Alejo Lopez hit his first big league home run, but the Cincinnati Reds comeback fell just short in the 9th inning as the tying run was stranded at second base in a 7-6 Milwaukee Brewers victory. The Brewers win also gave them the series victory and erased the chances for the Reds to win out and reach the .500 mark on the season.

Cincinnati went down in order on strikeouts in the 1st inning, but they got things going in the top of the 2nd when Jake Fraley led off with a double. After the next two hitters were retired, Alejo Lopez was hit by a pitch…. or so it seemed. The Brewers challenged the call and it was overturned as the ball hit the bat. Lopez followed with an RBI double and then he scored two pitches later when Matt Reynolds singled to tie the game up at 2-2.

The Reds didn’t get much done at the plate again until the 7th inning and the Brewers were leading by five runs at that point. Spencer Steer picked up his first hit of the game with a leadoff single and Alejo Lopez came through with his first big league home run that made it a 7-4 ballgame.

In the 9th inning it was still a 7-4 game and the Reds had to try and make a comeback against Devin Williams. Spencer Steer led off with a double and he moved to third when Alejo Lopez legged out an infield single on an excuse-me check swing. Matt Reynolds then grounded one over to third and Jace Peterson charged in and fielded the ball and fired to first and threw it away, leading to Steer scoring, Lopez moving to third, and Reynolds advancing to second base. Kyle Farmer then came off of the bench to hit for catcher Austin Romine, but he struck out for the first out of the inning. Following that at-bat, Nick Senzel entered the game as a pinch runner for Reynolds at second base. TJ Friedl followed with a sacrifice fly on a diving catch in center by Garrett Mitchell, making it 7-6 and bringing Jonathan India to the plate with two outs and the tying run on second. The game ended with India’s 5th strikeout of the game.

Justin Dunn’s afternoon didn’t get out to the start he would have liked. The Brewers began the bottom of the 1st inning with back-to-back singles before a Rowdy Tellez 2-run double put Milwaukee up 2-0. After the Reds tied the game up in the top of the 2nd the Brewers went back to work. A leadoff walk would come around to score on a 2-out single that gave the home team a 3-2 lead. Willy Adames followed up with a 2-run homer that made it 5-2. Rowdy Tellez made it back-to-back homers and in the blink of an eye it was 6-2. Dunn would throw a shutout 3rd inning, but it would be his last inning after throwing 75 pitches.

Luke Farrell made his first appearance since being acquired on waivers earlier in the week and the second batter he faced, Rowdy Tellez, hit another home run to make it 7-2. He settled in after that and pitched three innings with just that lone run being charged against him. Fernando Cruz took over in the 7th and tossed a perfect inning. Hunter Strickland pitched a perfect 8th inning to keep the game within slam range of 7-4, but the offense came up just short in the 9th inning as they stranded the tying run at second base.

It took Alejo Lopez 58 games and 131 plate appearances in the big leagues before hitting his first home run, but in the 7th inning he connected on a 400-foot blast and got to trot around the bases. The rookie has hit well, particularly of late when given a bit of regular playing time. He raised his line to .323/.385/.424 on the season after going 3-3 with a walk on the day.

Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds

Monday September 12th, 6:40pm ET

Bryse Wilson (2-8, 6.11 ERA) vs Mike Minor (4-10, 5.70 ERA)

Doug Gray is the owner of RedsMinorLeagues.com, Redleg Nation, and as you guessed it, passionate about the great sport of baseball. He's been writing about baseball since 2006 (contributions formerly at The Athletic and currently at Baseball America). You can keep tabs with him on twitter @dougdirt24.

India have an unlikely day with 5 ks in 5 ABs… Never seen someting like that… Despite the loss I note there is something of soul in this team trying to come from behind in many games but miss one clutch hit or the bullpen doesn’t help so fall short… The next series against the Pirates could decide who will arrive in last place this season…

If 4 strikeouts is the golden sombrero, what is 5? The platinum penguin? It’s a rare bird.

Platinum sombrero is the award as I can read on Internet

Poor Lopez doesn’t get any respect no matter how good he hits. He’s a good ball player.

No worries on India. We know he is a hitter. I am into the rebuild. I am looking for the other players for a future competive Reds team. I grew up watching the Big Red Machine. I want to see a Reds team win the World Series championship. I figure they will be competive by 2025, and the window will be atleast three or four years.

Looks like my Clete was a bit premature, but in the end we couldn’t overcome that early hole we dug. I did watch the dinger by Lopez on the replay. Sweet swing!

Back at it tomorrow, friends.

Somewhat related in a strange way, my dad was an avid golfer and I his caddy from age 12. . On Sundays, if he had an earlier tee time, we would get to do thee ‘golfer’s communion,’ meaning we’d take communion and walk straight out the front doors rather than return to our pews. I loved those days.

On his homer, I was very impressed with how long Lopez’ bat stayed in the strike zone.. Gonna get a parking ticket it was there so long.

Alejo is such a gamer. Man just loves to hit. Wonder if they’ll move India to 3rd and let the three-way battle for ’23 middle-infield spots begin between Alejo, Steer and Barrero.

Long term I’d like to see India in LF or 3B, especially because the shift will be gone. I don’t know if Steer or Lopez would be better at 2B, but I’d like to see both get some playing time there.

Only one of those guys is a shortstop

The Reds got a couple of good breaks to get the 9th going but their luck went dry with Friedl at the plate. He actually hit the ball just a tad too well and instead of slicing away from the CF it held up just long and true enough for his diving grab.

Seems to me no matter what grand scheme the Reds may have cooked up that did not include Lopez as any more than a fringe piece, they are going to need to change their plans if he keeps on keeping on.

It was also a strong bounce back day for Steer.

Friedl can play a little bit. Clutch hits, run a bit, defend pretty well. I’ve seen it stated he would have been a 3rd, maybe 4th round draft pick if he didn’t slip through the cracks as an UDFA. So, getting a solid 4th OF out of that scenario is a reasonable success in scouting and development.

Just let the young guys play and lets see.It will all sort its self out by the end of 2023.Should have some fun along the way next year as well.Bucs and Cubs and Brewers may not be any better next year so with some health and some improvements from the young guys who knows.Young guys just bring hope and right now that maybe all it is but we play on.Reds almost made it all the way back in a game that looked lost early.

If lopez can find even a little power in his game, hes a starting caliber player. He needs to continue to see regular time moving forward, hes earned it.

SS isn’t a power position. Getting on base, scoring runs and adding rbi’s is enough. Defense is what’s paramount.

I think Lopez believes he can play shortstop but for some reason the reds don’t believe he is. He has only started 1 game at shortstop in Louisville and only 4 games in his entire minor league career.

Senzel keeps it up he is going to wind up with an OPS of < .600 for the year. Sheesh, I think I'll take Friedl's weak arm in CF over Senzel's.

While I would never tell Alejo Lopez what he cannot do, I’d say he isn’t a ML shortstop due to range and arm. For instance, if he had a better arm, he’s be slotted to CF or RF on occasions he plays out there.

He does seem to be cementing his utility job for next year, which is more than he could say a year ago. In particular, his switch hitting provides a LH bat behind India and (if the starter next year) Farmer or Steer, in addition to a late game LH bat in left. That is a lot of value for a 27th round pick.

I think you should put Elly in those middle infield plans for 2023.

Good for Alejo Lopez! Great to see him get his first home run. He is certainly making a case for a roster spot in 2023, and you can make a good case that the Reds need to find him a position.

I’ve been encouraged by progress for Aquino and Barrero, and both Friedl and Fraley have looked solid lately.

But the big disappointment is Senzel. How much longer is the leash there? Do not be surprised if EDCL gets serious time in CF in the offseason (AFL?) and the first part of next year. Sad to admit it, but Senzel does not look like he’ll ever be the Reds long term answer in CF.

missed today due to the bengals ( who I swear looked better then the score and recap indicate), I see that Lopez got his first homer…. good for him. fully expect him to be missing until he is found in a Bengals uniform next week

Suarez with 2 home runs today including walk off in the 9th. 30 HRs and closing in ok 100 RBI. Man what a great salary dump move that was

Suarez needed just a little more time for his shoulder to completely heal. The Reds sold low. They still would make that trade though, because it saved them a few bucks.

That is way it’s hard for me to take this organization seriously or get to excited about this team’s future. As long as Castellini owns this team, the Reds will always choose the cheapest path.

Nice to see Fernando Cruz’s ERA keeps dropping to below 2.00 after 5 games

tough day for cincy sports fans. at least my beloved Miami Redhawks won this weekend. (although our qb Brett Gabbert may be out for a while). Anyway I have a running bet with a friend. I have the reds winning the world series before the bengals win the super bowl. Last year I was sweating bullets but now with the rule changes I feel the reds have a better chance now. At least it gives an alternative “way to win”. you dont have to hit 250 home runs to be competitive. It may be easier now to “string together a few hits” to generate offense. hopefully the running game will become more of a factor as well with the oversized bases. maybe a team like the 1990 reds or 1985 cardinals could be recreated now

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