And over the last 29 innings, Reds pitchers have given up one run.
If not for the entire starting staff on the injured list, rookie Rhett Lowder most likely still would be working at Triple-A Louisville.
But there he was Tuesday night making his third major league start and pitching like a 10-year veteran.
He gave the Reds five shutout innings during which he gave up five hits and no walks. And he was never in trouble. His reward was his first major league victory.
But with the way he has pitched, he should be 3-0.
Lowder has pitched 15 2/3 innings in his three starts and given up one run, a 0.59 earned run average.
And it took what amounts to a baseball miracle for the Reds to put this one away.
With a 3-0 lead, Emilio Pagan started the ninth and promptly loaded the bases on singles by Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado, then a walk to Lars Nootbar.
Bases loaded. No outs. And Pagan then struck out the side.
He caught Jordan Walker looking. He struck out rookie Thomas Saggese, making his major league debut, on three pitches.
The Cardinals sent up 38-year-old Matt Carpenter to pinch-hit. In 166 games against the Reds he had 26 homers, 79 RBI and very few strikeouts. Pagan struck him out.
After Lowder left, the shutout was completed by Justin Wilson, Tony Santillan, Brent Suter and Pagan. Those four provided four innings of two-hit pitching.
It was Cincinnati’s third straight win and fourth straight over St. Louis after they swept the Cardinals three games in Cincinnati earlier this season.
And they beat Andre Pallante, a major feat because Pallante entered the game with a 4-0 record in four career starts against the Reds with a 1.25 earned run average.
After putting runners on base in the first four innings and not scoring, the Reds broke through in the fifth with three runs.
It began with Pallante walking Jonathan India, who was 0 for 16. Elly De La Cruz, 1 for 13, punched an opposite field single to left.
Pallante threw a wild pitch, moving the runners to second and third. TJ Friedl, 2 for 13, drove a ground ball single up the middle for two runs.
Pallante balked Friedl to second and Friedl stole third and scored on Ty France’s grounder to the mound for a 3-0 lead that stood up.
The Reds shut out Atlanta, 1-0, Monday night, then flew into St. Louis and arrived in the wee hours.
“Especially the circumstances we had the last couple of days, playing a night game last night and coming in here late, we did a good job of getting ready to go,” said Friedl during a post-game Bally Sports Ohio interview.
“You just have to know yourself and know your preparations, how to get your body ready, know your routine and how to get ready to hit,” he added. “And we were able to come out and play to the best of our abilities.”
It didn’t seem that way early, especially when the team’s top two in the batting order, India and De La Cruz entered the game a combined 2 for 40 with 20 strikeouts.
De La Cruz walked in the first and on the first two pitches stole second and third. But Tyler Stephenson struck out and Friedl popped up.
Jake Fraley walked and Santiago Espinal singled with two outs in the second. But Amed Rosario struck out.
De La Cruz walked again with one out in the third and was caught stealing when the Cardinals called a pitchout. Stephenson singled, but Friedl grounded out.
Finally, India (walk), De La Cruz (single) and Friedl (singled) put up three in the fourth.
“Once I was 1-and-0, I was looking for his (Pallante’s) four-seamer with some cut,” said Friedl. “I tried to get it on the barrel, but hit it to shortstop, where he wasn’t playing. Sometimes that’s all hitting is, putting the ball in play. You do that with Elly on second base and he is going to score.”
And he scored despite stumbling and nearly falling between third and home.
Lowder and the bullpen guarded that 3-0 lead as if it were the only runs they would get. They were.
Friedl said he knew the Reds had something special when he faced Lowder during spring training.
“His presence is incredible and I saw it in spring training,” said Friedl. “I faced him for a lot of at bats and didn’t know who he was, other than he was a first-round pick.
“He showed that presence in spring training that I felt, so I was excited when we called him up,” Friel added. “You see that mound presence out there. It makes us really want to play behind him.”
And Pagan’s dance with disaster in the ninth?
“That save by Emilio? That was incredible,” said Friedl.
And frightening.
About the Author