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Reds 4 Giants 1
Well, that one was certainly needed.
Hunter Greene got dialed in early, his offense added on late, and the bullpen took care of the rest as the Reds beat the Giants 4-1 Wednesday afternoon at Oracle Park.
Locked in a 2-1 dual in the 8th, Elly De La Cruz doubled and CES capped a career high four hit day with a two-run blast over the CF wall to make it 4-1.
The Reds finish the three-city, 10-game road trip: 5-5.... The difference between a 5-5 trip vs 4-6 sure seems larger than just one game.
The Cubs took 2 of 3 from the Brewers. Next: Reds vs Cubs at GABP for four game series starting with a DH on Friday.
Greene: What an improvement from Friday's start in Arizona. 5.2 IN, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 6 K. 90 pitches/63 strikes. He had an 8 pitch first inning and needed just 77 to get through five innings. Given a 2-0 in the top of the 6th, he found trouble in the bottom of the inning with a double and single to put runners on the corners with one out. He was done. On came Ian Gibaut. Greene got 10 swings and misses on 26 hacks at his slider. He added in four changeups. Friday vs Arizona: 3.2 IN, 5 H, 5 R, 5 BB, 4 K....90 pitches.
Stealing one/adding one: 0-0 into the 6th, the Reds executed a double steal with Spencer Steer on 3rd and De La Cruz on 1st. The throw went through to 2nd and Steer beat the return throw home with a head first slide. Steer had doubled to start the inning and De La Cruz lined a single. CES then ripped an RBI 1B and it was 2-0 Reds. It was the type of inning I fondly remember and have missed from this team. It was the Reds first lead of the series.
Multi-hit day: CES, 3.(1st career), Maile 2
Doing it with D. TJ Friedl made a diving catch of a liner towards the gap to rob Lamonte Wade Jr. as the Giants leadoff batter of the game. 2B Steer made a diving snag of a hot smash to save a run and end the 6th inning. 3B Noelvi Marte turned a DP in the 8th when he fielded a bouncer, stepped on 2nd and fired to 1st. De La Cruz went deep into the hold and made a rocket throw to 2nd for a force out in the 9th.
Bullpen:
Gibaut 0.2....his errant pickoff throw to 1B allowed one of Greene's runners to score.
Cruz 1.0. He walked the first batter he faced in the 7th. Then he threw wide to 2nd on a sac bunt attempt. But escaped.
Sims 1.0
Diaz 1.0...he walked the leadoff batter on four pitches. 35th save. Started and finished the trip with saves.
Giving one back: Gibaut replaced Greene with runners on the corners and one out, up 2-0 in the 6th. He threw away a pickoff attempt at 1B and a run scored to make it 2-1.
Beep-beep: The Reds stole four bases, Elly, Steer, Marte, Senzel.
Slow starters: It feels like the Reds have really lacked offense early/through the midway point of games. Twitter follower Daniel offered this: Since All Star break.. innings 1 through 5: 216 BA, 282 OBP.....29th in MLB. 1 of 4 teams hitting below 230.
Offensive: Runs in the three game series 1-1-4....plus 2 runs Sunday vs Arizona. 8 runs last 36 innings.
Big numbers: It was the 5th HR with the Reds for CES and his 25th overall this season (20 Louisville).
Funk: Will Benson 0 for 4, 3 K. He entered the day 6 for his previous 36 (.167) and hitting .227 over his previous 27 games.
Flight times: Both teams had flights to catch and they played like it early on.
Flip the calendar, please: They finish the month of August 10-17.
How the Reds scored:
6th Steer steals home/double steal, 1-0 Reds
6th CES RBI 1B, 2-0 Reds
8th CES 2-run HR, 4-1 Reds