The Reds' winning streak gets snapped on an off game for Frankie Montas
For the last two batters of the top of the first inning, Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell watched every pitch from starter Frankie Montas from the top step of the dugout. Montas clearly didn’t have it on Sunday, and Bell was getting as good of a look as he could at the Reds’ Opening Day starter to see whether or not Montas needed to be pulled from the game immediately.
While Montas got out of the first inning, Bell kept a close eye on him in the second inning as well. Montas didn’t make it out of the inning this time, and he had as many runs allowed as recorded outs on Sunday.
Montas allowed four runs in 1⅓ innings as the Cubs beat the Reds, 4-2 and broke Cincinnati’s seven-game winning streak. The Reds still took the series, winning three out of four games against the Cubs, but Montas’ worst game of the season prevented the Reds from completing the sweep.
"It was just one of those days where you're not in sync with your body," Montas said. "Your mechanics are messing with you. I couldn't throw a fastball up when I wanted. Everything was pulling. It's baseball. The only thing I can do is move on."
He ran into trouble on Sunday because he couldn’t locate his fastball early on. The Cubs loaded the bases on a double and two walks, and left fielder Ian Happ cleared them on a fastball that Montas left right over the heart of the plate.
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Montas tried being more aggressive in the second inning, and the Cubs strung together three more hits. Reliever Carson Spiers, who got called up before the game on Sunday, took over from there.
"It looked like (Montas) couldn't get a feel for his pitches in the first inning," Bell said. "He was a bit better in the second. But by then, he had had to work so hard. His pitch count was so far up there. We knew we had innings available. Maybe this will serve as a bit of a break for Frankie not having to throw so many pitches."
Spiers escaped a jam with two runners in scoring position in the second inning, and he went on to pitch 5 ⅔ shutout innings. He kept the Reds in the game, and the former undrafted free agent showed the upside that he has developed in the Reds' farm system as Spiers struck out seven batters.
"My game is being able to locate," Spiers said. "If I can locate in and out and up and down, that's a good thing. That's who I am as a pitcher. When I can go in and out with different pitches and then show the fastball, that's when I'm successful. I had a few strikeouts today. I know myself. I have to set the fastball up with off-speed pitches and locating. Then, I can show the fastball as a weapon later in the at-bat."
Cubs starting pitcher Shota Imanaga, an All-Star contender this year, entered Sunday’s game with a 1.88 ERA, and he continued his winning ways in his first start against the Reds. Imanaga allowed two runs in 6 ⅔ innings, with the Reds mounting their only significant rally against him in Imanaga’s final inning on the mound.
The Reds opened the bottom of the seventh inning with back-to-back hits, and third baseman Santiago Espinal drove in a run on a line drive to left field. But when Espinal tried to stretch a single into a double, Happ threw him out at second base for the first out of the inning.Imanaga then got Reds center fielder TJ Friedl to strike out with a runner on third base, and Cubs reliever Jack Leiter Jr. got the final out of the inning on a strikeout against pinch-hitter Jake Fraley.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Frankie Montas records just four outs as the Cubs beat the Reds
