CINCINNATI — Plagued by COVID-19 and injuries while pushing the limits of their farm system and roster management, the Reds are finding a way to not only stay alive but somehow thrive.
A 6-3 victory over the Mariners in Monday’s three-game series opener at Great American Ball Park gave the Reds wins in three of their last four games.
“We just stay together. “This is a resilient bunch,” said Lucas Sims, who hit young superstar Julio Rodríguez with the bases full in the bottom of the seventh inning. “I think the guys that are coming up understand what we’re trying to do.” Here. We’re just trying to pull together, be together.”
Remaining games: vs. SEA (2), vs. STL (3), at DET (3), at NYM (3), vs. MIN (3), vs. PIT (3), at CLE (2), at STL (3 ). )
Table update: The Reds (72-68) fought a duel with the D-Backs (71-67) for the third wild card spot in the National League. The Reds hold the tiebreaker over the D-Backs, and they also hold the tiebreaker over the Cubs (74-64), who have a three-game lead for the second wild card.
Since the calendar switched from August to September four days ago, the Reds have made 23 squad changes. Four pitchers — including starters Hunter Greene, Brandon Williamson and Ben Lively — were on the seven-day COVID-19 injured list. Another starter, Graham Ashcraft, was placed on the IL with a stress reaction in his right big toe.
The situation forced Cincinnati into disarray. Starter Carson Spiers was called up from Double-A Chattanooga to make his major league debut in Sunday’s 15-7 loss to the Cubs. Connor Phillips was named to the starting lineup by Triple-A Louisville on Tuesday and will become the 16th player to make his debut for the Reds this season.
In between there was Bullpen Day on Monday. Seven Reds pitchers combined to allow three runs and nine hits with one walk and 11 strikeouts.
“We have asked a lot of our player development system and they have improved,” said Reds manager David Bell.
The offense gave the pitching staff room to work. Two two-out RBI singles from Elly De La Cruz and Hunter Renfroe gave Cincinnati a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The lead expanded to 5-0 in the second with more two-out action as Spencer Steer hit a three-run home run off Bryan Woo to center field.
“Kudos to the pitching staff, they’ve done an incredible job the last few days with so many players going down,” Steer said. “It definitely makes it nicer knowing the obstacles we had to overcome on the pitching side.”
Opener Tejay Antone, who returned Saturday after a two-year absence following Tommy John surgery, and left-hander Sam Moll combined to pitch three scoreless innings with five strikeouts. Seattle picked up a run when Rodríguez opened the fourth inning with a home run to right-center field off Daniel Duarte.
With one out in the fifth against newcomer Michael Mariot, Mike Ford hit a solo home run to right field, tying the game 5-2.
Mariot worked in the major leagues for the first time since 2016 with the Phillies. He didn’t sign with the Reds out of independent baseball until June, when he admitted he was close to retirement.
“It’s been seven years since I played in the big leagues. I’m just happy to be here and just competing. “It feels good,” said Mariot, who pitched 2 2/3 innings.
With two runners in scoring position in the sixth inning, Mariot created his own two-out situation by striking out Eugenio Suárez.
“That’s all I tried to do, eat up a few innings and put up a few zeroes,” Mariot said. “Unfortunately it wasn’t all zeros. I’m glad I was able to at least win a few innings.”
There was another two-out threat in the seventh when Mariot gave up a walk and a single. Sims took over and hit his first batter, JP Crawford, with a pitch to load the bases. But he recovered and struck out Rodríguez after he fouled out three two-strike pitches.
Seattle made it a three-run game on Crawford’s RBI single off Buck Farmer in the ninth inning. Bell called on Ian Gibaut to take on Rodríguez, who again tied the score. Gibaut hit a call three with his fastball, securing the save and the game.
“It felt meaningful. It felt important. “This is really special,” Bell said. “It feels like so many players and pitchers have contributed.” A lot has happened in the last few days and it feels like an organizational win to me. It’s all hands on deck trying to help us get through this.”