Reds Win 11 Straight, Braves Coming to Town on Their Own Streak
Issue #5: Votto is BACK, Diaz is the Backbone, and Rake Fraley Strikes Again
Image Source: @Reds on Twitter
The Reds continued their streak, now up to 11 straight wins, their longest streak since 1957, and added two more comeback victories. That makes 25 comeback wins, which I believe is most in the major leagues. Alexis Diaz put two more saves on the board to get his total to 20, and Elly De La Cruz put up 6 hits in 12 at bats with two doubles and a homer. TJ Friedl had a 4 hit day on Wednesday, one of which was a three run homer to tie the final game of the series.Â
Joey Votto made his return in the first game of the series to a Great American Ballpark that I have never seen rocking like it was rocking for this series. The postgame show booth was a mad house after each game.
I don’t know about for you guys, but it has been very strange and very fun to see the Reds making headlines on ESPN, MLB.com, and other media sites pretty much every night. It’s been a long, long time since there’s been this much hype around the team.
Song of the Day
Rockies @ Reds Recap
Monday 6/19
Joey Votto is back and as good as ever. In his first game back since August 2022, he solo-homered in the 5th inning and drove in two in the 6th to give the Reds the lead while all of Great American Ballpark chanted his name. In his pre-game press-conference, Votto spoke on the recent success of the team and how it forces him to be a ‘value-add’. In other words, he has to play well or risk losing playing time - a situation that according to him, he prefers to be in. He likes to feel that pressure.Â
To top the night of euphoria off, the Reds took 1st place in the division after the Brewers lost to the Diamondbacks later in the night, marking the first time since 2012 (4,000 days) that they have held the position this late in a season.
Also, Alexis Diaz is now 19 for 19 in save opportunities after his save in this game. In my opinion he has been the MVP of the season so far. If that total is 16 or 17 saves out of 19 opportunities, he is still really good but the Reds likely don’t have the win streak, momentum, or division lead.
Tuesday 6/20
Yet another wonderful offensive showing from the Reds, who have hit 3+ homers in 3 straight games for the first time this season. Ben Lively didn’t have his best start of the season, going only 4 innings, walking 4, striking out 4, and giving up 2 runs on solo homers.Â
In the second inning, TJ Friedl hit a three-run homer (1 of his 4 hits on the night) to give the Reds a lead they wouldn’t give up. Elly De La Cruz also hit his second homer of the year in the third inning. Spencer Steer followed him up with a double that scored Jake Fraley from first base.
In the 5th inning, Elly lined (1 of 3 hits on the night) right back at Rockies pitcher Peter Lambert, who sailed his throw to first base allowing Elly to take second base. The pressure that his speed puts on the defense has made itself evident in this series. He took third after Lambert attempted a pickoff that ended up in center field, and scored on a Jake Fraley double down the right-field line. Fraley then scored from second base on another pickoff that went into centerfield. Peter Lambert was credited with three throwing errors in the inning. Rough.Â
In the sixth inning, Will Benson smacked his second home run of the season, but wasn’t sure it was going out so lost his helmet sprinting for second.
The Reds made it closer than it needed to be when Casey Legumina gave up a three-run homer to Jorge Alfaro. David Bell was forced to bring in Alexis Diaz for his 7th appearance in 11 days, and he was visibly exhausted. He missed many more pitches than usual and gave up a run, but was able to push through and secure his league leading 20th save this season and 25th straight save converted, going back to last season. I think that he has earned some much-needed rest, and I hope to not see him on the mound again until Saturday. David Bell can’t risk blowing Diaz’s arm out - he is far too important to this team.
Wednesday 6/21
Andrew Abbott’s scoreless inning streak ended in the first at bat as Brenton Doyle homered in his first at bat. He ended up giving up three solo homers, but pitched 6 innings and struck out 10 batters for what turned out as a very good start.
The Reds didn’t score until the 5th inning when Luke Maile singled to score Tyler Stephenson and Joey Votto. TJ Friedl then singled to score Will Benson and tie the game.
Jake Fraley hit a two-run home run in the 8th inning to score Elly and break the tie. With Alexis Diaz still resting, Buck Farmer was in the closer role and slammed the door, giving the Reds 11 straight wins.
Looking Ahead
The Reds face their sternest test yet this weekend with a series against the Atlanta Braves, who are 48-26 on the year, lead the league in OPS and home runs, and come into the weekend on an 8 game win streak of their own. As with the Astros series , the Reds will catch a break on opposing starting pitching. They’ll miss Spencer Strider - who was slated to pitch Sunday - as Wednesday’s Phillies-Braves game was rained out and pushed to Thursday, meaning that the Braves rotation get shifted back a day. They will see Charlie Morton instead, who is still a great pitcher, but in my opinion just a level or two below Strider.
Friday the Reds will see AJ Smith-Shawver, a young right-handed pitcher who has pitched in 3 games for the Braves. He put up a 4.17 ERA over three seasons in the minors.
Saturday will be Jared Shuster, who has pitched in 8 games this season and has an ERA of 4.67. On the Reds side of the mound, Graham Ashcraft should return from injury and pitch this day, and the rotation really needs him to come back from this IL stint and hit the ground running.
Sunday will be Charlie Morton pitching for the Braves, a proven veteran who is capable of shutting an offense down on any night. I would love for yet another sweep from this Reds team, but I will be relieved if they can take the first two games so Mr. Morton doesn’t have the opportunity to take the series.