It is always farcical when a team sends a position player to the pitching mound and that’s what the Reds did in the eighth inning.
Manager Tito Francona sent catcher Jose Trevino to the mound and it turned into a slo-pitch softball game. He lobbed 32 miles an hour blooper/ephus pitches to get the game over.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The losing streak for the Reds is at four straight and they’ve scored five runs in those games, five runs over 40 innings. And they’ve dropped down to .500 at 46-46.
And it looked so promising at the beginning. Matt McLain, 0 for 18, homered in the first inning to give the Reds a 1-0 lead, the fourth straight game they jumped to a 1-0 lead.
And all four times they did nothing else offensively. Their five runs have come on three solo home runs, a sacrifice fly and an error.
They are 2 for 17 in those four losses with runners in scoring position and neither of the two hits produced a run.
Reds starter Nick Martinez, a native of Miami, was 4-0 with 1.38 earned run average for his career against his hometown Marlins.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Martinez flicked aside the first six Marlins and looked as if he had the stuff he had when he took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Then came the hideous third. The first seven Marlins reached base, with the bottom three in the order igniting it —walk, infield hit, single, stolen base, double, single, single, double, sacrifice fly, sacrifice fly.
That added up to seven runs on six hits. Martinez stayed in the game and pitched two straight 1-2-3 innings after the seven-run cascade. Four of his first five innings were 1-2-3.
He ran out of petrol in the sixth and gave up a walk, single, walk and was out of the game. All three of those runs scored and it was 10-1.
All 10 runs were charged to Martinez, the most runs he has given up in a game.
And as they have in the four straight losses, the Reds made the opposing pitcher resemble a combination of Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson.
This time it was right-hander Eury Perez, just recently returning from Tommy John surgery recovery. After McLain’s home run, he gave up one more hit while walking none and striking out eight through five innings.
The Reds struck out 13 times and Cincinnati pitchers walked seven, aiding the Marlins to their 11th straight road win.
There was a moment of happiness. After McLain hit his first-inning home run, as he returned to the dugout, Francona gathered the team together and announced, “Andrew Abbott has been named to the All-Star team.”
Abbott was snubbed in the original selections despite his 7-1 record and 2.15 earned run average, but on Tuesday he was added.
“It means the world,” Abbott told reporters after the game. “You grow up wanting to be an MLB player, then to get the recognition of being an All-Star...I can’t put it into words.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Then he put it in fantastic words.
“We were sitting in the dugout just watching the game and I was talking to the other starting pitchers,” he said. “McLain hits the homer and Tito brings us into a circle. I thought we were going to get yelled at.
“And he was sort of yelling and said, ‘I’ll tell you guys one thing (with some choice language in there), Andrew Abbott is an All-Star.’”
The dugout erupted in cheers that could be heard in GABP’s upper deck in left field.
“I got showered with ice, bubblegum and everything guys could get their hands on. It was fantastic, felt like I was in Triple-A getting called up to the big leagues,” he said. “A wholesome moment for sure.”
Abbott said he wasn’t sure about the selection process so he didn’t think much about it when he wasn’t picked originally.
“I always held hope that I’d get picked,” he said. “I didn’t really understand the process or anything that went into it. I didn’t know what to expect so I didn’t fully focus on it fully. I thought I deserved it the first go around, but there are a lot of other deserving guys.”
And he was happy to share the success and the help he got.
“I wouldn’t be here without my battery mates (catchers), Jose Trevino and Tyler Stephenson calling games and the staff and my teammates. I’m more than happy to have them share the moment with me.”
And Wednesday he gets to try to prove what All-Star pitchers do when he pitches, afforded the chance to end the four-game losing streak.
NEXT GAME
Who: Miami at Cincinnati
When: 7:10 p.m., Wednesday, July 9
TV: FanDuel Sports
Radio: 1410-AM, 700-AM
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