Cincinnati Reds righty Rhett Lowder pitched out of the bullpen across the first two weeks of July, doing so as the team’s rotation was suddenly robust upon the return of Hunter Greene. He did pretty fine work there, too, but in his first start after a trio of relief appearances he was shelled for 11 hits and 8 ER in just 2.1 IP.
That was in Coors Field on a nearly 100 degree day against the Colorado Rockies, and perhaps that’s the tale that truly needs to be told. In two starts since that debacle,
he’s fired 11.0 IP and allowed just 4 ER (3.27 ERA) while fanning 9 against just a pair of walks. He has also yielded just 6 hits in that span, and he once again looks like the guy who knows how to throw four pitches for strikes all up and down (and side to side) within the strike zone while keeping batters off-keel as good as anyone with his level of experience.
Lowder gets the ball for the Reds in the second game of the series against the A’s on Wednesday evening in Great American Ball Park, doing so a day after the Reds claimed the series opener 5-4 in pretty dramatic fashion. If he can lead the Reds to a win, that’ll mark the 5th series victory out of the 6 series they’ve played since the All Star break and will show at least a little more faith in the idea that keeping this club mostly together at this week’s trade deadline was a move honestly worth making.
First pitch is again set for 6:40 PM ET, and the Reds will be facing a southpaw to start in Jacob Lopez. They have arranged their lineup accordingly with JJ Bleday the only lefty in the starting lineup, meaning rookie Hector Rodriguez will start on the pine in his second game in the bigs.
Here’s how both clubs will line up to begin things:
