Tony Cingrani almost got the chance to save his first game for the Cincinnati Reds.
With 51 relief appearances under his belt, Cingrani had to face a potent meat-of-the-order for the Colorado Rockies Tuesday night at Great American Ball Park.
The left-handed Cingrani squared off first against left-handed hitting Carlos Gonzalez with a 4-1 Reds’ lead. After a swing-and-miss 94-mph fastball high in the strike zone, Cingrani got Gonzalez to foul off almost the exact same pitch. Cingrani then got Gonzalez to swing and miss at an 81-mph curve ball diving out of the strike zone.
For some reason, Reds’ manager Bryan Price decided to yank Cingrani after he faced just the one batter. Price then inserted ineffective closer J.J. Hoover to finish the job.
Hoover induced a foul pop out from Rockies’ slugger third baseman Nolan Arenado.
Gerardo Parra was up next. After Parra managed a bunt single, Hoover had to deal with six-hole hitter Mark Reynolds, who clocked a full-count, 94-mph fastball over the 404-foot mark in center field for a two-run homer to cut the Reds’ lead to 4-3.
Hoover was not in a save situation when he faced Reynolds. He didn’t start the ninth inning, so he would have had to have come into the game with the tying run in the on-deck circle.
Hoover got the final out of the game off the bat of Ben Paulsen on an 0-2 count. Paulsen scooped a low, inside curve ball to the verge of the warning track in right field.
The grueling ending by Hoover preserved the win for rookie starter Robert Stephenson, who sparkled over seven innings and surrendered just one run.
As it turned out, Hoover prevailed just enough. It was not a save situation, but this outing for him was likely his last gasp as closer for the Reds this year. That is, unless Price remains oblivious to the fact that Hoover just isn’t effective enough to be a major league closer.
Robb Hoff writes about the Cincinnati Reds for OutsidePitch MLB. You can follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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