Reds first baseman Joey Votto knew he made a bad error to cost them Friday's nightcap -- a 4-3 loss to the Pirates. But if Votto didn¡¯t know, pitcher Trevor Bauer was quite demonstrative in making sure he did.
It happened in the fourth inning, when Colin Moran grounded to the right side of a shifted infield. Shortstop Jose Garcia fielded the ball and threw a lob to Votto in what had the makings of a very routine play. Except the ball grazed off Votto¡¯s glove and sailed away for an error.
¡°Just whiffed it. Just missed it, just a plain physical error," Votto said on Saturday. "Yeah, just didn't catch it."
That error opened the door to a big three-run inning for Pittsburgh, which took a 3-2 lead. Following the third out, a dugout camera caught Bauer screaming, presumably at Votto, before he headed for the tunnel.
¡°I think we're all fired up about things not going well,¡± Votto said. ¡°I mean, we are doing well, and [Bauer] was throwing well and these are all crucial games right now. As we see, every little bit matters, and we ended up coming up short yesterday on a game that had we played it clean, probably would have finished with the win. And [we] would have left the day with two wins, and we just came up completely short. And that's not just him. There's a lot of people inside of our clubhouse space that feel that very same way.¡±
It was the second straight start in which Bauer has openly shown displeasure with a Votto play. On Aug. 29, in Game 1 vs. the Cubs, Votto couldn¡¯t get his glove down enough on a would-be double play ball by Jason Heyward, and the Reds settled for one out. That led to a run for Chicago.
Votto and Bauer spoke one-on-one later, and the club now considers the matter a non-issue.
The error vs. Pittsburgh wasn¡¯t the only miscue Votto had on Friday. In the final inning of Game 1 -- a 4-2 Cincinnati win -- closer Raisel Iglesias fielded a comebacker from Erik Gonz¨¢lez and threw to second base for the forceout. Kyle Farmer¡¯s throw to first base was high but glanced off Votto¡¯s glove. Gonz¨¢lez went to second base on the error, which was charged to Farmer.
¡°I think anything that touches my glove, I think I should catch,¡± Votto said. ¡°That's a lesson I think most players learn when they're first playing ball -- you put your glove on it, you should be able to put it in your glove. But I could not see the ball. The background was really, really bright, and I'm really lucky that it wasn't a lower throw, or I would've been hit in the face. I couldn't see. The background was impossible.¡±
Moustakas wants more results
Reds second baseman Mike Moustakas hoped that the results he had on Friday vs. the Pirates are a sign of good things to come. As a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning of Game 1, Moustakas hit a double off Bucs reliever Tyler Bashlor to snap an 0-for-12 skid, one shy of his season high.
In Game 2, Moustakas slugged the game-tying home run in the fourth inning against Pirates righty Cody Ponce. It was his first homer since July 29 and only his third of the season. Moustakas hit 35 homers last season for Milwaukee before signing a four-year, $64 million contract with the Reds in December.
¡°I kind of knew I haven¡¯t been slugging as much as I usually do,¡± Moustakas said on Saturday. ¡°I¡¯ve hit some balls hard that for some reason there¡¯s guys standing right where I¡¯m hitting it at, and they¡¯re just catching it. That¡¯s baseball. That¡¯s just how it goes sometimes, man. When I look up and I¡¯ve only got 75-80 at-bats, it¡¯s not a lot of at-bats. Three home runs is obviously not that many, I¡¯d like to have more, but I just have to keep hitting them when they count and get on a run here pretty quick.¡±
Manager David Bell acknowledged the low total, but he also felt it should be put into perspective.
¡°It¡¯s late in the season, but it would be early in a typical season,¡± Bell said. ¡°A lot of times, I think power comes in streaks, too. That can easily happen before the end of the season. You can¡¯t try to hit home runs, either. He just has to keep trying to hit the ball hard. He¡¯s got plenty of power.¡±
Fighting childhood cancer
For the fifth consecutive year, MLB and its clubs raised awareness for childhood cancer during all games on Saturday for a special league-wide day in home ballparks. MLB¡¯s ¡°Childhood Cancer Awareness Day,¡± held during Childhood Cancer Awareness Month in collaboration with Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), combined a visual and ceremonial demonstration of support for the cause with outreach to local hospitals treating young patients in their communities. Childhood cancer is the leading cause of death by disease among children in the United States and Canada.
In collaboration with MLB and Starlight Children¡¯s Foundation, the Reds donated 100 club-logoed hospital gowns to Cincinnati Children¡¯s Hospital, thereby replacing traditional and uncomfortable hospital garments with ones that are high-quality, comfortable and brightly colored for children undergoing treatment.
The Reds joined all on-field personnel, including players, coaches and umpires around baseball in wearing gold ribbon decals and wristbands during Saturday's game against the Pirates. Clubs also featured ceremonial activities in ballparks. Club activities included pregame ceremonies, cardboard cutouts of pediatric patients in stands at ballparks, virtual patient first pitches, virtual player hospital visits and more.
Childhood cancer awareness efforts in previous seasons have included special pediatric cancer awareness batting-practice T-shirts, online campaigns to empower fans to hold fundraisers for pediatric cancer research and donations to local children¡¯s hospitals. MLB and its clubs have supported the fight against cancer through a variety of initiatives for many years. As Stand Up To Cancer¡¯s founding donor, Major League Baseball has pledged more than $50 million to SU2C¡¯s collaborative cancer research programs, providing invaluable support. Launched in 2013, the work of the Stand Up To Cancer/St. Baldrick¡¯s Foundation Pediatric Cancer Dream Team has helped to develop new immunotherapy approaches and contributed to the development of two new treatments for difficult-to-treat pediatric leukemias that have been approved by the FDA. MLB has recognized SU2C at its jewel events since the '09 World Series.