“I wanted in our bullpen the guys to face the right guys,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “Nothing that I did that inning worked out very well.”
The inning started with a walk issued by starter Nick Martinez, who wound up allowing four total runs in five-plus innings. Reds manager Terry Francona then went to reliever Scott Barlow, who allowed a single and a walk.
A sacrifice fly led to a run scoring for the Tigers, but then the wheels really fell off for the Reds.
Following the sacrifice fly, left-handed reliever Taylor Rogers replaced Barlow. A slow-rolling single barely started fair to keep the Tigers’ momentum going. Reds left fielder Spencer Steer then missed an attempted diving catch off the bat of Tigers left fielder Riley Greene, who drove in three runs with the bases loaded. As the Tigers piled on, a ground ball got by second baseman Matt McLain in a frustrating inning for the Reds.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Tigers’ 3-2 lead turned into an 8-2 lead, and the Reds didn’t have a comeback in them against a strong Tigers pitching staff.
Before the fifth inning, the Tigers’ only production against Martinez was three solo home runs. He has done a great job over the course of the season of limiting hard contact, but his fastball wasn’t as sharp on Friday. That helped the Tigers take advantage of a few mistake pitches.
“They were just misexecution,” Martinez said. “The pitch selection was there.”
Solo home runs from center fielder TJ Friedl and shortstop Elly De La Cruz kept the Reds in the game until the Tigers’ breakout sixth inning. Detroit game planned around trying to limit their production by consistently throwing left-handed arms at those two left-handed hitters. Friedl and De La Cruz remained productive like they’ve been all season.
Friedl and De La Cruz have accounted for a disproportionate amount of the Reds’ runs this season, and the rest of the lineup missed out on some opportunities with runners in scoring position and was quiet until the ninth inning.
“We were looking for a big hit to get us going,” Francona said. “We had some opportunities, and then they spread it out which made it very difficult.”
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