The Cincinnati Reds picked up a nice win on Monday night in Tampa. After a scary start to the day for Rhett Lowder, the rookie locked in and held the Rays to one run over six inning while Sal Stewart and the rest of the Reds offense put up six runs to put the game away. Cincinnati’s win in Tampa Bay moved them to 15-8 on the season and kept them in 1st place.
The Cincinnati Reds didn’t waste much time getting on the board in this one. Matt McLain hit a bloop double in the top of the 1st and then he came around to score when Sal Stewart hit a moonshot 424-feet to center for a 2-run home run. The bottom of the inning got out to a poor start for Rhett Lowder. He allowed back-to-back singles before walking the next two batters as the Rays cut the lead to 2-1 and the Reds righty had 19 pitches. Lowder needed 15 more pitches but he was able to strand the bases loaded.
Two innings later it another 1-out double that got things started for Cincinnati. This time it was TJ Friedl with a bullet down the right field line and he came in to score on a bloop single into right field by Elly De La Cruz that made it 3-1. In the bottom of the inning Junior Caminero hit a liner at 112.6 MPH towards left field but De La Cruz made a diving stop that saw him land on the edge of the grass as he snagged the 1-hopper, then leap to his feet and fire a laser across the infield to record an out in a highlight reel level play.
Rhett Lowder was in cruise control after his 34-pitch 1st inning. He threw just 50 pitches between the 2nd and 5th innings as he held onto the lead. In the 6th inning his teammates gave him a little more insurance. With two runners on and one out a grounder to third base likely should have resulted in a double play, or if nothing else a force out at third base, but Junior Caminero appeared to forget there was only one out instead of two and he simply threw the ball across the diamond to first base. That allowed the runners to move up safely to second and third base. It was an important play because Rece Hinds followed up with a 2-out double that scored both runners to push the lead to 5-1. Lowder came back out for the bottom of the inning and threw nine pitches to complete the inning and his day.
Cincinnati tacked on another run in the 7th inning with Sal Stewart doing all of the work on his own. He would smash a 2-out double, steal third base, and then he came in to score on a wild pitch to give the bullpen another run to work with.
Brock Burke took over for Lowder in the bottom of the 7th and picked up where he left off, throwing a perfect inning. Pierce Johnson entered in the bottom of the 8th and worked around a walk to keep the 5-run lead.
Connor Phillips took over for the Reds in the 9th inning. He walked former teammate Jake Fraley to begin the inning before getting the next two batters to fly out, with the latter coming on an over the shoulder grab in shallow right by Sal Stewart. Richie Palacios singled into left to keep the game alive before some chucklehead jumped out onto the field and ran circles around the outfield for over a minute before security could grab him and escort him off of the field.
Following the delay Phillips walked Taylor Walls to load the bases. That led to a visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson and saw Tony Santillan start throwing in the bullpen. Two pitches later Chandler Simpson hit a line drive down the line, but Sal Stewart jumped and grabbed it out of the air to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
Rhett Lowder escaping a no-out bases loaded situation after giving up a run in the 1st inning. From that point forward Cincinnati’s pitching dominated the game.
Notes Worth Noting
Sal Stewart’s bat cooled off for a week or so but he’s back at it. His eight home runs lead the team. So do his 21 runs batted in. He’s now hitting .289/.388/.639 through 23 games. Oh, and he’s also tied for the team lead in steals with five and he hasn’t yet been caught.
The Reds didn’t draw a walk in the game, but they smacked five doubles along with Stewart’s home run.
Cincinnati pitchers walked five batters in the game and they only had five strikeouts, but they kept Tampa Bay’s offense under control despite all of that as they were able to get out of trouble if and when they got into it.
The win was the 4th in a row for the Reds. They have won seven of their last 10 games.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Tampa Bay Rays
Tuesday April 21st, 6:40pm ET
Chase Burns (1-1, 2.42 ERA) vs Steven Matz (3-0, 3.80 ERA)