Monday, March 10
Cincinnati 9 at San Diego 3
Peoria Sports Complex
Temp: 78 at 1:10 first pitch
Greene Sharp as Reds Roll
Reds starter Hunter Greene logged four strong innings. allowing two hits and one run, a fourth inning rocket off the bat of Fernando Tatis Jr. that rattled the camera box in CF beside the pitch clock. Greene struck out five to even his Cactus League record at 1-1. Elly De La Cruz drove in TJ Friedl in the first inning before Jeimer Candelario ran into a Michael King offering, drilling it 400 feet to right center onto the lawn for a 3-0 lead. Candelario was swinging for the fences as he barreled up two other deep shots to center that stayed in the yard for outs. The HRs were the first spring jacks for both Tatis Jr. and Candelario.
Greene’s been golden since allowing seven runs in four innings over his first two starts. In two starts since, both lasting four innings, Greene has only given up a total of 4 hits and 1 run while striking out 11. That, folks, is how you shave about 10 runs off a spring ERA (from 15.75 to 6.00). If you’re looking for a SP sleeper in your fantasy draft, grab Greene today. He was consistently hitting 98 and 99 mph on his heater. Fantasy Pros ranks Greene as the 33rd best SP with King at #14. Fantasy Baseball Index has Green at #32 and King at #31.
Gavin Sheets was the Big Kahuna in the fifth inning, hitting a laser beam off the Kona Big Wave beer sign in right into the Padre bullpen. But 3-2 is as close as the Padres would get. Cincy put up crooked numbers on the board, scoring two in each of the next three innings. They all came off singles: Friedl in the sixth, Ricardo Cabrera in the seventh and Blake Dunn in the eighth. Dunn’s hit came with a warning from the surgeon general. It was the hardest hit ball of the day, the missile barely clearing pitcher Bradgley Rodriguez’s head. That may have screened second baseman Niko Goodrum who threw up his glove in self defense in front of his face and still took it in the beak. He went down in a heap, laying facedown for several seconds before moving.
The Padres interrupted the Reds trio of two-run innings with a Jose Iglesias groundout bringing home Goodrum before Niko was knocked out an inning later. Today was King’s first start of the spring. He went 2-and-two-thirds innings before being lifted. The three earned runs he allowed came off three hits and three walks. He struck out one.
Ballpark Buzz … Wobbly pop of choice today was a rudimentary MoMo shanty. That is, mixing Mountain Dew into a Modelo tall boy. I saved the labor for drink number two, opting for a Leinenkugel Summer Shanty. … There were three challenges to umpire calls and the umps won every one. … Manny Machado had two at bats, striking out both times. … Attendance: 5,261.
David Belisle 