The Cincinnati Reds took a 2-0 lead on a Gavin Lux home run in the top of the 1st inning and those two runs would hold up the rest of the way behind a strong start from Brady Singer. The bullpen did some good work as three relievers combined to keep the Los Angeles Angels at a single run to pick up a 4-1 win to start their west coast road trip.
Final
R
H
E
Cincinnati Reds (66-60)
4
11
0
Los Angeles Angels (60-65)
1
8
0
W: Singer (11-9) L: Mederos (0-1) SV: Barlow (1)
Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread
The Reds wasted little time on Monday night in Anaheim as TJ Friedl led off the game with a single and three pitches later he scored on a 2-run home run by Gavin Lux. The Angels would get one of those runs back after a Taylor Ward double brought in Nolan Schanuel and moved Mike Trout up to third base. Cincinnati got out of that jam without any further damage when Spencer Steer nabbed a soft liner and was able to double off Ward at second base to end the inning.
From that point forward, Brady Singer was in control and in the 5th inning the Reds offense would go back to work and provide some more support for their starter. Elly De La Cruz led off with a triple and then came in to score on a sacrifice fly. The next three batters reached safely to load the bases with one out, but back-t0-back pop ups would end the threat. Singer kept the Angels off the board in both the 5th and 6th innings to hold onto a 3-1 lead.
Connor Phillips took over for Cincinnati in the 7th and found himself in some trouble after issuing a 2-out walk that put two runners on base. Zach Neto crushed the third pitch he saw from Phillips, but 396 feet wasn’t quite enough when it was hit to dead center and TJ Friedl caught it a step shy of the wall to end the inning and hold onto the lead.
After the previous series of defensive miscues costing the Reds, they benefited from on in the 8th inning when Ke’Bryan Hayes hit a line drive to center that Luis Rengifo broke in on before realizing he probably should have taken a few steps back on as the ball landed over his head and went to the wall for a triple. Matt McLain made them pay for the mistake with a sacrifice fly that pushed Cincinnati’s lead to 4-1.
Luis Mey ran into trouble in the bottom of the 8th inning as he issued a 2-out walk and then a single, bringing the tying run to the plate. That was all we’d see from the rookie right-hander as Scott Barlow came out of the bullpen to reliever him and face Jo Adell. After a first pitch strike he fired two straight pitches out of the zone to fall behind, but Barlow came back with back-to-back swinging strikes to end the inning and strand both runners.
The Reds went down in order in their half of the 9th inning. Scott Barlow returned for the bottom of the frame looking to pick up the save. He was facing the bottom third of the order and struck out both Christian Moore and Logan O’Hoppe to begin things, but then issued a walk to Luis Rengifo to turn the lineup over. Barlow would come back to strike out Zach Neto to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
The 2-run home run by Gavin Lux in the 1st inning. Unknown at the time but those two runs would hold up the rest of the way behind some good pitching.
Notes Worth Noting
The win was the 9th in a row for the Reds over the Angels.
Cincinnati had three triples in the game. That’s the most since 2019 by a Reds team.
Gavin Lux, Austin Hayes, and Noelvi Marte all had two hits in the game.
All four of the Reds pitchers issues exactly one walk in the game.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Los Angeles Angels
Tuesday August 19th, 9:38pm ET
Hunter Greene (5-3, 2.47 ERA) vs Kyle Hendricks (6-8, 4.88 ERA)
