Big game moves don't lead to a big hit in a Reds loss to the Cardinals
The MLB playoff race comes with a sense of urgency and leads to the types of aggressive moves that a manager wouldn’t make in the dog days of the summer. Against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday, Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell was willing to push his chips into the middle of the table in the sixth inning and live with the fallout.
Tyler Stephenson pinch-hit for Reds center fielder TJ Friedl in the bottom of the inning with the bases loaded. Stephenson struck out, ending the Reds’ best chance to pull ahead in an eventual 9-4 loss to the Cardinals at Great American Ball Park.
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When the Reds’ defense took the field for the top of the seventh inning, first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand played right field for the second time in his life. Stephenson played first base for the first time since April.
Bell pinch-hit Stephenson, one of the Reds’ hottest hitters over the last few weeks, for Friedl against a left-handed pitcher because Bell recognized how much that at-bat with two outs mattered. The Reds entered Friday one-game back of the third wild card spot, and they’re playing the last-place St. Louis Cardinals this weekend. It’s the type of series that the Reds need to win if they want to stay in the mix.
The Reds wasted some of their best chances to get back in the game. Stephenson struck out in the sixth inning with the bases loaded. Center fielder Harrison Bader grounded out with the bases loaded in the second inning in a game where the Reds stranded 12 runners on base.
The Reds faced a 23-year-old starting pitcher with a 7.24 ERA in his three big league starts, and Drew Rom exited the game with the Cardinals in the lead.
Andrew Abbott, the best starting pitcher on the Reds’ active roster, allowed six runs and completed only four innings. Abbott struck out only three batters, and the three walks that he allowed changed the game.
Abbott was coming off of what Bell called the biggest start of the Reds’ season. Last week, he allowed just one run in 6 ⅓ innings on a day where the bullpen only had a few available relievers. Abbott’s start on Friday was the third time in his last four games where he didn’t pitch more than four innings.
The rookie hasn’t been able to sustain success and string together quality starts since July. He has already thrown far more innings this season than he has in any other season he has pitched, and Abbott hasn’t even been able to have one of his starts spaced out with extra rest because of the injuries and COVID that have wiped out the Reds’ rotation.
The Reds failed to take advantage of Abbott’s turn through the rotation as well as an opportunity against a starter with even less experience. Reds outfielder Will Benson has said that the Reds need to show “no mercy” to the weaker teams on their schedule and get out to early leads, but the Cardinals were the team that led 6-0 early in Friday’s game.
Three takeaways from Reds vs. Cardinals
1. Bell used all but one of the five players on his bench by the start of the seventh inning. He made a series of pinch-hit moves as the Cardinals rotated left-handed relievers and right-handed relievers. The aggressiveness gave the Reds their best individual matchups at the plate. Bell prioritized offense over defense so much that he had Encarnacion-Strand and Stephenson at defensive positions that they don’t even practice at. It wasn’t enough to put the offense over the top.
2. Abbott’s start was ruined by untimely walks. With two outs in the first inning, he let Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt reach base. Two batters later, Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras hit a three-run homer. Then in the third inning, Abbott allowed two walks and a single with two outs. Cardinals designated hitter Luken Baker hit a bases clearing double that put the Cardinals up by six runs.
3. Reds reliever Fernando Cruz returned from the COVID IL and made his first appearance in over a week. Entering a game that the Cardinals led by two runs, Cruz allowed two more and saw St. Louis take an 8-4 lead in the seventh inning. One run scored on wild pitch, and then Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado added another with an RBI single.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Big game moves don't lead to a big hit in a Reds loss to the Cardinals
