Reds miss late opportunity, lose to Rockies 3–2
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(Photo credit: Gary Landers — Cincinnati Enquirer)[/caption]
The Cincinnati Reds’ Spring Training losing streak continued on Wednesday afternoon with a 3–2 loss to the split-squad Colorado Rockies in Scottsdale, Ariz. The loss was not only the club’s fifth straight, but also their 10th in the last 11 games.
Pitcher Brett Anderson started the game for the Rockies on short rest because of the team’s five games in three days. He threw five innings and allowed one run on five hits with two strikeouts.
Opposite Anderson, Reds pitcher Mike Leake earned his second start of the spring after being held out of his first scheduled start with abdominal issues. He pitched three innings and allowed one run on five hits with a walk.
‘’Not my best,’’ Leake told Mike Cranston of the Associated Press. ‘’Could have been down in the zone a little better.’’
Leake’s lone run surrendered came off a Charlie Culberson RBI double to tie the game 1–1 in the bottom of the third inning. Cincinnati previously scored in the top of the second inning after Chris Heisey led off with a double and later came around to score on a Devin Mesoraco sacrifice fly.
Heisey continued his hot start to the spring with a 2-for-3 performance against the Rockies. Through 10 spring games, he is hitting .370 (10-for-27) with five runs and a team-leading four doubles, three home runs and six RBI. Keep putting up numbers like this, and it will be hard for manager Bryan Price to keep Heisey out of the Reds lineup.
‘’He’s been terrific,’’ Price said of Heisey. ‘’I’ve been around him as long as he’s been in the big leagues, starting in 2010, and we’ve always felt like he’s that guy who could be a dynamic player.’’
The Rockies pushed two more runs across with RBI singles from Charlie Blackmon and Matt McBride off of Reds relievers J.J. Hoover and Logan Ondrusek in the fifth and sixth innings.
Cincinnati cut the lead to 3–2 in the top of the ninth inning after lefty Tyler Matzek walked four straight batters. However, Mike McClendon came on for the Rockies and forced Ruben Gotay to ground into a force out at the plate followed by Argenis Diaz hitting into a double play to end the game with the go-ahead run standing on second base.
The Reds will travel to Camelback Ranch to play the Los Angeles Dodgers at 4:05 p.m. ET. Alfredo Simon (0–0, 5.00 ERA) will earn his fourth start of the spring with Mat Latos still recovering from two offseason surgeries and will face the Dodgers’ Paul Maholm (0–0, 1.80 ERA). Also slated to pitch for the Reds are Pedro Beato, Trevor Bell and Jose Diaz. Jack Hannahan, who has yet to play a spring game with shoulder issues, is also likely to make his debut with a pinch-hit appearance.
The rest of the Reds’ lineup will look like this:
1. Billy Hamilton — CF
2. Zack Cozart — SS
3. Todd Frazier — 1B
4. Jay Bruce — RF
5. Chris Heisey — LF
6. Brayan Pena — C
7. Skip Schumaker — 2B
8. Ramon Santiago — 3B
9. Alfredo Simon — P
The game’s audio can be found on MLB.com and it will also be aired on MLB Network.
