The Reds are looking to feast on the visiting Miami Marlins in their three-game series, and Cincinnati dined rather nicely in the opener Tuesday night.
Without suspended manager David Bell (one game) and outfielder Yasiel Puig (two) on Tuesday, Cincinnati used a 16-hit, five-homer attack to trounce the Marlins 14-0 in the first game between the two teams this season.
Matt Kemp, Eugenio Suarez and Scott Schebler hit consecutive homers in the sixth inning, marking the first time the Reds had gone back-to-back-to-back since May 21, 2012.
Cincinnati, which owned an NL-worst .170 team batting average, scored 14 runs after tallying just 21 in its first nine games — during which time the team received only one home run from an outfielder. Reds outfielders hit three on Tuesday.
“It was a fun game to be a part of. I mean, we scored 14 runs, so it’s always fun (to be a part of),” right fielder Jesse Winker, who had a single, a home run and three RBIs, told the media after the game.
And if the Reds plan on gaining any momentum whatsoever over the course of April, they had better do it at the expense of the last-place Marlins, whom they host Wednesday for another early evening start at Great American Ball Park.
After the Marlins pull out of the Queen City on Thursday and head for South Florida to play the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday, the Reds will face a buzz saw of good teams, perennially strong clubs and powerhouses for the remainder of April.
Poet T.S. Eliot wrote that April is the cruelest month. That would certainly apply to the Reds in 2019.
The Reds host the St. Louis Cardinals in a two-game set Saturday and Sunday then embark on a seven-game West Coast road trip to face the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres. They then return home to play the Atlanta Braves before road games against the Cardinals and New York Mets to round out the brutal month.
As for Wednesday, Right-hander Tyler Mahle (0-0, 0.00) will make his second start for the Reds after tossing six scoreless innings last Thursday in Pittsburgh.
The Marlins will counter with changeup specialist Trevor Richards (0-1, 3.00). The right-hander is throwing the pitch 36 percent of the time, and batters are hitting just .095 (2-for-21) against it in his two quality starts.
On Tuesday, Marlins starting pitcher Jose Urena was battered in a five-inning start — his longest this season — for four runs on eight hits. Reliever Wei-Yin Chen then yielded 10 earned runs in two innings and saw his earned-run average balloon to 24.75.
Despite the contrast in runs allowed in the two-touchdown rout, Miami manager Don Mattingly was a little more critical of Urena than Chen — a starter his whole career but who has been moved to the unfamiliar role of reliever.
“Kind of more of the same,” Mattingly told reporters of Urena’s effort. “He didn’t really seem to have true command of anything. … The biggest thing is command. His stuff is going to be good.
“Wei-Yin was there and kind of protected us, saved the bullpen. Obviously, he gave up some homers, and I expect him to be better than that. Sometimes it’s not quite fair to him the way we use him. He’s sitting a lot. He doesn’t know exactly when he’s going to pitch.”