Chase Burns struck out 10 batters and Elly De La Cruz tripled and walked four times, but neither performance was enough for Cincinnati on the night. The Reds couldn’t come through when they needed it the most as the Colorado Rockies came from behind to pick up a win in the series opener by a score of 3-2.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Colorado Rockies (22-72) | 3 | 6 | 1 |
| Cincinnati Reds (48-47) | 2 | 8 | 0 |
| W: Bird (3-1) L: Santillan (1-3) SV: Vodnik (2) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Chase Burns was rolling through the first two innings, giving up just one single and striking out four batters. In the 3rd inning he’d get the first two batters out, but then walked Tyler Freeman. Mickey Moniak got sawed off and broke his bat, but his looping fly ball landed just over the infield for a single. Another walk followed and the bases were now loaded, resulting in a visit from pitching coach Derek Johnson. Whatever he said worked because he bounced back to strike out Jordan Beck to leave the bases juiced and the game scoreless.
The bottom of the 3rd inning started out well for Cincinnati as Noelvi Marte went down and got a knuckle-curve just below the zone from German Marquez and golfed it deep into the seats in left field for his 5th home run of the year to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. With two outs, Elly De La Cruz lined a ball into left field and left fielder Jordan Beck came up shy on a diving attempt and the ball got by him and went to the wall, allowing De La Cruz to race around the bases for a triple. He wouldn’t get any further as a strikeout ended the inning.
That came back to bite the Reds quickly because in the top of the 4th inning the Rockies picked up a leadoff walk and then a 2-run homer from Ryan McMahon followed that put Colorado in the lead. Chase Burns then struck out three of the next four batters to get out of the inning without any more damage. The next inning saw Burns need just six pitches to retire the side. He would get three outs in the 6th with just eight pitches, including picking up his 10th strikeout of the day.
Still trailing 2-1, the Reds turned the game over to the bullpen in the 7th. Scott Barlow took the mound and struck out the side to keep the deficit at one run. The Cincinnati offense got things going a bit in their half of the inning. Will Benson led off with a single and took third when Noelvi Marte followed with a double. A groundout by TJ Friedl brought in the tying run and moved the go-ahead runner to third base. Matt McLain hit a hard grounder but Ryan McMahon made a good play on the ball to keep Marte at third. Colorado opted to intentionally walk Elly De La Cruz for the second time on the day and it paid off for the second time as Austin Hays struck out to end the inning.
The top of the 8th didn’t go how Tony Santillan would have liked it to. He began the inning by striking out Mickey Moniak, but then gave up a walk and a single. After another strikeout he got a grounder back up the middle for what would have made for an easy out, but the ball hit off of his arm and rolled softly away from him for an infield single that loaded the bases for the Rockies. They would take the lead when Santillan threw a slider about 58 feet and it bounced over everyone and to the backstop, bringing in the runner from third base. The next pitch was a swinging strike to end the remaining threat, but Colorado had grabbed the lead.
Cincinnati would get a runner into scoring position in the bottom of the inning after Spencer Steer was hit by a pitch and took second when a pickoff throw got by the first baseman. The Reds weren’t able to capitalize on it, though, and the game headed to the 9th. Lyon Richardson took the mound for the Reds and retired the side in order to give the home team one more shot as they entered the bottom of the 9th down by a run.
Santiago Espinal, who came into the game in the 8th inning to play defense for Noelvi Marte, led off the bottom of the 9th with a 7-pitch at-bat against Victor Vodnik. The final pitch of the at-bat was hit off of the wall for a double, putting the tying run into scoring position to begin the inning. Vodnik rebounded to strike out both TJ Friedl and Matt McLain. For the third time in the game the Rockies chose to intentionally walk Elly De La Cruz to bring Austin Hays to the plate. The two battled, but it was Vodnik who got the victory in the 7-pitch at-bat as he struck out Hays to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
Tony Santillan’s wild pitch in the 8th inning that brought in the go-ahead run for the Rockies.
Notes Worth Noting
Noelvi Marte was the only Red to have two hits in the game.
The Rockies opted to intentionally walk Elly De La Cruz in the game. Thrice. It was his 6th, 7th, and 8th intentional walks of the season. He began the year with five for his career. He’s led the Reds in intentional walks each of the first two seasons he’s played in the big leagues and is doing so once again. The last time a Red had eight intentional walks in a season was 2017 when Joey Votto had 20 and Tucker Barnhart had 11.
De La Cruz went 1-1 with four walks. It was only the second time in his career that he had more than two walks in a game. He walked four times against the Angels on April 20th, 2024. None of those four walks were intentional.
Chase Burns set a career high with 10 strikeouts. His 95 pitches in the game were also a career high, including his time in the minor leagues. He now has 25 strikeouts through his first 16.0 innings in the big leagues.
Joel Luckhaupt of the FanDuel Sports Network booth and the internet notes that Chase Burns had six strikeouts looking in the game and that it’s the most by a Reds pitcher since Sonny Gray also had six back on September 6th, 2021.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Colorado Rockies vs Cincinnati Reds
Saturday July 11th, 7:10pm ET
Bradley Blalock (0-2, 12.94 ERA) vs Brady Singer (7-7, 4.32 ERA)
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