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[Cincinnati Reds]

Cincinnati Reds claim Ohio Cup with 7-4 victory over Cleveland Guardians

Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images

Tito Francona strikes again!

The late Walt Jocketty was the architect of the 2014 Cincinnati Reds, a club that featured manager Bryan Price pissing up ropes and the inimitable Skip Schumaker accruing a remarkable -1.2 bWAR in just 271 PA.

Joey Votto was limping his way back from his distal quad strain, hitting only 6 dingers n 62 games. Devin Mesoraco broke out with 25 dingers in what would be his first true (and last true) fully healthy season. Johnny Cueto threw 243.2 IP of 2.25 ERA ball that I will, to this day, fight someone about should they ever suggest anyone else deserved the National League Cy Young Award, and the Reds burgled their way to an otherwise forgettable 76-86 overall record.

That year, though, they won the Ohio Cup over the Cleveland baseballing franchise, and took the damn thing home themselves. And prior to Monday, 2014 marked the last time the Reds could lay such a claim.

In the 11 years since, the Cleveland Guardians have either won or retained the title in each and every season, leaving the moribund Reds on the outside looking in on even this minor piece of silverware. Had, rather, as the 2025 edition of the Reds roared right past their Ohio peers, with Terry Francona’s new squad putting the screws to his old one.

The Reds rolled out the new-look old-man who is Wade Miley on Monday in Cleveland, and the veteran lefty helped keep Cleveland stifled enough for Cincinnati’s cadre of Jake Fraley, TJ Friedl, and Gavin Lux to seize the offensive work in what became a 7-4 Reds win saved by Emilio Pagan.

It was a thorough bit of work, with an exhilirating combination of an early lead, a comeback, late-inning runs, a set of dingers, and bullpen work that mostly looked brilliant enough. The end result was the fourth straight win over the Guardians this year - something made that much more enjoyable by the fact that they’ve only played one another four times all year (so far).

I mentioned in the series preview earlier today that the Guardians are tied for the fifth-worst wOBA against left-handed pitching so far this season, and that’s lined up to continue working in the Reds favor with each of Andrew Abbott and Nick Lodolo slated to start the pair of remaining games this series. They can’t win the Ohio Cup any more than they already have for the rest of this series, but with the trophy already harvested they can still smash the gas pedal on zooming well past the .500 mark, something they did by a hair with tonight’s victory.

Frankly, I think it’s high time this club got that much in gear.

Go Reds.

Source: https://www.redreporter.com/2025/6/...n-ohio-cup-cleveland-guardians-terry-francona

 

[Cincinnati Reds]

Game 67: Reds at Guardians (6:40 PM ET) - Miley vs. Ortiz

Hey, it’s a Reds Miley! | Photo by David Maxwell/Getty Images

Go Reds!

It’s Miley night for the Cincinnati Reds in Cleveland as Wade returns to the mound for his first start with the club this year. He was knocked around in a relief role after re-signing with the club last week, and hopefully that firmly shook off all the rust needed.

Photo by John Reid III/MLB via Getty Images
Again, not Wade Miley

Wade starts against the Guardians with the fate of the Ohio Cup on the line, as a victory tonight will send said cup running over to Cincinnati for the season.

First pitch is set for 6:40 PM ET. Go Reds!

Today's Lineups​

TJ Friedl - CF	Steven Kwan - LF
Gavin Lux - DH	Lane Thomas - CF
Elly De La Cruz - SS	Jose Ramirez - 3B
Christian Encarnacion-Strand - 1B	David Fry - DH
Tyler Stephenson - C	Carlos Santana - 1B
Will Benson - LF	Gabriel Arias - SS
Santiago Espinal - 3B	Johnathan Rodriguez - RF
Jake Fraley - RF	Bo Naylor - C
Matt McLain - 2B	Angel Martinez - 2B
Wade Miley - LHP	Luis L. Ortiz - RHP

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GUARDIANS​

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Source: https://www.redreporter.com/2025/6/...ds-wait-that-isnt-wade-miley-thats-dave-miley

 

[Cincinnati Reds]

Game 68: Reds at Giardians (6:40 PM EDT) - Abbott vs. Cecconi

Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Today's Lineups​

TJ Friedl - CF	Steven Kwan - LF
Gavin Lux - DH	David Fry - DH
Elly De La Cruz - SS	Jose Ramirez - 3B
Christian Encarnacion-Strand - 3B	Carlos Santana - 1B
Tyler Stephenson - C	Gabriel Arias - SS
Will Benson - LF	Bo Naylor - C
Spencer Steer - 1B	Johnathan Rodriguez - RF
Jake Fraley - RF	Nolan Jones - CF
Matt McLain - 2B	Angel Martinez - 2B
Andrew Abbott - LHP	Slade Cecconi - RHP

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REDS​

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GUARDIANS​

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Source: https://www.redreporter.com/2025/6/...ds-at-giardians-6-40-pm-edt-abbott-vs-cecconi

 

[Cincinnati Reds]

Game 69: Reds at Guardians (1:10 PM ET) - Lodolo vs. Allen

Photo by Norm Hall/Getty Images

Nice!

The Cincinnati Reds send Nick Lodolo to the mound with a sweep of the Cleveland Guardians - and the Ohio Cup - on the line.

Go Reds!

Today's Lineups​

TJ Friedl - CF	Lane Thomas - CF
Santiago Espinal - 3B	David Fry - DH
Elly De La Cruz - SS	Jose Ramirez - 3B
Christian Encarnacion-Strand - 1B	Carlos Santana - 1B
Spencer Steer - DH	Gabriel Arias - SS
Jose Trevino - C	Nolan Jones - LF
Connor Joe - RF	Johnathan Rodriguez - RF
Matt McLain - 2B	Dom Nunez - C
Garrett Hampson - LF	Angel Martinez - 2B
Nick Lodolo - LHP	Logan Allen - LHP

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REDS​

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GUARDIANS​

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Source: https://www.redreporter.com/2025/6/11/24447510/cincinnati-reds-cleveland-guardians-nick-lodolo

 

[Cincinnati Reds]

Andrew Abbott has pitched his way into ‘ace’ conversation

Not when his aim is like that, though. | Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images

His complete game mastery of Cleveland on Tuesday night vaulted him into pretty elite company.

The term ‘ace’ gets lobbed around pretty easily in baseball parlance, and it never truly gets defined very well.

Does each of the 30 MLB clubs have an ace?

Are there five aces across the entire league? Ten? Seventeen?

Can you be an ace one year, not the next, and later recover your acedom?

Do the stats on the back of your baseball card dictate whether you’ve been an ace, or is an ace the kind of pitcher you put on the mound expecting future ace-like production?

There’s undoubtedly a certain bit of answer to each of these questions that needs to be rolled in to any discussion of a true ‘ace,’ but it’s hard to keep having that discussion at this point of 2025 without including Cincinnati Reds lefty Andrew Abbott’s name.

That’s even more true after his absolute gem against the Cleveland Guardians on Tuesday evening, a night on which he fired a 3-hit complete game shutout of his Ohio rivals to lead the Reds to their fifth consecutive win overall.

Despite having missed the first two weeks of the 2025 season as he worked his way back from shoulder problems, the former 2nd round pick now sits fourth in the National League with 2.7 bWAR on the season. Dating back to the start of the 2023 season, he has accrued 8.8 bWAR in total, a mark that ranks him twelfth in all of baseball - directly behind the likes of Sonny Gray (8.9), Corbin Burnes (9.0), and Hunter Greene (9.1) and ahead of Blake Snell (8.4) and Nathan Eovaldi (7.7).

FanGraphs has yet to jump fully on the Abbott Wagon, though the lefty’s 1.87 ERA ranks 6th among the 100 MLB starters who’ve logged at least 60 IP so far this year - right ahead of Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes and his 1.88 mark.

Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images

Has Abbott pitched his name all the way into bona fide ace status? I don’t think he’s quite there yet. But when you start finding your name listed alongside the likes of Greene, Burnes, Skenes, & Co., it’s hard not wonder if it’s happening right before our eyes.

For his incredible efforts for the Reds against the Guardians on June 10th, Abbott earns this week’s Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Week award, something he may well have to move off his trophy shelf for bigger and better prizes as they come down the road.

Congrats, Andrew.

Source: https://www.redreporter.com/2025/6/...t-cincinnati-reds-ace-cleveland-complete-game

 

[Cincinnati Reds]

Cincinnati Reds aim to keep on winnin’ on the road vs. Detroit Tigers

Photo credit should read TONY RANZE/AFP via Getty Images

A short road trip to the Motor City awaits!

There has been no pitcher in baseball better than Detroit Tigers ace Tarik Skubal.

That’s an open-ended statement, and that’s by design.

If I’m talking about 2025, well, the answer is Tarik Skubal. He leads all MLB pitchers with 3.4 fWAR so far this season, a full half-win over Paul Skenes (2.9) in second place. That’s fueled by a ridiculous 15.00 K/BB and 1.86 xFIP, numbers that similarly lap the field in those particular categories.

If I’m talking about 2024-2025, the story’s the same - Skubal ranks at (or near) the top in all major metrics and, therefore, atop the counting categories. Only Zack Wheeler of the Philadelphia Phillies (13.5 fWAR) tops Skubal (12.5) in total fWAR since the start of the 2023 season, even, showing just how dominant the 2024 AL Cy Young Award winner has been for some time now.

In yet another fortuitous turn of events, the Cincinnati Reds head to Detroit this weekend to take on the Tigers, and they’re going to miss Skubal’s turn in the rotation. It’s a story that keeps sneaking its way into these previews this year, as the Reds have so far managed to dodge the likes of Paul Skenes in two separate series against the Pittsburgh Pirates already, too.

That’s not to say the rest of the Tigers rotation is chump change. They’re nearly 20 games over .500 and the leaders of the solid AL Central for a reason, after all, and their team packs a balanced offensive attack around Riley Greene and a resurgent Spencer Torkelson, too. The Reds, quite simply, are up against a really good Tigers club in the coming days, something they’ll have to overcome to keep their good play leading to wins in the right column.

Cincinnati’s efforts of the last week pushed them over the .500 mark again even after Wednesday’s thumping by the Cleveland Guardians in the series finale. They’ve won 5 of 6 games overall and look much more balanced offensively with a healthy Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the lineup, and they enter play in the Motor City just 4.0 games back of the final NL Wild Card spot.

There’s no chill in Cincinnati’s schedule until back to back series against Miami and Colorado beginning on July 7th, so it’s imperative they keep their good form going against the meat of their June slate. That’s Tiger meat first and foremost, and it begins on Friday evening.

Pitching Matchups​

Friday, June 13th (7:10 PM ET): RHP Nick Martinez vs. RHP Keider Montero

Saturday, June 14th (1:10 PM ET): RHP Brady Singer vs. RHP Jack Flaherty

Sunday, June 15th (12:05 PM ET): LHP Wade Miley vs. RHP Sawyer Gipson-Long

How to Watch​

Each of the three games of the series will be broadcast on FanDuel Sports Network. You can watch FDSN in-market through cable packages, though it’s also available to be streamed in-market with no blackout restrictions even without a cable subscription. You can check the link in the above sidebar (which I’ve re-linked right here) for more information on how you can do just that.

Sunday’s game will also be broadcast via Roku.

Per usual, you can view these final two games from outside the Reds TV market by catching the FDSN stream through MLB.tv.

Source: https://www.redreporter.com/2025/6/12/24448000/cincinnati-reds-detroit-tigers-preview-rumors