The Cincinnati Reds never trailed on Friday night, but they never held a comfortable lead. Noelvi Marte had three hits and drove in two runs, while the Rockies played sloppy defense as the Reds were able to hang on for an 8-7 win in Colorado to open up their 3-game weekend series.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (13-13) | 8 | 13 | 0 |
| Colorado Rockies (4-21) | 7 | 10 | 2 |
| W: Ashcraft (1-2) L: Chivilli (0-2) SV: Pagan (6) |
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| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Elly De La Cruz started a 2-out rally in the top of the 1st inning with a single up the middle. Austin Hays walked to follow and then Noelvi Marte lined a single into right field to bring De La Cruz around to score and make it 1-0.
Colorado would tie the game up in the bottom of the second when the Rockies were able to string together a few hits and two walks together, with Andrew Abbott walking Adael Amador with the bases loaded to bring in Hunter Goodman – who led off the inning with a double.
In the top of the 3rd it was once again Elly De La Cruz getting a rally started with a single. He would move up to third base when Austin Hays doubled off the wall in right. Noelvi Marte picked up his second run batted in of the game on a ground out, and then the Reds padded things to 4-1 when Spencer Steer crushed his second home run of the season.
In typical fashion at Coors Field – no game is ever over. In the bottom of the inning Colorado got one run back when Jordan Beck led off with a long home run. A single and two walks would load the bases up for the Rockies, but the Reds caught a bit of a break when Michael Toglia’s long fly ball bounced over the wall for a ground-rule double with two outs – leading to just two runs scoring on the play instead of three. The game was tied up, but Andrew Abbott was able to strike out the next batter to keep the game tied up.
After the Reds failed to capitalize on two runners reaching base in the 4th inning, they were able to get something going in the top of the 5th. Cincinnati got singles from Austin Hays and Noelvi Marte, leaving runners on the corners for Santiago Espinal. He hit a weak grounder to second base, but Adael Amador misplayed the ball as he seemed to be trying to avoid Marte running the bases and just whiffed completely on the grounder as it trickled into the outfield and allowed Hays to come in and score. After a pitching change, Blake Dunn came through with a single that extended the Reds lead to 6-4.
Colorado began the bottom of the inning with back-to-back doubles off of Ian Gibaut, but that didn’t lead to a run immediately. They would get both runners to come in, though. Michael Toglia singled in a run and then Brenton Doyle would pinch hit and come through with a sacrifice fly to tie the game up.
In the top of the 7th inning the Reds were able to load the bases with one out thanks to a hit batter, an infield single, and a walk. That led to a pitching change for the Rockies, who brought in left-handed reliever Scott Alexander to face Blake Dunn. Things did not work out as Colorado had hoped as Dunn walked to bring in a run to give Cincinnati a lead. TJ Friedl then grounded out to bring in another run. Alexander then walked Matt McLain to load the bases and that was the end of his night as Zach Agnos entered the game to face Elly De La Cruz and got him to fly out to left field to end the threat.
Taylor Rogers threw a perfect bottom of the 7th inning. Tony Santillan took over for the bottom of the 8th and after getting Kyle Farmer to fly out, Jordan Beck hit his 2nd home run of the game and his 5th home run in the last two days (three games) and made it a 1-run game.
Cincinnati went in order in the top of the 9th. That led to Emilio Pagan heading to the mound to try and hold onto a 1-run lead in the bottom of the frame to seal the win. He would get a fly out to start the inning and then end things with back-to-back strikeouts as the Reds held on for an 8-7 win to begin the series.
Key Moment of the Game
Emilio Pagan striking out Michael Toglia to end the game. In Coors Field the game is never over until it’s over and when it’s a 1-run game….
Notes Worth Noting
The win moves the Reds back to the .500 mark at 13-13.
Noelvi Marte and Santiago Espinal both had 3-hit nights. Elly De La Cruz, Austin Hays, and Blake Dunn all added two hits.
Austni Hays is now hitting .375/.432/.650 in his first 10 games of the season.
Noelvi Marte is hitting .353/.405/.618 in his first 10 games of the season. He’s only struck out four times and has three walks.
The Rockies were only charged with two errors in the game, but they had multiple other misplays that could have been counted as errors. There’s probably a reason that they are now 4-21 on the season.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Colorado Rockies
Saturday, April 26, 3:10pm ET
Hunter Greene (2-2, 2.35 ERA) vs Antonio Senzatela (1-3, 4.81 ERA)
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