The game began with a home run and the two teams combined to hit four more as solo home runs accounted for five of the six runs scored in the game. It was the Cincinnati Reds who hit three of those five homers as they held on for the win to even up the series with the Seattle Mariners late on Tuesday night in Washington.
FinalRHECincinnati Reds (46-54)450Seattle Mariners (51-51)261W: Burns (12-1) L: Castillo (3-9) SV: Pagan (8)Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread
Elly De La Cruz and Luis Castillo battled to start the game, but it was De La Cruz who won the war as he hit a home run on the 8th pitch of the at-bat to put the Reds up 1-0. Seattle would threaten in the bottom of the 2nd inning after a leadoff single and a 1-out single put runners on 1st and 2nd. Chase Burns clamped down and struck out the next two batters to strand two and keep his team in the lead.
In the top of the 4th Eugenio Suarez led off with a home run to make it 2-0. The next inning Cincinnati tacked on another run when Sal Stewart hit a sacrifice fly to bring in TJ Friedl. The bottom of the inning saw Suarez show off some defensive skills as he snagged a ball to his right that took him into foul territory where he then made a Derek Jeter-esque hop-turn throw across the diamond to first base to record the final out of the inning.
Chase Burns would retire the side in the bottom of the 5th, ending his day after 91 pitches. Sam Moll took over for the Reds in the 6th inning and he got himself in trouble by walking the leadoff batter and then giving up a 1-out single. That led to a pitching change as Tejay Antone entered the game to face pinch hitter Julio Rodriguez. Elly De La Cruz made a diving grab on a hard-hit grounder and threw the ball to second for a force out, likely saving a run on the play. A soft comebacker to Antone would end the inning as the visitors held onto their 3-0 lead.
Antone headed back to the mound in the bottom of the 7th inning and gave up a 1-out solo home run to Weston Wilson as Seattle got on the board. A 2-out walk by Antone put a runner on first base and led to a pitching change. Brock Burke came into the game and walked the first two batters he saw, loading the bases. But he was able to get out of the jam with a groundout to Sal Stewart to preserve the lead.
Julio Rodriguez would welcome Julian Garcia to the game in the bottom of the 8th with a leadoff home run that cut the lead for the Reds down to 3-2. Cincinnati would get that run back in the top of the 9th when Nathaniel Lowe led off the inning with an opposite field home run to make it 4-2. Emilio Pagan took the mound in the bottom of the 9th and he set the home club down in order to pick up the save and seal the victory.
Key Moment of the Game
Nathaniel Lowe’s home run in the 9th inning. It made it a 2-run game and gave the Reds just a little extra breathing room after Seattle had scored in each of the previous two innings.
Notes Worth Noting
Chase Burns is now has a 12-1 record on the season. His ERA dropped to 2.42 through his 19 starts and 107.2 innings pitched.
Reds hitters had just five hits in the game but they made three of them count in a big way. They walked three times and struck out just four times. Seattle’s hitters had six walks and six hits, but they also went 1-10 with runners in scoring position and that one hit did not bring in a run.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Seattle Mariners
Wednesday July 22nd, 3:40pm ET
Brady Singer (4-9, 4.56 ERA) vs Emerson Hancock (6-4, 3.17 ERA)
