Derek Dietrich caught absolute fire last night and put on a dinger clinic during the Reds’ 11-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Dietrich finished the night going 3 for 4 with 6 rbi’s. He also has a new career high with 17 home runs in a season, and it took him only 118 at-bats despite needing 499 last year just to hit 16. D.D. Also has 7 home runs on the season against the Pirates.
Tucker Barnhart also drove in three runs for the Redlegs, while Jesse Winker added an RBI single and Jose Peraza ended the scoring with a solo shot of his own.
Another impressive performance came way by the starting pitcher, Lucas Sims. Sims is a former top Atlanta Braves prospect who came to the Cincinnati organization after the Reds dealt Adam Duvall to Atlanta last summer. The only reason Sims got the start is because they just needed someone to fill in due to the team’s Monday doubleheader and no starters having the appropriate amount of rest yet dating back to the weekend series in Chicago.
Sims turned in 7.1 innings of scoreless baseball but wore down at the end of his start. Hopefully, fans won’t remember him for the last pitch he threw of the night, but instead for the 99, he threw before it.
The Reds have played eight games since last Tuesday, and during that span, they’ve averaged 7.25 runs a game. It looks like that offense has finally woken up, but unfortunately, the pitching has slipped as the former National League leaders in Team ERA have now dropped to second place behind the Dodgers. IF this pitching recovers from a bumpy week and regroup and perform how they had been all season, and with the bats as hot as they are?… Well, there’s no reason the Reds can’t spend their June and July tearing up Major League Baseball on the way to a postseason birth, whether that be a Wild Card Spot or even the National League Central crown.
The Reds close their series against this Pirates today with a start time of 12:35. Anthony Desclafani gets the starts for Cincinnati and will face off against left-hander Steven Brault.
It’s a young season. And we’re just getting started.
