the scoreboard in the 8th inning when Sam Moll snagged a comebacker behind his back and tossed to first base for what seemed like the final out of the inning. But it turned out that P.J. Higgins was called for catchers interference, which erased the play and loaded the bases. Moll then walked his third batter of the inning to bring in a run and make it 9-0 before a strikeout would end the top half of the frame.
The Reds weren’t going to be shut out on this day. TJ Friedl start a little rally with one out in the 8th with a walk. Back-to-back singles by Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart brought him around the bases to get the zero off of the board for the home team. Will Benson would follow with a walk to load the bases. Sam Bachman continued to struggle to throw strikes and uncorked a wild pitch that allowed both De La Cruz AND Stewart to score on the play to make it 9-3.
One a day in which there was just sloppy play and pitching all day that continued in the bottom of the 9th inning. Noelvi Marte reached on a fielding error to start the inning. Dane Myers followed up with a single and then Nick Sandlin hit TJ Friedl with a pitch to load the bases with no outs. That led to a pitching change for the Angels as they brought in Drew Pomeranz. He got two outs on the first pitch he threw as Matt McLain lined out to third and Marte didn’t get back to the bag in time as Oswald Peraza dove to the bag to get the double play. Two pitches later Elly De La Cruz hit a 3-run home run into center to make it 9-6. That would be the last run of the game as Los Angeles held on for the victory and grabbed the series win.
Key Moment of the Game
The first two innings of the game as the Angels roughed up Andrew Abbott and jumped out to a 5-0 lead.
Notes Worth Noting
Elly De La Cruz was the only Red with multiple hits in the game. He’s hitting .281/.361/.563 and now has five home runs and five steals on the year.
Reds pitchers combined for nine walks and had just three strikeouts.
The two teams combined for five errors on the day.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
San Francisco Giants vs. Cincinnati Reds
Tuesday April 14th, 6:40pm ET
Robbie Ray (2-1, 2.08 ERA) vs Brady Singer (0-1, 7.71 ERA)