KSReds Recap: Joey Votto, New Bullpen, Beating the Cubs

On3 imageby:Brandon Ramsey•07/29/21•

BRamseyKSR

via Twitter (@MLB)

Cincinnati Reds baseball can be really, really fun when the relief pitching isn’t giving away wins. Unfortunately, we still had to witness that on Monday night. Help was on the way though as the Reds negotiated trades for Luis Cessa and Justin Wilson from the Yankees and Mychael Givens from the Rockies.

Those new relievers each played a role in wins Wednesday and Thursday to help lift the Reds to a series win at Wrigley Field taking three out of four games from the Chicago Cubs. Of course, there were constant fireworks provided from the goat, Joseph Daniel Votto, as well.

The Redlegs will remain on the road and head to New York for a three-game weekend series with the Mets. Sonny Gray takes the mound Friday night at 7:10 p.m. Eastern Time.

Another Blown Lead

via Twitter (@Reds)

If there was a theme of the Reds season it would be blown leads at the hands of the bullpen. Unfortunately, Cincinnati routinely has trotted out non-Major League pitching so it really shouldn’t be a surprise that this happens so often. There is help on the way though (more on that later).

Wade Miley never had his best stuff on Monday night and had to battle his way through 4 1/3 innings giving up three runs on seven hits while uncharacteristically walking five batters. A first inning two-run home run to Anthony Rizzo spotted the Cubs a 2-0 lead.

A trio of Joey Votto RBI sprinkled over the next five innings would slowly but surely bring Cincinnati back on top. Votto hit a home run in the top of the second, came through a bases loaded sacrifice fly in the third, and then walked with the bases loaded in the fifth which gave the Reds a 4-3 lead. Tyler Stephenson would quickly extend that lead to 5-3 with a RBI fielder’s choice.

Despite building a two-run lead, the Reds bullpen would allow the Cubbies to claw their way back into the game.

Brad Brach gave up a walk and a hit in the bottom of the seventh inning that allowed a run to score to cut the lead to 5-4. Then, Josh Osich gave up a home run to Wilson Contreras in the eighth that tied the game at 5-5.

In the bottom of the ninth, after Heath Hembree allowed two walks and a hit to load the bases, Amir Garrett would come to the mound to face his arch-nemesis Javier Baez. This time, Baez would get the best of him with a walk-off “single” to deep center field to win the game for the Cubs 6-5.

Joseph Daniel Votto

via Twitter (@Reds)

We all as Reds fans need to continue to enjoy future Hall of Famer Joey Votto as much as possible.

National League All-Star Jesse Winker and Votto each went deep in the first inning Tuesday night to give the Reds a 2-0 lead right off the bat. However, for the second straight night, Anthony Rizzo would connect on a two-run homer in the bottom of the first inning and tie the score at 2-2.

Over the next several innings the Redlegs would build up a comfortable 7-2 lead thanks to consistent hitting. Kyle Farmer drove in a run in the second, Joey Votto and Eugenio Suarez went deep in the third and sixth innings respectively, and Aristides Aquino and Jonathan Indiana each had RBI doubles in the ninth.

Of course, the Reds bullpen made things at least semi-interesting with Edgar Garcia allowing home runs to both Patrick Wisdom and Kris Bryant to bring them within three runs at 7-4.

This time, Amir Garrett was able to close the door to allow the Reds to get away with a 7-4 victory and even the series at one game a piece.

More Votto, New Relievers Pitch Well

via Twitter (@Reds)

Stop what you are doing, stand up if you are sitting down, and give a private standing ovation to Employee #19, Joseph Daniel Votto. Wednesday night the future Hall of Famer did it again by blasting two home runs for the second consecutive game.

Votto struck first in the top of the second inning to put Cincinnati on top 1-0 and they would never look back from there. Jesse Winker added a RBI double in the third before Tyler Stephenson opened the game up with a two-RBI single in the fifth to give the Reds a 4-0 advantage.

The Reds would tack on four more runs between the eighth and ninth innings, including two runs thanks to another long ball from Votto.

On the mound, Cincy got six shutout innings from Tyler Mahle who improved his record to 8-3 on the season. David Bell then turned to his two newest arms from the New York Yankees, Luis Cessa and left-hander Justin Wilson.

Cessa would go three up, three down in the seventh inning before turning it over to Wilson who retired three in a row after a leadoff walk. It was a welcomed sight to have a couple of real, MLB-caliber relief pitchers come in and get the job done. Welcome to the Reds!

Ryan Hendrix then gave up three hits, including a home run, in the bottom of the ninth, but the Reds had plenty of insurance and would go on to win 8-2.

Reds Take Three Out of Four

Another day, another Joey Votto home run. The Reds first baseman went deep for a franchise record sixth consecutive game when he connected on an Alec Mills fastball in the first inning for a 431-foot two-run blast.

The Cubs started to chip away off of Luis Castillo in the fourth inning with a solo home run by Patrick Wisdom. Then, Wilson Contreras took the lead with a two-run shot in the fifth inning.

Those two home runs were all the Cubbies could muster off of Castillo though as he would make it through six innings allowing three runs on seven hits while striking out eight. He is now 5-10 with a 4.22 earned run average this season.

The bullpen was solid for Cincinnati for the second night in a row with help from a new face. Brad Brach went three up, three down in the seventh inning before handing the ball over to Mychal Givens who just was activated before the game after being acquired on Wednesday from the Colorado Rockies. Givens was absolutely electric striking out the side in his first appearance in a Reds uniform. 

Heath Hembree would give up a home run to Ian Happ in then ninth, but still slammed the door shut with a strikeout to give the Reds a 7-4 lead and clinch the series victory taking three of four from the Chicago Cubs.

@BRamseyKSR

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2024-04-24