Detroit Tigers sputter with RISP, fall to Cincinnati Reds, 4-3: Game thread recap
Detroit Tigers (66-78) vs. Cincinnati Reds (75-71)
When: 6:40 p.m. Wednesday.
Where: Comerica Park in Detroit.
TV: Bally Sports Detroit.
Radio: WXYT-FM (97.1in Detroit; Tigers radio affiliates).
Probable pitchers: Tigers LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (11-7, 3.18 ERA) vs. Reds RHP Connor Phillips (0-0, 9.64 ERA).
Tigers lineup:
1. SS Zach McKinstry.
2. 3B Matt Vierling.
3. 1B Spencer Torkelson.
4. RF Kerry Carpenter.
5. 2B Andy Ibáñez.
6. DH Miguel Cabrera.
7. CF Parker Meadows.
8. C Carson Kelly.
9. LF Akil Baddoo.
LHP Eduardo Rodriguez.
TUESDAY'S GAME: Detroit Tigers battle once again but fall short, 6-5, to Cincinnati Reds in extra innings
Who to follow: Evan Petzold, Free Press beat writer on Tigers.
Game notes: He won’t be appearing in this game, but it’s yet another chance for the Tigers’ 2014 trade of prospect-turned-slugger Eugenio Suárez to Cincinnati (for righthander Alfredo “Big Pasta” Simon) to come back and bite them. Suárez is a Seattle Mariner now, after several homer-filled seasons with Cincy. But the deal that sent him to the Pacific Northwest brought Cincy a prospect package that included, among others, right-hander Connor Phillips (one of eight active Connors in the majors this season).
Phillips is making his second big-league start; his first came Sept. 5, against the M’s (who drafted him in the second round of the 2020 draft). It … did not go well, as the M’s lit him up for five runs on six hits and two walks over 4 2/3 innings. But Phillips managed seven strikeouts on his 95 pitches, following through on the promise that saw him strike out 111 in 64 2/3 innings in Double-A and 43 in 40 1/3 in Triple-A.
Veteran Eduardo Rodriguez takes the mound for the Tigers; only three Reds have faced him in their careers, with 40-year-old Joey Votto going 1-for-3, not-40-year-old Hunter Renfroe going 1-for-5 and catcher Luke Maile going 1-for-10. Maile and Renfroe, of course, are starting Wednesday night.
After tonight’s game, the Tigers and Reds wrap up their series with a 1:10 p.m. start Thursday at Comerica Park. The Tigers then start a 10-game California road trip, beginning Friday with three games in Anaheim, California, vs. the not-quite-accurately named Los Angeles Angels. The Reds, meanwhile will continue their wild-card push — they entered Wednesday a game back of Arizona — with a trip to New York to meeeet the Mets, greet the Mets, step right up and, presumably, beat the Mets.
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Contact Ryan Ford at rford@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @theford. Read more on the Detroit Tigers and sign up for our Tigers newsletter.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Tigers lose to Cincinnati Reds, 4-3: Game thread recap
