The Cincinnati Reds needed extra innings in order to pick up a win and avoid being swept to end the year, but a clutch hit by Elly De La Cruz drove in two runs to break a scoreless game open. The bullpen did the rest and kept the Chicago Cubs off of the board in the bottom of the inning as Cincinnati held on for the victory.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (77-85) | 3 | 9 | 0 |
| Chicago Cubs (83-79) |
0 | 3 | 0 |
| W: Santillan (3-3) L: Roberts (1-1) SV: Farmer (1) |
|||
| Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Hunter Greene took the mound for the final time this season and in just his second start after missing five weeks while he was on the injured list. He had 1-2-3 1st inning, but he ran into troubles in the 2nd inning when he walked the first two hitters. Chicago laid down a sacrifice bunt and moved both runners up a bag, but then failed to get the job done from there and the Cubs stranded both runners.
Greene would toss a perfect 3rd inning, but once again found himself in a jam in the 4th after a leadoff single was followed up by a walk. Much like two innings earlier, the Reds and their starter were able to work around the baserunners and get out of the inning unscathed. That would end the day for Greene as the club turned things over to Fernando Cruz in the bottom of the 5th. He would throw 1.2 hitless innings before Brent Suter came on to get the final out of the 6th on the first pitch he threw.
The game was still scoreless as the Reds failure to score since the Ottoman Empire was still around continued thanks to five shutout innings from starter Caleb Kilian and a perfect inning from Hayden Wesneski. He returned for another inning and after Jake Fraley’s 1-out single, Weneski induced a groundball double play to end the inning.
In the top of the 8th inning the Cincinnati offense was threatening after Elly De La Cruz reached on a fielders choice and then stole second base. Tyler Stephenson followed up with a 2-out walk to put two men on for Spencer Steer. After a 7-pitch battle with Keegan Thompson, that final pitch ended the day for Thompson after he suffered what appeared to be a foot injury. Chicago brought in Nate Pearson to finish the at-bat against Steer and his first pitch was a slider that Steer swung through to end the inning.
Ian Gibaut took over for Cincinnati in the bottom of the 8th and he gave up a leadoff single. He would get a fly out to follow, but with Michael Busch at the plate the Reds called for a pitch out and they guessed right, but a poor throw from Luke Maile was short and to the third base side of the bag and Nico Hoerner was easily safe at second base. Busch would walk after a 10-pitch battle – his 4th walk of the day. Gibaut locked in and was able to get a fly out and a ground out to strand both runners and send the game to the 9th with the contest still scoreless.
Cincinnati got a bloop single in the top of the 9th inning but they couldn’t do anything else. Tony Santillan took the mound for the Reds for the bottom of the 9th. He did his job, needing just nine pitches to send the Cubs back to the dugout for their gloves and the 10th inning.
Noelvi Marte began the inning on second for the Reds and was picked off before a pitch was even thrown. Luke Maile then singled into left-center. Cincinnati then sent Blake Dunn to pinch run for Maile with the top of the lineup due. Jonathan India followed up with a walk, resulting in a mound visit by the Cubs pitching coach to discuss a plan with Elly De La Cruz coming to the plate.
De La Cruz took the first pitch for a called strike that was clearly below the zone. He then took a breaking ball for another strike to fall to 0-2 in the count. The third pitch was a breaking ball just below the zone, but De La Cruz wasn’t taking this one and lined it into the right field corner for a 2-run double that saw him take third base on the throw home, finally putting some runs on the board. Tyler Stephenson then singled into center to bring in another run.
Buck Farmer, holding the first Reds lead since September 21st, took over in the bottom of the 10th inning. Ian Happ would ground out to begin the inning on a nice play by Jonathan India, but get the runner over to third base. Nico Hoerner popped up on the second pitch he saw, leaving Cincinnati one out away from picking up a win on the final day of the season. They couldn’t make it easy, though. Farmer walked Seiya Suzuki to bring the tying run to the plate. Four pitches later Michael Busch would fly out to end the season with a Reds 3-0 victory.
Key Moment of the Game
Elly De La Cruz’s 2-run double in the top of the 10th inning.
Notes Worth Noting
Hunter Greene’s four innings of 1-hit, shutout baseball lowered his ERA to 2.75 on the season. He threw a career high 150.1 innings this year and allowed a career low 96 hits.
Jake Fraley had a 3-hit day. Both Tyler Stephenson and Jonathan India had a 1-hit, 2-walk day.
Elly De La Cruz stole two bases in the game, giving him 67 on the year.
The Reds went 2-7 with runners in scoring position. Chicago went 0-10.
Cincinnati’s pitchers allowed just three hits on the day, but they walked more batters than they struck out – handing out seven free passes on the day.
The Reds win pushed them a half-game up on the Pirates in the division. Pittsburgh’s game began in a rain delay and as this is being typed they are tied at 4-4 with the Yankees. A loss would put them in last place all by themselves, but a win would bring them even with Cincinnati in a tie for last place.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
The offseason. Hire a manager. Decide who to non-tender. Figure out who to add to the 40-man roster from the minor leagues. Add free agents. Make some trades.
Thanks to every one of you who stopped by during the season. Thanks to the other writers who contributed to the site throughout the year. We’ll keep near-daily articles coming throughout the offseason. Hopefully everyone will be able to find some joy in the progress from the organization as the offseason takes shape.
The post Elly De La Cruz’s clutch hit ends the year with a Reds win appeared first on Redleg Nation.