CINCINNATI – The Reds did not exactly plan to have both Jeff Hoffman and José De León in their turn in 2021. It became necessary when Sonny Gray and Michael Lorenzen opened the regular season on the injured list.
Like Hoffman on Sunday, De León took his chance to play against the Pirates on Monday. In a decisive decision, he hit nine more than five plus innings before the Reds won 5-3 at Great American Ball Park. Once again, Nick Castellanos penetrated a large home field that drew 2-2 under the seventh over to help Cincinnati win for the third time in the first four games.
“We’ll have to pick each other up,” said Reds manager David Bell. ‘We talked about having the starting height, and we’re happy to have it, but for the guys to get through, step in and be an important part of a site staff that succeeds, it helps us roll. ‘
In his first start since 2016 with the Dodgers, De León kicked off the night in an ominous way. His 2-2 conversion with one out missed in the first innings over the strike zone, and Phillip Evans crushed it for a 445-foot solo homer to the left-center field. Catcher Tucker Barnhart could be seen nodding from the bent side as the ball left Evans’ bat. Two batsmen later with two out, Colin Moran hurled a first-pitch move for a 374-foot homer to right-hander, making it a 2-0 game.
Nothing De León did after that made anyone cringe – except maybe Pirates hits, which beat him just one stroke away. With his sinker averaging 94 km / h, De León hit the first two batsmen of the second innings.
“I was able to settle for the two solo recordings. A solo shot will not kill you, “said De León. I just went out there with another lead in the second inning and I was more aggressive. I took it personally. ‘
De León, who has not batted with the Rays since 2019, ran back himself. Nick Senzel, who is from first base, beat a fielder from Jonathan India. Two innings later, with two out, De León kicked one through the right to score Senzel for his first major league hit and RBI.
In the third innings, following a lead single by thrower JT Brubaker and a foul by shortstop Eugenio Suárez when he muted the exchange for prospective doubles, De León hit the side – all with sinkers 94 or 95 mph – including the two victims who burned him earlier for homers, Evans and Moran.
In the fourth innings, De León put the team in order in five positions. He was then still a little tired of managing the base in the second innings.
“I had to try to calm myself down. The turn was when I felt something click,” De León said. “I take my time on the hill between stands, take a deep breath. I think it was something that helped me by being a little tired in turn.”
De León knocked out the side again in the fifth innings, which included a two-out run. Bell raises his right hand after a lead to open the sixth inning.
Hoffman scored the 12-1 victory over the Cardinals on Sunday with five strong innings of one-time baseball. He was still the best record in the final fifth position when Castellanos smashed a three-pointer homer to break a 1-1 draw.
“This is the kind of start we need from him and all our beginners,” Mike Moustakas said. He tied the game at 2 with a two-out solo homer in the fifth innings on the right field. “Especially if we don’t score and get it right, it takes pressure off us.”
Running is no longer difficult to achieve, after Castellanos smashed him in his fourth plate of the evening with one out in the seventh inning. Two more runs scored in the eighth.
Against Pittsburgh left-back Sam Howard, Castellanos admits a nice 3-1 move after picking up a full score. Howard followed with a fast ball of 94 km / h, and Castellanos was all over with a 431-foot drive to left field that left his bat at 108.9 km / h. He flipped his bat and rounded off the base, finishing his day better than it started.
Earlier in the day, MLB Castellanos issued a two-match suspension for its part in a bank transfer incident Saturday against St. Louis. He may play pending his appeal.
“It’s clear he carried us to start this season,” Moustakas said. “His energy is electric.”