Monday was a big diamond night for the Reds, opening their home series against the Colorado Rockies with a shutout win, 6-0. Offense and strong pitching were both on display, with left-handed starter Andrew Abbott shutting the Rockies down by striking out 8 batters in 7 innings, throwing a no-hitter into the 4th. And, maybe the biggest Cincinnati night of all came from Rece Hinds, making his big-league debut with a sliding catch for an out in right field, his first hit in the majors- a single that stretched to a double- and if all that wasn’t enough, Hinds’ first major league home run, a 449-foot shot to the second deck in left center field. It was a Reds’ night for certain, 4 runners crossing the plate in the 8th inning, again the final score 6-0. Three more games with the Rockies are on tap this week– the next one tonight. The broadcast arrives on your radio at 6:40 on the Sports Voice, 103.9 WRBI.
National League All-Star for next week Elly De La Cruz made another big play for the Reds last night, as he does in most games, when he stole 3rd base in the first inning. That set a new team record for the most steals ever before the break, Elly’s 45th of the season. That figure on his own is higher than the stolen base totals for at least 5 entire major league teams.
Look for more big-league action for Batesville’s own Bryan Hoeing. The ex-Bulldog looked good in his first start in a while Friday. It was a 3-2 loss for his Miami Marlins, but Bryan struck out 4 batters in his 3 innings of work, 32 of his 46 pitches were strikes, and his earned-run average is only an impressive 1.99. The Marlins signaled Monday that Hoeing’s in their starting rotation for the moment. He’s due to open on the mound tomorrow night, Wednesday, when Miami visits the Astros.
That was quite the IndyCar finish in the Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sunday. Pato O’Ward slid his car sideways through the final corner, grabbing the win from Alex Palou after they battled all race long, by only 499 thousandths of a second, the tightest result so far this season. Palou still leads the standings, in front of Will Power by 48 points, and 70 ahead of O’Ward. This weekend, the IndyCar “oval season” begins, with a double-header Saturday and Sunday at Iowa Speedway.