CINCINNATI – Reds coach David Bell makes the decisions, but his players need to make their decisions look good. On Saturday, during a 7-4 win over the Marlins, the Reds made Bell’s moves look very good. He helped Cincinnati (68-57), who came into the night tied with the Padres to get a Wild Card spot, his third straight win over Miami and the series win.
It was a 2-2 game at the bottom of the sixth inning when the Reds concentrated for four runs against fixture Anthony Bender. After a simple lead from Jonathan India, he headed to third base on Tyler Naquin’s right center double field. Nick Castellanos, who threw a two-run first-half homer on a night of four RBIs, hit a playing field on the short field that marked India.
Joey Votto was intentionally walked and while Kyle Farmer was beating, Bell dropped Mike Moustakas, a left-handed batsman, to the deck to hit him. As left-hander Steven Okert warmed up in the bullring, Farmer walked to load the bases. Instead of using Moustakas and probably knowing that Okert would be called, the Reds sent their right-hander Tyler Stephenson.
“It’s a good situation, no matter what happens. Tyler has shown that he welcomes these situations, that he doesn’t let him be intimidated by anything,” Bell said. “It’s about understanding the whole situation and the left up there. I think Mike Moustakas can hit the left? Absolutely. Because of that, sometimes you have to have a breakthrough in decision making. We went to Tyler there. same, it came like so many times. “
In a 0-1 throw from Bender, Stephenson hit a double-double to deep right field that landed inside the free-kick line to make it a four-street lead for Cincinnati. That moved him to the Major League with 12 RBI as a pioneer this season.
“Instead of potentially burning Moose if the leftists took me, David said to me,‘ Hey, you’re up. ’Okay, here we are,” Stephenson said. “I was just looking for a good throw. The man threw a lot of sinkers and threw hard, so I tried to ambush him early to get something high. I committed a foul on the first ball. The area and drove it towards on the other hand. I just tried to simplify it as much as possible. “
In the fifth inning with a 2-0 lead, Reds starter Wade Miley had trouble with two outs when his pass to Miguel Rojas loaded the bases. Jazz Chisholm Jr. was hit by a forced throw in a run and Jesús Aguilar’s walk brought home the draw.
Bell dragged Miley and headed for right-hander Luis Cessa. Miley, who turned her left ankle in the fourth inning but continued, was furious as she exited the mound.
“He was frustrated because he wants to throw,” Bell said. “Get out there with all the intentions of getting as deep into the game as you can.”
There were times earlier this season when turning the game on the Reds ’bull track would require holding your breath and waiting for the result. This time, it worked well.
In his first throw, Lewis Brinson hit a ball flying little towards the center field. Shogo Akiyama, who had just entered with Cessa in a double change, ran and got a spectacular catch to keep the match tied.
“I was ready and prepared more than usual, especially with this first release,” Akiyama said through translator Luke Shinoda. “And I was able to take that first step and it was obvious that I was able to help the team with this slippery and grateful catch that could help the team.”
Bell said, “That play changed the game. You never know what would happen there. Getting off the bench is even harder and Shogo is doing a great job being prepared and doing everything he can to help our team.”
Cessa threw 1 1/3 innings with no scores and got the win.
“Cessa did a good job on that entry, came back and had another important entry with no score afterwards,” Bell said.
Tony Santillan followed with a seventh scorer. Mychal Givens, who came in unscathed in his previous 12 appearances between the Rockies and Reds, opened the eighth inning by allowing two walks and a double RBI.
Called up for a five-point save attempt, Michael Lorenzen gave up an RBI single, but escaped with a 6-4-3 double play by Bryan De La Cruz. Jose Barrero, who came in short, came in with Lorenzen in the double change and played second base for the first time in the big leagues, threw a hard throw to first base to get De La Cruz.
“It was a great job,” Bell said of Lorenzen. “Mychal Givens has been amazing since he’s been here for us. He pitched last night. [There is] extreme confidence in Mychal Givens. Tonight I recognized early on, maybe, they weren’t the same things we saw. He pitched last night, made Michael Lorenzen known knowing he had the ability and the rest to exclude many exits to close out a match was an important part of the decision. There aren’t many guys who can do it and we’ve seen Michael do it. “