The Cincinnati Reds took a lead in the top of the 1st inning and they never looked back. Nick Martinez cruised through the Royals lineup for the first six innings of the game before Kansas City was finally able to get on the board but their comeback fell short as the Reds held on for a 7-4 win.
Final
R
H
E
Cincinnati Reds (27-28)
7
14
0
Kansas City Royals (29-26)
4
7
1
W: Martinez (3-5) L: Lorenzen (3-6)
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TJ Friedl began the game with a double into the right field corner and then took third base on a wild pitch. Austin Hays drove him in later in the inning with a sacrifice fly that put Cincinnati up 1-0.
After the Reds stranded two runners in the 2nd inning, they went back to work in the top of the 3rd against former reliever/starter/sometimes outfielder Michael Lorenzen by getting singles from Spencer Steer and Elly De La Cruz to begin the inning. After a force out, Cincinnati got back-to-back RBI singles from Gavin Lux and Tyler Stephenson before Will Benson hit a sacrifice fly to cap off a 3-run inning.
Nick Martinez was cruising through the lineup in Kansas City and with a 4-0 lead entering the bottom 3rd he just kept on going as he needed just six pitches to record three outs to keep his outing perfect. Former Red Jonathan India broke things up with a leadoff bloop single into shallow right field that fell between three converging fielders. Vinnie Pasquantino would come through with a 1-out single and put some pressure on Martinez for the first time on the day, but the Reds starter got Salvador Perez to hit a grounder to Matt McLain at second base that saw him turn an inning-ending double play.
Cincinnati went right back to work against Lorenzen in the 5th when Gavin Lux worked a 5-pitch walk to begin the inning. The first pitch to Tyler Stephenson was crushed 399 feet and landed deep into the Reds bullpen for a 2-run homer that made it 6-0.
The score stayed there until the bottom of the 7th inning. Nick Martinez began the inning with just 55 pitches thrown, but the Royals made him work. After a leadoff single, Salvador Perez came through with a 2-run home run to put Kansas City on the board. Maikel Garcia then followed up with a double and he’d later come around to score on a sacrifice fly by Nick Loftin that made it 6-3. In all, Martinez used 24 pitches to get through the inning, but he kept the visiting team in front.
The Reds put together a little bit of a 2-out rally in the 8th inning when Austin Hays tripled to the wall in center for get things going. Santiago Espinal then came through with an RBI double on a line drive down the line in right field to get one of the runs back for Cincinnati. and push their lead back to four.
After a long inning for Martinez in the 7th, the Reds turned the game over to Tony Santillan in the 8th inning and he got a 1-2-3 frame on just nine pitches to send the game into the 9th. Emilio Pagan entered for the bottom of the 9th and the start of his inning didn’t go nearly as well as Vinnie Pasquantino led off with his third hit of the day and then moved to second base when Salvador Perez was hit by a pitch. After getting a pop up, Pagan walked the next batter to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate. Drew Waters struck out for the second out of the inning, but then Pagan balked in a run to make it 7-4 and move the trail runners up a base. The game would end a few pitches later on a lazy fly ball to TJ Friedl in center as Cincinnati held on for a 3-run win.
Key Moment of the Game
Tyler Stephenson’s 2-run home run in the 5th inning that extended the lead to 6-0.
Notes Worth Noting
Tyler Stephenson had three hits on the day.
Every hitter in the game for Cincinnati had at least one hit except Will Benson, and he found a way to drive in a run on the day. Six of the Reds hitters got on base at least twice in the game as they had 14 hits and three walks.
Nick Martinez finishes up May with a 2.25 ERA in 32.0 innings pitched. All five of his starts were at least six innings and all five of them were quality starts. He walked just two batters in the month.
Reds pitchers had just one walk on the day.
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