Elly Hits for the Cycle, Votto Two-Bombs, Matt McLain Collects 10 Bases in One Game
The Reds' win streak ends, but don't be too discouraged.
Well, all good things will come to an end, and no-one expected the winning streak to go all the way through the rest of 162, right? …right? Honestly, feeling the ecstasy that was the Friday night game really made this hard-fought series loss much more palatable. In my opinion, the Braves offense is the best in the league — and the Reds kept up with them through the whole series. 47 runs were scored this weekend, and each game was won by only one run.
If you’re looking for silver lining beyond a historic game for each Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain, and a Joey Votto two homer day, the Reds matching Atlanta’s high-caliber offense punch for punch is it. It hurts to lose the streak and the series, but the team is still a half game up in the division and the rookies are showing no signs of slumping any time soon.
Photos via @Reds on twitter
A huge bummer that was announced this weekend is that Hunter Greene is supposed to be out of commission until August, further digging the hole for the Reds starting pitching. Hopefully one (or two, or three) of these young pitchers we’ve seen recently can really hit the gas and fill the growing void.
Song of the Day
Braves @ Reds Recap
Friday 6/23
This was a historic game for the reds, and I could get pretentious by calling it symbolic also. Joey Votto and Elly De La Cruz, who many people see as the past and future faces of the franchise, willed the team to a win over one of the best teams in the National League. This team tied the longest Reds winning streak in the “modern era” (after 1900).
The Braves outhit the Reds 16 hits to 9, but two of the Reds hits were home runs from Joey Votto (3 in his first week back), one was a homer by Jake Fraley, and another FOUR were Elly De La Cruz hitting for the cycle in his 15th game in the MLB.
The game looked grim for the Reds from the get-go as Luke Weaver gave up 5 runs in the first inning. The Reds followed that up with 3 home runs, one each in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th innings. Fraley homered with De La Cruz on base in the 2nd, De La Cruz homered with Friedl on in the 3rd, and Votto hit a solo homer in the 4th to tie.
Matt Olson homered immediately after in the top of the 5th and scored Austin Riley as a response. In the bottom of the inning, De La Cruz singled and scored McLain. Joey Votto then hit his second homer to score 3 runs and give the reds the lead again.
In the 6th inning, India singled and scored Friedl. Then, Elly De La Cruz hit a triple to score India and finish his cycle. It’s about the only thing that would overshadow a Joey Votto two homer night. The last Red to hit for the cycle was Eric Davis in 1989.
The Braves responded in the 8th by hitting three solo home runs off of Lucas Sims, and making me very nervous. Alexis Diaz came in in the 9th and locked down his 21st save this season.
Saturday 6/24
My dad and I went to this game, and I have never seen a sellout crowd in Great American Ballpark in person. It was incredible to see the energy the team has so quickly brought back to what was at this time last year, a dead ballpark.
Of course, the streak had to end eventually. Graham Ashcraft continued his struggles in his return game. He gave up 6 runs in 4 innings — it looked like Braves hitters had an easy beat on his fastball. He gave up 3 homers in those innings to d’Arnaud, Albies, and Olson as well as RBI hits to Ozuna and Riley. The team, even more now with Hunter Greene out until August and Ben Lively also on the IL, needs Graham Ashcraft to find his rhythm. I think he can, but he will need to get over some issues in his confidence first. He doesn’t look like he feels comfortable on the mound at the moment.
On the Reds offense side of the game, it was a strange game that saw every Reds run scored on home runs. Matt Mclain and Spencer Steer each hit two run home runs to keep the Reds close, and in the bottom of the 9th Jake Fraley and Will Benson hit back-to-back home runs to pull the Reds within one.
Jonathan India struck out to end the game, capping off an unfortunate 0-5 day at the ballpark. He is due to turn it around soon. I think he is still adjusting to hitting 3rd in the lineup, trying to do too much in his at bats. When he was batting leadoff early in the season, he was consistently near the top of the runs scored leaderboards, and that was before the Reds offense had really started going. He has a special knack for getting on base and then getting home, and I think with the current Reds offense he could be even more dangerous there. I don’t think it will happen, but I would love to see India leading off in the batting order again soon.
Sunday 6/25
Oh so close yet again. Matt McLain had a homer and three doubles. He scored twice and knocked in 5 of the Reds 6 runs. He is the first Reds rookie since Chris Sabo accomplished the feat in his 1988 Rookie of the Year campaign.
The scoring started with the Braves in the 3rd inning with an Albies sac fly and two RBI singles. Matt McLain and Spencer Steer led off the third inning with back-to-back doubles to put the Reds first run on the board.
McLain tied the game in the 4th with a two RBI double.
Matt Olson banged a three run homer in the 6th inning to return the lead to the Braves, and McLain homered in the 7th to pull the Reds within two.
Alexis Diaz had rare control issues in the 8th inning and walked two batters, the second of which pushed in the Braves seventh run.
McLain again responded in the bottom of the inning with a two RBI double to make it a one run game, but a poorly timed double-play ball in the bottom of the ninth ended the Reds comeback dreams.
Matt McLain is now hitting .309 after 152 major league at-bats. He doesn’t get the press or national attention that Elly De La Cruz does, but this kid is a legitimately great baseball player. He is an extra-base-hit machine. 20 of his 51 hits since coming up have been for extra bases, meaning that he is hitting more than a single 40% of the time he gets a hit. When you’re batting .309, that ratio is serious business.
Looking Ahead
The Reds travel to Baltimore for their next series. Tonights game is a 7:05 first pitch. This matchup is an interesting one, because the Reds and Orioles rosters this year are very similar. Both have very young, very powerful offenses and lock-down bullpens. Both teams’ weaknesses lie almost entirely in their starting pitching.
I don’t have a ton of insight into this series as I haven’t been tuned into Orioles baseball beyond the surface-level facts. I do know that the Reds offense needs to jump on their starters early and lean on their aggressive base running to pour on runs every chance they get.
This is a big series. I think the Reds proved in the series against the Braves that they can go punch-for-punch with the best offenses in baseball, now we just need them to come out on top two out of three times.
They go into this series with a half-game lead on the Milwaukee Brewers for the National League Central Division. Let’s see what they can do.