Until late Sunday afternoon, “Puig Mania” had been kept in the abstract as far as the Reds were concerned. That’s because Dodgers slugging sensation Yasiel Puig had been held largely in check over the first three games and most of the finale.
With one swing, Puig rendered moot a spectacular day of Reds pitching. Despite the pitching staff notching a franchise-record 20 strikeouts, Puig’s walk-off home handed the Reds a 1-0 loss.
There was one out in the 11th when Puig lined reliever Curtis Partch’s 0-1 changeup for a no-doubter into the left-field seats. It was the first walk-off hit of Puig’s career.
“It wasn’t a terrible, terrible pitch,” Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco said. “I think more than anything, it just had a little bit of elevation. In that situation, guys are trying to hit a home run. He was able to get it up in the air. As much as he has chased against us, I wanted it to be a ball. It was pretty close.”
Going into the at-bat, Puig had been limited to four singles in 14 at-bats and six strikeouts, including three on Sunday. The Cuban sensation came into the day with a .375 average and nine homers since his June 3 Major League debut.
Although Puig provided the mortal wound, the Reds died of a million paper cuts and, really, all weekend. After notching a 5-2 series-opening win on Thursday, the Reds lost three straight while scoring two runs in 29 innings while going 1-for-18 with runners in scoring position and 0-for-6 on Sunday. Cincinnati, now 4-4 on its 11-game West Coast swing, faced three lefty starters in Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Chris Capuano.
“When you’re facing a good pitching staff, you’re not going to get a bunch of chances,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “When you get your chances, you have to capitalize on them. … Everybody talks about on-base percentage, but you have to have some guys that drive runs in or else you’re just frustrated.”
Reds rookie starter Tony Cingrani came away empty despite giving up only one hit and tying a career high with 11 strikeouts over seven dominant innings. Cingrani faced one batter over the minimum with his lone hit coming when Capuano bounced a two-out single through the middle in the third inning.
“I don’t really care about my win-loss record. I’d rather just get a win,” said Cingrani, who has a 2.90 ERA in 17 games. “I had my fastball working. I was just moving it, basically, up and in the whole time. I threw some good sliders. It was a good day.”
According to ESPN Stats & Info, Cingrani is the first Reds pitcher throw at least seven innings with 11 strikeouts and no more than one walk or hit since Johnny Vander Meer in 1941.
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