Jonathan India’s 3-run home run was enough offense behind a 6-shutout inning start by Sonny Gray as the Cincinnati Reds avoided being swept by the Milwaukee Brewers with a 5-1 win on Thursday afternoon.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (70-59) | 5 | 7 | 1 |
| Milwaukee Brewers (78-50) | 1 | 6 | 1 |
| W: Gray (6-6) L: Anderson (4-8) | |||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Offense
It didn’t take long for Cincinnati to get things rolling on offense. Jonathan India broke up Brett Anderson’s no-hitter with a single to lead off the game. Tyler Stephenson followed with a walk, and an out later India scored the first run of the game on a sacrifice fly by Joey Votto.
In the top of the 5th inning the Reds offense got back to work. Back-to-back singles by Eugenio Suárez and Tyler Naquin put two men on. Naquin’s single also seemed to lead to Brewers pitcher Brett Anderson exiting the game with an injury. He had to race off of the mound to field a ball on the first base line and after fielding the ball pulled up slowly. He would exit the game at that point and it would later be noted that he left the game with right hip tightness. Jose Barrero and Sonny Gray both followed with outs against new pitcher Hunter Strickland, but that turned the lineup over and Jonathan India continued to try and cement his name on the Rookie of the Year award as he crushed a 397-foot opposite field 3-run homer to make it 4-0.
Cincinnati native Brent Suter took over for Milwaukee in the 6th and he was greeted by Nick Castellanos with a 374-foot solo home run that extended the Reds lead to 5-0. The Reds went 1-2-3 after that in the inning and didn’t get much going offensively the rest of the game.
The Pitching
Sonny Gray hit Kolten Wong to lead off the bottom of the 1st inning. He would retire the next two batters before Wong was thrown out by Tyler Stephenson as he tried to steal second base to end the inning. Gray retired the next four batters before walking Jackie Bradley Jr. with one out in the 3rd inning.
On his final pitch to opposing pitcher Brett Anderson, a called strike, Gray seemed to feel something and was checked on by the training staff. He was sitting on the ground, stretching something out (it appeared to be his hamstring, but could have been something else). He would get up and make a few pitches with the staff looking on and declared himself good to go. He needed just two pitches – both curveballs – to retire Kolten Wong to complete the inning. Gray returned to mound for the 4th inning. He allowed the first hit of the game, a single by Avisaíl García, but that was all they’d get as he held onto a 1-0 lead.
After a quiet 5th and 6th inning, Sonny Gray ran into problems in the 6th inning with two outs. Omar Narváez doubled and Christian Yelich walked to put two men on for Avisaíl García. He came through with a single to left, but it was hard hit and Aristides Aquino’s arm led to the hold sign at third base for Narváez. Gray buckled down and got Rowdy Tellez to ground out softly to first base to strand all three runners and keep his shutout going. That would end his day as he was pinch hit for in the following half-inning.
Tony Santillan took over in the 7th and promptly served up a solo homer to Luis Urías to break up the shutout. A walk on four pitches followed and so did a phone call to get the bullpen up and moving. Santillan would get Jackie Bradley Jr. to strikeout, but walked Pablo Reyes to end his day. Justin Wilson came on to face Kolten Wong and got him to ground into an inning-ending double play to hold onto a 5-1 lead.
Michael Lorenzen came out for the 8th and after getting a ground out to begin the inning, Christian Yelich doubled into the right center gap. Lorenzen got a ground out to follow and then was helped out by an outstanding sliding grab down the line by Joey Votto who got up and flipped the ball to the bag to end the inning. Mychal Givens took over for the 9th inning. Jace Peterson would pick up a 1-out single and take second base on defensive indifference. But Jackie Bradley Jr. lined out to Jose Barrero at shortstop and as he dove to try and tag Peterson for a double play, Peterson was ruled out for running out of the baseline and thus the game ended.
Notes Worth Noting
In case you missed the mention of it earlier today, Tejay Antone will undergo Tommy John surgery on Friday. It will be his second Tommy John surgery in his career.
Sean Doolittle was claimed on waivers by the Seattle Mariners.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Miami Marlins
Friday August 27, 7:10pm ET
Wade Miley (10-4) vs Zach Thompson (2-5, 2.97 ERA)
