The Cincinnati Reds were cruising, holding a 5-0 lead heading into the bottom of the 5th inning. Then things fell apart in disastrous fashion as the Rockies scored five runs in the bottom of that inning to tie things up and then scored six more runs in the 6th to seemingly put the game away. Cincinnati would score a run in the 9th and load the bases after that, but they couldn’t keep it going and fell 11-6 in the final game of the series at Coors Field.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (19-24) |
6 | 12 | 1 |
| Colorado Rockies (19-25) |
11 | 13 | 0 |
| W: Suter (2-0) L: Ashcraft (2-2) SV: Johnson (8) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
After both teams failed to take advantage of a baserunner in the 1st inning, Cincinnati was able to capitalize on their opportunity in the 2nd. Kevin Newman, who has been crushing left-handed pitching this year, kept it going as he singled to lead off the inning. He moved up to second on a ground out and then scored on a single by Jose Barrero – but Barrero was thrown out at second base trying to advance on the throw to the plate. That proved costly as Jake Fraley followed with a walk and then scored on a Luke Maile double that made it 2-0.
Three innings later the score was still 2-0, but Luke Maile had different ideas about the score once again. This time around he led off the 5th inning with a solo home run, crushing the ball 424 feet into the 15th row or so in left-center. That was just the start of things in the inning, though. Jonathan India and Spencer Steer would both single before a pitching change. Stuart Fairchild welcomed Fernando Abad to the game with a 2-run ground-rule double to make it 5-0.
The bottom of the inning didn’t go the Reds way. After getting Harold Castro to fly out to start the inning, Graham Ashcraft gave up three straight singles to load the bases. Ashcraft lost his shutout when he followed that up with a walk. Jurickson Profar followed up with a 2-run double to cut the Cincinnati lead to 5-3. Kris Bryant hit a liner towards left-center, but Jose Barrero leapt and made a nice catch for the second out of the inning. The baseball Gods evened things out on the next play as a blooper into center by Elias Diaz fell in for a 2-run single that tied the game up.
Despite a tough 5th inning, Graham Ashcraft went back out to begin the 6th inning with a low pitch count. And that move didn’t go well as he allowed a double and a single to start the inning before the Reds went to the bullpen to bring in Lucas Sims with runners on the corners and no outs. That move didn’t work out, either, as Brenton Doyle, who apparently is now at the very least a part-owner of the Reds, tripled on the first pitch from Sims to put Colorado ahead 7-5. Things didn’t get better for Sims as he walked then hit the next two batters before finally recording an out on a pop up. Kris Bryant followed that with a 2-run single and it was 9-5 and Lucas Sims was on his way to the dugout and Silvino Bracho was on his way to the mound to try and stop the bleeding.
He didn’t. Elias Diaz singled on the second pitch he saw and extended the lead to 10-5. Ryan McMahon followed up with an RBI ground out as Colorado continued to put runs on the board. Harold Castro would fly out to end the inning, but not before the Rockies put up six more runs and took an 11-5 lead. Bracho returned for the bottom of the 7th inning and sat Colorado down in order.
Cincinnati tried to get a 1-out rally going when Wil Myers singled and Jose Barrero walked for the second time on the day to put two men on. It wasn’t meant to be, though, as Jake Fraley grounded out before Luke Maile struck out to end the inning. Kevin Herget took over for Cincinnati in the bottom of the 8th inning and he would work around a 2-out walk to keep the game at 11-5 and give the Reds offense a chance to pull off a Coors Field miracle in the top of the 9th.
The Rockies sent Riley Pint to the mound for the top of the 9th inning to make his big league debut. The 4th overall pick in the 2016 draft had an ERA of 7.41 in Triple-A with 16 walks in 17.0 innings before his call up. After getting Jonathan India to ground out to start the inning, Pint walked Nick Senzel and Spencer Steer before getting a visit to the mound from his catcher and then the pitching coach. Whatever was said didn’t pay immediate dividends as Stuart Fairchild lined the first pitch he saw after that into right field for an RBI double that made it 11-6. Kevin Newman followed up with a walk on four pitches and that would be it for Pint as the Rockies called down to the bullpen to bring in Peirce Johnson with the bases loaded. The first pitch he threw to Wil Myers was popped up for the second out of the inning. That brought Jose Barrero to the plate, who had reached base all four times he’d stepped to the plate on the day, but he struck out to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
Sending Graham Ashcraft out for the 6th inning after giving up five runs in the 5th. The floodgates opened after that.
Notes Worth Noting
The poor start from Graham Ashcraft sent his ERA up to 4.84 on the season.
Lucas Sims didn’t allow a run in his first 11 appearances this season. He’s allowed five runs in his last two appearances that have seen him record just three outs.
The Reds hitters have seven walks and just four strikeouts in the game but left 10 men on base.
The Reds pitchers allowed the Rockies to go 7-12 with runners in scoring position on the day.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
New York Yankees vs Cincinnati Reds
Friday May 19th, 6:40pm ET
TBA vs Ben Lively (1-1, 1.69 ERA)
