Reds 8, Diamondbacks 0
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (Feb. 27) – The Cincinnati Reds slugged 10 hits, including three home runs, as their pitching staff threw a combined three-hit shutout Thursday afternoon to defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 8-0. Trevor Bauer earned the win in his first spring training start for the Reds. Madison Bumgarner, in his first spring training start for the Diamondbacks, took the loss.
Bumgarner mowed through the first inning on 12 pitches, striking out the first two. Bauer responded with a 1-2-3 inning of his own, capping it off with a called third strike against right fielder Kole Calhoun on a backdoor curveball. Bumgarner pitched another strong inning in the second, despite giving up a solo home run to first baseman Derek Dietrich. Bauer responded with another perfect inning, striking out shortstop Nick Ahmed for the third out.
Reds, Diamondbacks Bats Remain Silent until the Fifth
Neither team managed to get another hit until the top of the fifth, when Reds third baseman Matt Davidson cracked a two-out double to the left-field wall. He did not score, as right fielder Stuart Fairchild followed with a grounder to short.
The Diamondbacks had their first hit in the bottom of the inning, as catcher Stephen Vogt beat out a grounder to second. It came with third baseman Jake Lamb – who walked two batters prior – on first and one out. Vogt hit a slow bouncer up the middle that shortstop Kyle Farmer stopped with a dive. Farmer could not, however, regain his feet to make the throw, and the Diamondbacks had runners on first and second with one out. Left fielder Tim Locastro, up next, smoked a hard liner toward short, but it was not quite high enough to make it to the outfield. Farmer caught it out of the air and whipped it to second to double up Lamb, ending the inning.
Reds Light up the Scoreboard
After a quiet sixth by both teams, the Reds teed off in the seventh. Reserve catcher Tyler Stephenson led off against new pitcher Matt Peacock, who spent 2019 with the Double-A Jackson Generals. Stephenson walked on four pitches, bringing up left fielder Scott Schebler. He ripped a double to center, scoring Stephenson and making the score 2-0. Two pitches later, reserve shortstop Alex Blandino brought Schebler home with a two-run homer to left-center. No further runs scored that inning, making the score 4-0 as the eighth began.
The Diamondbacks ended up falling farther behind. With one out, Peacock ran into trouble again, giving up a single to pinch hitter Francisco Peña. Three pitches later, Stephenson sent a deep fly ball to left-center that cleared the fence by inches, making the score 6-0. That ended the day for Peacock. Reliever Kevin McCanna took over and finished the inning without allowing any runs.
After the game, Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo called the seventh and eighth innings “one of those situations where when a young pitcher comes in and makes mistakes, good hitters are gonna make you pay for it. There’s a lot of lessons to be learned for some of the things that didn’t go well, and I want us to improve upon that, and some of the things that did go well I was very pleased with.”
The Reds tacked on two more runs in the ninth off reliever Miguel Andujar. They came on a two-run double by Stephenson with the bases loaded. (Note: Trevor Clifton gave up the hit, but the runners who scored were Andujar’s responsibility.)
Notes
Lovullo was happy with the way Bumgarner threw the ball. Lovullo said that pitching coach Matt Herges – Bumgarner’s bullpen coach with the San Francisco Giants in 2018-19 – said that MadBum’s stuff was “as good as he’s seen him look out of the gate.”
Peacock celebrated his birthday Thursday. He turned 26.
The Reds will host the Oakland Athletics Friday afternoon at Goodyear Ballpark. Scheduled starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani will be making his spring debut.
The Diamondbacks will host the Seattle Mariners Friday afternoon at Salt River Fields. Left-hander Alex Young is the scheduled starter, and he will also be making his first spring start of the season.
