Late homer haunts Michael Lorenzen again, Tigers beat Reds 3-2, win series

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images

Just the worst possible way to begin this season.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Trevor Bauer got to spend a few extra months of off-season just like the rest of Major League Baseball. What he got to also wait for, though, was his chance to show the Cincinnati Reds that the pitcher they traded for last summer was much, much better than what he showed down the stretch last year.

So far, so good.

Bauer fanned 13 Detroit Tigers in 6.1 IP for the Reds, allowing just a lone run and lone walk in the process. That on the heels of the excellent outings by both Sonny Gray and Luis Castillo sure seems to help show the hype about this starting rotation’s potential is very well deserved, to say the least.

Unfortunately, the bullpen - again.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Joey Votto, who singled and drove in a run; Shogo Akiyama, who singled and swiped a bag; Amir Garrett, who fired another scoreless inning of relief; pain, which is both inevitable and a constant reminder of our insignificance; Freddy Galvis, who actually got an extra base hit (a double); Aristides Aquino, who doubled, too; and Pedro Strop, who put up a 0 in his first IP as a Red.

Key Plays

• Bauer slightly meatballed, Niko Goodrum slightly mauled it, and thanks to that Top of the 3rd big fly, the Reds trailed, 1-0.
• The Reds finally got that run back against Tigers starter Spencer Turnbull in the Bottom of the 5th, and did so thanks to some bloopage. Travis Jankowski coaxed a walk, and back to back 2-out dinks into shallow right-center by Jesse Winker and Votto plated the first Reds run of the day. Game tied, 1-1.
• One day after serving up a game-changing dinger to the Tigers, Michael Lorenzen got the opportunity to do so again on Sunday. He did. He walked Miguel Cabrera in the Top of the 9th, and followed it by serving up a meatball to CJ Cron, who parked it in the RF seats. Reds trailed, 3-1.
• The Reds clawed back in the Bottom of the 9th, at least. Galvis and Aquino led off with back to back doubles against Detroit closer Joe Jimenez to plate a run, and Aquino moved to 3B a batter later on Curt Casali’s long fly-out. A plunk of Jesse Winker brought Votto to the plate, but he smacked into a game-ending 4-6-3 double play. Barf. Reds lost, 3-2.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Mike Moustakas landed on the injured list after ‘not feeling well’ this morning, while Nick Senzel was also a late scratch. I wonder what’s behind those moves...
• In a surely unrelated note, the Reds claimed IF Robel Garcia from the Chicago Cubs and assigned him to camp in Prasco. Why would they ever need infield depth, I wonder...
• Reds starting pitchers struck out a ridiculous 33 batters in 18.1 IP this weekend, allowing just 3 ER in the process. Imagine losing two out of those three games.
• Presumably some of these Reds will still not be impacted by the pandemic by 6:40 PM ET tomorrow, and those that aren’t will take the field in GABP against the Chicago Cubs. For now, we anticipate Wade Miley starting opposite fellow lefty Jon Lester, but who the hell knows how many different ways that’ll change between now and then.
• Tunes.