The Cincinnati Reds got a good combination of strong pitching and a good offensive performance on Thursday evening. Nick Lodolo’s six innings of shutout baseball were continued by the bullpen the rest of the way against Miami and the offense had a big 6th inning against the Marlins to put the game out of reach as Cincinnati earned a split of the series with a 6-0 win.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miami Marlins (42-50) | 0 | 4 | 2 |
| Cincinnati Reds (48-46) | 6 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Lodolo (6-6) L: Quantrill (3-8) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Nick Lodolo took care of business in the top of the 1st inning. In the bottom of the inning the Reds put a run on the board when Elly De La Cruz singled, stole second base, and then scored on a hit by Austin Hays. He was thrown out at second base on the play to end the inning, but not before the Reds shortstop crossed the plate to give his team a 1-0 lead. In the next inning Cincinnati would tack on another run when Spencer Steer crushed his 11th home run of the season to make it 2-0.
Both starting pitchers locked in for a while at that point and the score stayed 2-0 until the bottom of the 6th inning. With Cal Quantrill still on the mound for Miami, Cincinnati’s offense went to work. Noelvi Marte led off the inning with a single and TJ Friedl followed up with one of his own to put runners on the corners. Matt McLain then walked to load the bases.
Elly De La Cruz then cashed in a run with a single to make it 3-0 and then the relay throw got by everyone and that allowed a second run to come in as the Marlins chased down the ball. Austin Hays then singled in two more runs as the Reds made it 6-0 and chased Quantrill from the game as he failed to record an out in the inning after retiring 11 straight entering the inning. Ronny Henriquez entered the game for Miami and struck out the next three hitters to end the inning.
Graham Ashcraft took over for Nick Lodolo to begin the 7th inning and immediately got himself into trouble as he walked the leadoff batter on four pitches and then gave up a single on the first pitch to the next hitter. After getting a fly out, he walked another batter to load the bases. But Ashcraft got out of the jam with a grounder up the middle that made an easy double play to end the inning.
After Tony Santillan tossed a hitless 8th inning for Cincinnati, the Reds turned the 9th inning over to Scott Barlow with a 6-0 lead. He had to face the middle of the Marlins order. Barlow walked Otto Lopez to begin the inning but rebounded by striking out the next two batters. For some reason the Reds then made a pitching change to bring in Sam Moll with two outs, a runner on, and a 6-run lead. A 7-pitch at-bat ended in a lazy fly ball to left field to end the game as Cincinnati completed the shutout to earn a series split.
Key Moment of the Game
The Marlins choosing to send Cal Quantrill back to the mound for the 6th inning. He had only recorded an out in the 6th inning one time all season. The fact that they didn’t have a reliever ready and allowed him to face five batters – all of whom reached – before going to the bullpen changed the game and turned a close one into a bit of a blowout.
Notes Worth Noting
Nick Lodolo lowered his ERA to 3.38 with his six shutout innings. Since a tough outing in early June he’s posted a 2.28 ERA in his last five starts that have covered 27.2 innings.
Elly De La Cruz and Austin Hays each had two hits in the game. The two hits raised the average for De La Cruz to .280, which is the highest it’s been since April 30th when he was at .281.
The win moves the Reds back to two games over the .500 mark.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Colorado Rockies vs Cincinnati Reds
Friday July 11th, 7:10pm ET
German Marquez (3-10, 5.84 ERA) vs Chase Burns (0-1, 8.10 ERA)
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