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Reds 3 Rockies 1
Brandon Williamson certainly looked like he belonged in his major league debut, tossing 5.2 innings of one run baseball as the Reds beat the Rockies 3-1 at Coors Field Tuesday night. He exited the game trailing 1-0 after Rockies shortstop Ezequiel Tovar homered to break a scoreless tie. But Nick Senzel jacked a 2-run 7th inning homer to give the Reds a lead they never relinquished. Rookie Matt McLain plated a big 8th inning insurance run with a two-out RBI single. Alex Diaz, pitching for the first time since his 40 pitch save on Saturday, pitched a clean 9th for his 10th save.
Dazzling debut: 5.2 IN, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 6 K, HR, 72 pitches/47 strikes. He retired 14 in a row at one point. He rolled through the first 3 innings on 34 pitches/23 strikes...44 pitches through 4 innings...56 through 5 innings. Ezequiel Tovar broke a scoreless tie with a 415-foot solo homer in the 6th inning. Williamson was huffing and puffing in the Denver air and you could tell the adrenaline from his ML debut had worn off. He was done after walk two batters later. Per Baseball Savant.....Williamson pitch breakdown on 72 pitches, Cutter 23, 4-seam fastball 22 (Max 93.2mph), Slider 13, Changeup 10, Curve 4.
Nick at Night! Trailing 1-0 with 2 outs in the 7th, Nick Senzel crushed a two-run homer , 429-feet to CF to give the Reds the lead 2-1. He also made a spectacular hard charge and throw at 3B to get a runner at 1B.
Clutch! Matt McLain had a rough night at the plate with 3 K. ...until the 8th. Clinging to a 2-1 lead with two outs and a big insurance run on 2B, he lined an RBI single into CF. He also made nice a lunging stab of a liner to his right at SS.
Well? Tyler Stephenson H, R, BB, K. He entered the night with 16 K in 39 AB over his previous 10 games.
Bullpen: Derek Law 0.1, 0 R......Alex Young 1.0, 0 R......Ian Gibaut 1.0, 0 R.....Alex Diaz 1.0, SV.
W-L record: For the crowd that still insist that a pitcher's win-loss record is relevant, Derek Law faced 2 batters, recording a H, K.....He got the win.
Williamson 5.2 IN, 1 R.....got a no decision.
Getting it on: Jake Fraley reached base three times....2 H, BB.
Snatched! Leading 2-1, Wil Myers made a nice leaping catch against the wall in RF in the 7th inning.
I don't get it: Tovar is the No. 9 hitter. Reds pitchers have given up 8 homers to the No. 9 hitter this season...including three in this series. That equals the total surrendered to opposing cleanup hitters.
Numbers game: The Reds are now 9-5 when Curt Casali starts behind the plate. The team ERA of 3.29 entering the night will dip even more.
That guy: Chase Anderson started for the Rockies....5 IN, 0 R, 59 pitches. He was at Louisville and then traded by the Reds to the Rays just over two weeks ago. He pitched three scoreless innings for his first ML save, but was released after two appearances when injured Rays pitchers got healthy. He was then claimed by the Rockies, his 7th ML team.
Time of game 2:05