The list of things the Cincinnati Reds got on Saturday evening in Great American Ball Park amounts to a what’s what of things that have proven to be pitfalls for them so often over their last ~40 or so games.
First, they put together some back to back hits with 2-outs, as Matt McLain socked an early double and was immediately driven in by an Edwin Arroyo single. Hits with 2-outs, hits of any variety with a runner in scoring position have been so few and far between from this offense that the stranded
runners on the bases might as well have bought real estate out there.
Then, they got a lockdown performance from a starting pitcher after an early foible. Rhett Lowder turned in his best start since the first week of April (5.2 IP, ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 6 K) and did so even after serving up a homer to Corbin Carroll in the Top of the 1st that immediately put the Reds in a hole. He limited walks, finally, and showed once again how good he can be controlling all parts of the zone when his arm, body, experience, etc. are all in the right place.
That run Lowder allowed in the Top of the 1st? It proved to be the only run allowed by Reds pitchers all game, which is an endorsement of just how good the bullpen managed to be once Lowder yielded. Caleb Ferguson, Chase Petty (in relief!), and Tony Santillan combined to fire 3.1 IP of scoreless ball, and did so while only issuing a lone walk – that’s a marked improvement for a unit that’s been so maligned.
And while the offense on the day only managed to muster a pair of runs, the second one came on a big swing in a huge spot. Noelvi Marte swatted a homer for the second straight game, his coming with an out in the Bottom of the 8th to give the Reds a 2-1 lead that Santillan would hammer down with a save minutes later. It’s precisely the kind of momentum-changing swing that Cincinnati simply has not been able to muster of late, and the life it breathed into the dugout was palpable through the TV feed.
Cincinnati won, 2-1, and leveled the series with Arizona. On Sunday, they’ll send the red-hot Andrew Abbott to the mound to try to win a series and eschew the absolutely abysmal vibes they’ve been mired in during their four-series losing streak, a period of time that also saw them lose their face in Elly De La Cruz.
Maybe, just maybe, Marte’s homer ends up a demarcation point in this season where things began to finally, mercifully turn back towards the positive.
