From the early days of Spring Training, new Reds manager Bryan Price proclaimed that his club would be more aggressive on the bases and take chances. There have been times in the early going where they’ve been burned by their ambitiousness.
But there also have been several successful scoring chances created, and that was the case during a 5-2 Reds win over the Pirates on Wednesday night.
Reds baserunners were on the move often, going from first to third when they could, seeking extra bases on hits and putting pressure on Pirates pitcher Charlie Morton and catcher Chris Stewart. There were also four steals in five attempts while Stewart had two throwing errors.
“In many ways, it forced their pitchers to have to be a little bit more concerned with our running game and hold the ball and step off and throw over and quicken up their deliveries,” Price said. “That benefits us if they’re getting uncomfortable on the mound, having to rush themselves to the plate or what might be. We want to take advantage of anything that’s out there, and these guys have been aggressive.”
The Reds, who are second in the National League behind the Dodgers in steals with 25 this season, had only six hits in the game. So did Pittsburgh.
Overcoming early wildness, Reds starting pitcher Alfredo Simon provided another quality start with two runs and four hits over 6 2/3 innings. Simon, who issued four walks over his first three starts, walked five Pirates and struck out four.
“Having a tough first inning and finding his command and finding a way to keep himself in there until the seventh inning was pretty impressive,” Price said.
Simon, who has a 1.30 ERA in four starts while filling in for the injured Mat Latos, pitched himself into trouble in the first inning. Following Starling Marte’s leadoff single, he walked three straight batters with two outs. It was Travis Snider’s bases-loaded walk that made it a 1-0 game.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
