The Cleveland Baseball Club dropped their second straight game against the Cincinnati Reds in extra innings by a score of 3-2.
Unfortunately for Josh Naylor, he is a key figure in the Cleveland Baseball Club’s loss to the Cincinnati Reds Saturday. The first moment came in the 8th inning as he lined into a triple play with a chance to extend Cleveland’s one-run lead.
This was the first time a Cleveland baseball player hit into a triple play since Sandy Alomar Jr. over 20 years ago.
The real heartbreaker came in the bottom of the 9th. With two outs in the inning and a win all but guaranteed, Naylor was unable to properly field what should have been a game-ending ground ball.
This led to Cincinnati tying the game in the 9th and eventually winning in the 10th.
While it is easy to blame Josh Naylor solely for the loss, there’s more to it than that. Eddie Rosario failed to return to third base on the triple play. Emmanuel Clase had Jesse Winker down 0-2 after Naylor’s error. The game changing events surround Naylor, but there were other factors at play that prevent it from being entirely his fault.
Game notes
An Eddie Rosario triple in the 3rd inning brought Amed Rosario in to score for Cleveland’s first run of the game. Andres Gimenez gave Cleveland the lead in the 4th with his second home run of the season.
Triston McKenzie got the start for Cleveland and pitched well enough that he should have came away with a win. McKenzie allowed just 1 run on 5 hits and 4 walks while striking out 7. The base on balls was trouble yet again, but McKenzie was able to prevent the walks from hurting him.
Bryan Shaw, Nick Wittgren, and James Karinchak worked 3 scoreless innings out of the bullpen after McKenzie’s exit. The trio only allowed 1 hit and 1 walk with 5 strikeouts, Karinchak struck out all three batters he faced.
