The Reds win the third game in a row with an exclamation point from Rob Manfred’s archenemy

It’s only been four games, but the energy and passion of the Cincinnati Reds of 2021 is palpable. Since the first inning of a nightmare on opening day, the Reds have played inspired baseball. They participated in every stroke. Each pitcher has stepped into its role and is thriving. The Reds fell back early tonight, but the offensive dragged the bats out until they finally broke through.

The Pirates took a 2-0 lead at José De León on Monday evening. The Reds got on the board in the 2nd when De León helped himself with an RBI single. It was his first MLB hit.

De León settled down and threw himself straight out of a large jam caused by a Suárez mistake in the third inning to put two runners on the base. De León knocked out the pirates with 2-5 hits. From that point on he cruised and ended the night with nine strikers. Mike Moustakas linked the game with an absolute rocket in the 5th inning.

The Reds Bullpen continued their dominance early in the season to keep the score in the 7th inning. Then Nick Castellanos said, “Suspend this.” Rumor has it that the Cardinals had to suspend their game in Miami for some time.

Lucas Sims threw a perfect 8th inning on his 2021 debut. Jonathan India and Aristides Aquino drove in the 8th in insurance runs.

Amir Garrett fought on his debut in 2021 but was able to take down the pirates with a beautiful game from Eugenio Suárez to ensure victory. The Cincinnati Reds are 3-1.

Biggest game in the game

According to Fangraph’s WPA stats (win percentage added), it was the most important game of the game Nick Castellano’s solo home run 1-0 at the end of 7th place, which gave the Reds a 3-2 lead. This game increased the Reds’ probability of winning by 21.0% (from 55.2% to 76.2%).

positive

Jose De Leon gave the reds everything they could ask for: 5.0 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 9 K. The most impressive thing about the night for me was that he only ran 2 batters that night, something with which he had his little MLB career and struggled this spring.

Nick Castellanos hits a cool .533 / .588 / 1.333 tonight after a home run and a walk. The bomb had an EV of 108.9 and went 431 feet.

Mike Moustakas hit his first offender of the year and made him count: 110.2 EV, 430 feet. He also tore a double later that night.

Jonathan India has now surely scored in all four games to start his big league career. He did a major insurance run in the 8th.

The Reds Bullpen just continues to dominate. Cionel Perez and Sean Doolittle Everyone threw a perfect inning with two strikeouts. Lucas Sims also threw a perfect inning on his debut in 2021.

Sean Doolittle’s average fastball last year was 90 mph. It’s been below 95 since 2017.

Tonight, Doolittle hit 96. He’s another Reds pitcher with a speed boost.

– Charlie Goldsmith (@CharlieG__) April 6, 2021

Negatives

Eugenio Suarez made another pretty bad mistake. The pirates had a runner first. There was a ball hit against Votto, he threw a ball gently at Suarez that he was about to drop. Suarez seemed to be rushing to try a double game. He made a solid game to finish the game and make a nice throw. It was the kind of game where if he ran too fast he could throw the ball in the stands and allow the pirates to tie the game.

Amir Garrett was shaky when it debuted in 2021. He gave up a home run, single, and a walk. He survived, but his gait rate is an issue if he wants to be the top guy in the Reds Bullpen.

Not so random thoughts …………

How good is John Sadak? It’s just fun to listen to. You can only feel the joy in his mission. It’s so refreshing to have someone on the booth who clearly appreciates the opportunity to call Reds Games.

Best tweet of the day summarizing how ridiculous the Castellanos suspension was.

That Castellano’s suspension is also wild because you think MLB will at some point use this video of him scoring and flexing as part of an advertising campaign?

– local bIogger (@fergoe) April 5, 2021

Next:

Pirates at Roten
Tuesday, 6.40 p.m.
Television: Bally Sports Ohio
Wade Miley (8.1 IP, 11 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 K *) versus Trevor Cahill (3.2 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 K *)
* Spring training 2021 statistics