Yesterday’s game between the Cincinnati Reds and the San Diego Padres was a tough one, with the Reds falling to the Padres by a score of 7 to 1. Despite the ever-familiar disappointing result, there are a few takeaways from the game that we can anchor to maintain our excitement for this young Reds team.
Jake Fraley made an awesome diving catch in the second inning, but it wasn’t enough to prevent a notoriously powerful Padres lineup from knocking in 2 runs. Padres rookie Brett Sullivan lined a 2-run double down the right field line off of Reds starter Luis Cessna. 29-year-old Sullivan wasn’t done with the Reds yet, launching a two-run home run, his career first, in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Padres’ superstar Juan Soto was able to shake some of his recent hitting troubles, socking a two-out double netting two additional runs for Team Spanish Father’s. Soto also walked three times, extending his MLB leading total to 31.
Cessna was pulled after 3 ⅓ innings, and he found no relief from the Reds bullpen as their woes continued, giving up a total of 4 earned runs over the remaining 5 ⅔ innings.
in the sport of Baseball when you let the other team score, your team’s offense has to score more runs than you allow in order to win the ballgame. And the Reds’ offense had no such luck against Padres starter Seth Lugo, who threw six strong innings and only allowed one run on five strikeouts. Lugo carries a 3.10 ERA on the season, his eighth in the league, and first as an everyday starter since his 2017 campaign with the Mets.
Despite the downer of a game, the Reds have been playing surprisingly well lately, with a 7-3 record over their last ten games coming into yesterday’s matchup. And even though they couldn’t pull out the win against the Padres, Reds Nation has plenty to look forward to.
Jonathan India had two hits on the day, bringing his season average to a respectable .281, after hitting the go-ahead single to win last night’s game. Reds’ rookie Spencer Steer launched the first pitch he saw in the sixth inning to left for a home run.
Graham Ashcraft leads all players in the National League in WAR, with 2.1 on the season. Nick Lodolo is sixth in the NL with 44 strikeouts, followed closely by teammate Hunter Green in 10th with 40 strikeouts of his own.
Our Redlegs currently sit in 4th place (not last place) in the NL Central with a record of 13-18, and remain only 7 games back of the first-place Pittsburgh Pirates. Yeah, that’s the first-place, NL Central-leading Pittsburgh Pirates. What a time to be alive.
To the Reds’ credit, they have played a tough schedule so far this season, facing opposing teams with a combined record of .525. For reference, of the seventeen teams with better records than the Reds, only three have a tougher schedule.
Looking ahead, the Reds have a chance to bounce back tonight as they take on the Chicago White Sox at home tomorrow afternoon at 6:40pm on Apple TV+.
