No one will mistake the Cincinnati Reds’ performance for a hitting clinic or a tutorial on producing runs, but incremental progress was enough.
Cincinnati jumped out to a five run lead by the end of the second inning April 11 against the Los Angeles Angels. When the game tightened, the insurance runs the Reds added late were more a product of the Angels’ bullpen than anything else. The bottom line was a 7-3 Reds win at Great American Ball Park, and that was all that mattered.
The Reds, who ended their three-game losing streak, improved to 9-6 on the year while going 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position. They also left 10 runners on base, but two early, timely hits at least snapped an 0-for-14 stretch of futility with runners in scoring position.
Cincinnati’s bullpen held Los Angeles scoreless over five innings after starter Brandon Williamson was lifted following the fourth inning as the Angels pulled to within two runs. Connor Phillips (2/3 innings), Pierce Johnson (1 1/3 innings), Graham Ashcraft (1.0 inning) Tony Santillan (1.0 inning) and Emilio Pagán (1.0 inning; fifth save) held LA to two hits and three walks.
The Reds posted four runs in the first inning. Sal Stewart’s infield single, which was bobbled and deflected by secondt baseman Vaughn Grissom, ended Cincinnati’s 0-for-14 stretch with runners in scoring position. Two batters later, Nathaniel Lowe’s three-run double provided welcome insurance.
“Let us play with a little room to breath, and we needed it,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “Lowe, obviously, with a big swing to clear the bases.”
Spencer Steer’s second inning solo home run, which clanked off the left field foul pole, made it 5-0.
Angels starter George Klassen was lifted from the game after two-plus innings due to injury. Former Reds reliever Brent Suter entered the game and then silenced his former club through the middle innings as he went 3 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. Suter allowed just two hits.
At 5-3 and with Suter out of the game, Cincinnati had a chance to pad its advantage when Elly De La Cruz led off the Reds’ half of the seventh inning with a double but failed to drive him in. Stewart, Eugenio Suárez and Lowe were retired consecutively following the double.
In the Reds’ final chance to add on offensively in the eighth, Angels reliever Chase Silseth surrendered four consecutive walks. He also tossed two wild pitches in the midst of those at-bats, which allowed Noelvi Marte and T.J. Friedl to score and increase Cincinnati’s lead to 7-3.
Scoring in that fashion didn’t improve Cincinnati’s numbers with runners in scoring position. Think they cared?
“Not one bit,” Lowe said. “As long as you extend the lead there in the eighth and kind of kick them while they’re down, for lack of a better term, that’s what good teams do.”
Cincinnati’s bullpen already had enough support offensively after the four-run first inning.
Johnson walked off the mound in the sixth inning when catcher Tyler Stephenson challenged a called ball by home plate umpire Adam Beck that was overturned for the final strike against Angels’ right fielder Jo Adell.
In the eighth inning, Santillan was the beneficiary of Los Angeles catcher Logan O’Hoppe being ruled out by Beck for blocking Stephenson’s throwing lane to first base after O’Hoppe struck out on a ball that skipped to the backstop.
Angels manager Kurt Suzuki argued the play and was subsequently ejected from the game by Beck.
Pagán walked Mike Trout with one out in the ninth inning, but Pagán retired Jo Adell and Jorge Soler to end the contest. On April 10, Soler drove in five runs and hit a grand slam.
Reds-Angels finale will pit Andrew Abbott vs. Angels’ ace José Soriano
Andrew Abbott’s scheduled start for Cincinnati April 12 against the Angels will see him battle yet another opposition ace pitcher when Los Angeles sends José Soriano out to face the Reds.
Soriano, the Angels’ Opening Day starter, is 3-0 with a 0.45 ERA. He’s struck out 21 batters in the 20 innings he’s pitched.
Some might think of Abbott as an ace-type pitcher for Cincinnati. He was an All-Star in 2025 and started on Opening Day for the Reds, although he said during spring training that he viewed Hunter Greene as Cincinnati’s unquestioned ace.
However you view Abbott in the ace conversation, there’s no question his starts this season have seen him try to keep his club in games against an award-winning array of no-doubt aces: Boston’s Garrett Crochet, Pittsburgh’s Paul Skenes and Miami’s Sandy Alcantara.
Abbott is 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA in his three starts against those big-name hurlers. The Reds are 1-2 in games he’s pitched, and scored a combined three runs off Crochet (six scoreless innings), Skenes (one run over five innings) and Alcantara (two runs in 8 1/3 innings).
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: The Reds got just enough timely hitting against the Angels. Here’s how
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
