KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Use Pair of Walk-Off Wins to Sweep Rays
The 32-54 overall record is still ugly, but for one weekend at Great American Ball Park, the Cincinnati Reds might have been the most exciting team in baseball. Back-to-back walk-off wins on Friday and Saturday night brought the total to four such wins on the week. Then, on Sunday afternoon, the Reds completed the sweep of the Tampa Bay Rays by putting up seven runs in the third inning. Cincinnati has now tied their longest winning streak of the season at four games.
After taking Monday off, the Reds will travel to New York for an interleague series against the Yankees. First pitch is scheduled for Tuesday night at 7:05 p.m. EST with rookie Graham Ashcraft taking the mound. Mike Minor and Luis Castillo are also scheduled to start.
Pitcher’s Duel Leads to Walk-Off Win
If you are a Cincinnati Reds fan you need to be appreciating what Luis Castillo is doing. First of all, you might not be able to see him for much longer as the trade deadline approaches. However, he is also pitching at an extremely high level right now. He turned in another dazzling performance on Friday evening at Great American Ball Park. Castillo went seven innings allowing just one run on four hits while striking out eight batters. A lack of run support kept him from recording the victory, but his earned run average did drop to 2.92.
The Reds have won each of Castillo’s last three starts. In that span, he has combined to throw 20 innings allowing just two runs and striking out 25. It will hurt to see him go, but if Castillo does get shipped out of town his trade value could not be higher.
For much of the game, all the Reds could muster at the plate was a 423-foot home run off the bat of Brandon Drury in the bottom of the third inning. However, with runners at the corners in the bottom of the 10th inning, pinch-runner Mark Kolozsvary scored on a walk-off balk to win the game 2-1. Yes, a walk-off balk won the game for Cincinnati on Friday night.
Another Day, Another Walk-Off for the Reds
The record is still not looking too hot for the ball club. However, at least for a week, the Cincinnati Reds have played an exciting brand of baseball. Saturday night’s walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning by Nick Senzel marked the fourth walk-off win of the win for Cincinnati. This one may have been the most dramatic victory of them all.
Tampa Bay led 3-0 entering the bottom of the eighth inning when the Reds loaded the bases with Nick Senzel at the plate. A walk plated the first run followed by a Brandon Drury single through the left side of the infield that drove in a pair of runs to tie the game at three. When the game went to extra innings the Rays struck first taking a 4-3 advantage, but the Reds would not go away. Kyle Farmer tied the game via a wild pitch in the bottom half of the 10th and then Senzel ended it with a seeing-eye single through the right side that plated Mark Reynolds and lifted Cincy to a 5-4 victory.
Brooms Come Out as Reds Sweep the Rays
The ball was flying out of Great American Ball Park on Sunday. Jonathan India struck first with a two-run shot in the bottom of the third inning. Then, Tyler Stephenson and Mike Moustakas also went deep in the inning as the Cincinnati Reds put up seven runs to take a commanding lead. Tampa Bay answered with a home run of their own in the fourth, but they never got closer than 7-3. Even after two more long balls in the eighth, the Reds still held on for a 10-5 victory to complete the sweep.
On the mound, rookie Nick Lodolo earned his second win of the season. In just his second start back from injury the left-hander went five innings allowing three runs and striking out six. The victory tied the Reds’ season-long winning streak of four games. Now, Cincinnati will get a day off before taking on the New York Yankees on Tuesday night.
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