Snakes get Swept!
ISSUE 12: Matt McBang, Back-to-Back-to-Back, and Luke Weaver Finally Scoreless Through One
The Reds took wins from their 99th, 100th, and 101st games of the season this weekend on a sweep of the Diamondbacks! The offense looked back to form and the pitching staff did plenty to make each game relatively easy for the hot offense to control.Â
I went with some friends to the game on Saturday, and saw three homers in a row with the rest of the sellout crowd.Â
The Reds enter their series against the Brewers only a half game out of the Central division and with a fantastic chance to redeem their too recent floundering against Milwaukee. If they can win two of three, they will be back in first place.Â
Song of the Day
Diamondbacks @ Reds Recap
LIL’ RED MACHINE:
Matt McLain; 5-11, 2 HR, 1 SB, 5 RBI, 4 R
Friday, July 21
Diamondbacks 6 - 9 Reds
The Reds were able to pull out a win despite a discouraging 1 out solo homer in the first inning off the bat of Ketel Marte. Ben Lively was not discouraged and did what he has been doing for the Reds all year - pitched a decent amount of innings, gave up a some runs but kept the Reds in the ballgame. He’s been a valuable pitcher for the team although his stats don’t stand out. He’s been in baseball for a long time, so he knows how to conduct himself in any situation and does not get rattled.
Some shoddy infield defense helped the Reds in this game and a couple other times in the series. Senzel scored in the first inning, and was allowed on base after Perdomo booted a ball at shortstop.Â
The highlight of this game was a Matt McLain GRAND SLAM in the 5th inning that blew the game wide open. The first of his career. In the dugout picture above, notice that the rubber cap that Elly was made to remove from his bat earlier this year has found a new home on the end of the viking-celebration bat.
Saturday, July 22
Diamondbacks 2 - 4 Reds
Saturday’s game was a pitcher’s duel between Brandon Pfaat and Brandon Williamson until the 6th inning. Williamson gave up a run on a single to right in the top of the inning, and Pfaadt gave up THREE HOMERS IN A ROW to Friedl, McLain, and Fraley. Friedl went just down the right field line, McLain went down the left field line, and Fraley went back to left. The sellout crowd in Great American Ballpark could hardly believe it’s eyes.
Elly had a day off but ended up pinch running and scoring easily on a hard ground ball hit by Fraley. Not many other players on the Reds roster would have even scored on the play, and Elly did so easily.Â
Alexis Diaz gave up a solo homer to Corbin Carroll but was able to lock down his 29th save on the year. After the Reds cooled off a bit after the break, we didn’t see Diaz as often. It’s been good to see him on the mound again.Â
Sunday, July 23
Diamondbacks 3 - 7 Reds
Four Reds had multi-hit games on Sunday in the sweep game against Arizona. TJ Friedl, Matt McLain, Spencer Steer, and Christian Encarnacion-Strand all logged two hits, and CES also recorded two RBI on the one-week anniversary of his entrance to the bigs.
Elly De La Cruz got the Reds started with a lead off home run to right center field in the first inning, and Nick Senzel followed it up in the second with a two-run homer, scoring CES.Â
Luke Weaver pitched a first inning and gave up no runs! He looked better than usual on this day, and was able to convince Diamondback hitters to fly out quite often. He added a little flair to his windup, giving his foot an extra kick before delivery and who knows, maybe it gave him the confidence he needed to avoid digging a hole for his offense right when he took the mound.
Looking Ahead
Like I mentioned in the intro, the Reds start the week’s series in Milwaukee only .5 games out of first in the division. If they can win the series, they take first place back from the Brewers. Call me optimistic, but as the Reds have lost 5 of their last 6 games against Milwaukee, I believe that they are due some wins.Â
I do not believe that the Brewers are as good of a team as the Reds. I do believe that the Brewers use some sort of bad magic when they play our team.Â
Tuesday’s game will be very interesting. Andrew Abbot, the Reds’ ‘budding ace’ (lame term?) will face Corbin Burnes, the Brewers established ace (decidedly not a lame term) and former Cy Young winner. It should be a low-scoring pitcher’s duel so, naturally, the game will probably be the highest scoring of the series.Â
My two keys to this series:
Don’t let Christian Yelich beat you
Score more than 4 runs each game and the Brewers can’t keep up