The Cincinnati Reds scored four runs in the 1st inning and they never looked back. On what essentially turned into a bullpen day, four pitchers combined to shutout the New York Mets in a 5-0 win that gave Cincinnati a series victory.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York Mets (18-20) |
0 | 6 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (16-21) | 5 | 10 | 1 |
| W: Lively (1-0) L: Senga (4-2) SV: Herget (1) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Derek Law went through the top of the Mets lineup with ease in the top of the 1st inning. Kodai Senga almost got to face the top of the Reds lineup twice in the bottom of the inning. Jonathan India led off with his 12th double of the season. TJ Friedl and Spencer Steer both made outs, but then Cincinnati got back-to-back singles from Jake Fraley and Tyler Stephenson before a Nick Senzel double, Henry Ramos walk, and an RBI single by Kevin Newman to cap off a 4-run inning.
Law returned to the mound for the top of the 2nd inning and walked Pete Alonso to begin the frame before getting Brett Baty to fly out. That’s when Cincinnati went to the bullpen and brought Ben Lively into the game. He’s get a ground out and a strikeout to get out of the inning. Lively ran into some trouble in the 3rd when the Mets put together back-to-back 1-out singles before the right-hander was able to get Francisco Lindor and Jeff McNeil to line out and hold onto a 4-0 Reds lead.
Lively would pitch into the 5th inning, giving up a single and getting a force out in the inning before Lucas Sims took over with one out in the inning. Sims would walk a batter before retiring the next two hitters to put an end on Lively’s line at 3.0 shutout innings with a strikeout.
In the bottom of the 5th inning Jonathan India picked up his second hit of a day when he lined a single into center. He was thrown out trying to steal second base when he took off too early and Kodai Senga fired to the bag to get him. That would come back to haunt the Reds as two batters later Spencer Steer hit a 427-foot home run to make it 5-0.
When the top of the 6th inning began Stuart Fairchild took over in center for TJ Friedl. Lucas Sims remained on the mound and tossed a shutout inning. Kevin Herget came out to pitch in the top of the 7th. He would get through the inning unscathed, but he got some help to end things as Francisco Lindor lined a single into right field and Henry Ramos came up firing to the plate. Curt Casali made a short-hop snag of the throw and turned to tag Francisco Alvarez just before he slid into the plate to hold onto a 5-0 lead.
Cannon courtesy of @HRamos14_
Pick and tag courtesy of @Curtcasali pic.twitter.com/YpN2qBmUds
— Cincinnati Reds (@Reds) May 11, 2023
After Kevin Herget returned and tossed a shutout top of the 8th, Stuart Fairchild led off the bottom of the 8th with a double and moved over to third when Jake Fraley lined a single into right with one out. That led to a pitching change for the Mets, who brought in Dominic Leone to face Tyler Stephenson. The move worked to perfection as Stephenson grounded into a double play to end the inning and send the game to the 9th. Coming back for his third inning of work was Kevin Herget and he got the job done, retiring the side in order and picking up his first career save in the process. The victory also gave the Reds the series win as they improved to 16-21 on the year.
Key Moment of the Game
Kevin Newman’s 2-run single in the 1st inning. That made it 4-0 and put the Reds up by a relatively comfortable margin as far as early game leads go.
Notes Worth Noting
Ben Lively made his first appearance in the big leagues since April 28th of 2019. That was his only game in the big leagues that year and he threw just one inning that day. The two pitchers that started the game that day? Homer Bailey for the Royals and Matt Harvey for the Angels.
Jonathan India remained hot. His two hits extended his hitting streak to eight games. He’s hitting .311/.396/.467 on the year.
Jake Fraley remained hot, picking up two more hits. Since April 24th he’s hitting .343/.410/.514.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Miami Marlins
Friday May 12th, 6:40pm ET
Graham Ashcraft (2-1, 3.82 ERA) vs Eury Perez (MLB debut)
