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Diamondbacks 5 Reds 4
Well, that was brutal.
The Arizona Diamondbacks scored four times in the 9th off Tony Santillan to stun the Reds and steal a split of their four game series, 5-4 at GABP
Thursday afternoon. The rally ruined a stellar start by Tyler Mahle. Mahle tossed six innings of one run ball and struck out a season high 10 batters.
Awful: Tyler Stephenson suffered a fractured thumb and will miss 4-6 weeks, per Charlie Goldsmith, Enquirer. Stephenson took a foul ball off his right thumb while catching in the 4th inning. It came after a two-out bloop single in the inning. He had his bare hand positioned behind his glove, then lowered the mitt on a low pitch that was fouled off. He left the game in obvious pain.
Tyler Mahle: 6 IN, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 10 K, HR. 105 pitches/69 strikes. He got two big K's to get out of two-on 1st inning trouble with 21 pitches.
He took a shutout to the 5th inning when Pavin Smith cranked a solo homer. Leading 3-1, he battled through a leadoff double and walk in the 6th inning.
The 10 K's tied a team high for the Reds (Luis Castillo).
Gag: Leading 3-1 in the 9th, Santillan was handed the bottom of the Arizona order. He collapsed, allowing four runs. It started with a leadoff walk to the No. 7 hitter and a throwing error. It was brutal.
Reds bullpen since the rain delay leading 9-0 in 8th on Tuesday: 9.2 IN, 17 H, 16 R, 8 BB.
Recovery mode: Leading 3-1, Alexis Diaz was handed the high leverage situation, facing the top and middle of the order in the 7th and 8th. He walked the leadoff batter in the 7th and went 3-0 to the next batter, but regrouping and escaping any damage. He stranded a runner in each inning.
Where'd the O go? The first four Reds reached by hits in a three run first inning but that was it for the offense until a Matt Reynolds solo homer in the 9th.
Back to it: The Reds pounced on Arizona starter Zack Davies for three first inning runs and forced him to throw 31 pitches. The first four batters reached,
Joey Votto roped a two-run double and Kyle Farmer lifted a sacrifice fly to make it 3-0. The Reds streak of scoring first inning runs was snapped at six games Wednesday night.
Streaking: Votto's double extended his hitting streak to eight games. Per Joel Luckhaupt, 15 of Votto's last 19 hits have gone for extra bases.
Nice day: Friedl picked up 3 H, R, SB (5th).
Unreal: Albert Almora Jr. left the game in the 5th inning after he appeared to tweak his shoulder or hand attempting to catch the bloop single that kept the 4th inning alive and brought up the Jordan Luplow and then the foul tip that injured Stephenson. Per Charlie Goldsmith: Almora has a sprained shoulder. He said he plans to test it tomorrow and is day to day.
Regression to the mean: After showing flashes in his first 13 games since recalled from Louisville, including a two homer game and four game hit streak, Aristides Aquino has struck out 7 of his last 9 ABs.
Scary: Arizona 1B Christian Walker left in the 8th inning after he was hit in the helmet by a 97 mph Diaz fastball. Walker suffered a cut over his eye from impact of the helmet that was clipped between the earflap and the bill.