The Reds couldn’t buy a big swing Monday afternoon, and that was enough to sink them in a 2-1 loss to St. Louis in the opener of the doubleheader.
Cincinnati finished with just three hits and struck out 15 times, a rough recipe in a game where the Cardinals scored their only runs before the third inning was over. Dane Myers accounted for two of the Reds’ three hits, including the solo homer that briefly kept them within striking distance in the fourth.
Kent Emanuel made his first big league appearance since 2024, and the start began with plenty of trouble. He hit the first batter he faced, walked the next, then watched Alec Burleson hammer a 2-run double two batters later to put St. Louis ahead.
From there, Emanuel settled in. Just two weeks ago, he was pitching for the High Point Rockers in the Atlantic League, and by 3:20pm ET he had worked five innings of two-run ball against the Cardinals. It was a solid rescue job after the rough opening, even if the Reds lineup never gave him much help.
Luis Mey gave Cincinnati another strong inning of relief in the sixth, striking out the side on 16 pitches after entering the game. He came back out for the seventh, where things got a little wobbly with two outs after he talked Ivan Herrera and then allowed a single to Jordan Walker. Mey still escaped the inning by getting the final out on a pop up and kept it a one-run game.
That left the Reds with a chance late. In the eighth, Sal Stewart delivered a 2-out double to put himself in scoring position, but Tyler Stephenson followed with a weak chopper that the pitcher handled cleanly for the final out. Cincinnati then went down in order on strikeouts in the ninth, and the Cardinals closed it out.
The biggest swing in the game came from Burleson’s two-run double in the first, and that was just enough for St. Louis to survive the Reds’ quiet day at the plate.
Mey’s recent stretch has been sharp, too. Over his last 11 days, all since his most recent call up, he has thrown 8.2 shutout innings with 13 strikeouts and one walk. He’s also had multiple strikeouts in each of his five appearances with the club during that span.
Emanuel’s outing was notable for another reason: it was his first ever Major League start. Before Monday, all 22 of his big league appearances had come in relief, and his 5.0 innings were the second-most he has thrown in the majors.
His only longer outing came in his MLB debut on April 24th of 2024, when he worked 8.2 innings of relief after taking over for an injured Jake Odorizzi and finished the game. His last big league pitch before Monday came on September 1st of 2024, when he recorded one out for the Miami Marlins.
In Other News...
Reds Suddenly Have More Riding On Tyler Stephenson Than Expected
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Stephenson is also moving toward free agency, which makes the timing awkward for the Reds. With Duno sidelined and no obvious immediate successor ready to take over, the front office suddenly has to think beyond the next few months and decide whether to keep Stephenson in place, add a veteran stopgap, or both. However they handle it, the injury has turned the catching position into a much bigger offseason question than it looked like a week ago. [Read more 🡒]
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The roster fallout came quickly after the game, too, as Cincinnati moved on from Kent Emanuel and filled that spot with Zach Maxwell. It is the kind of mid-doubleheader shuffle that can get overlooked in the rush of a long day, but for a team trying to sort out its pitching picture, it adds another layer to a loss that already raised more questions than it answered. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Just Showed How Thin Their Pitching Depth Has Become
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Kent Emanuels arrival underscores how far the Reds have had to reach for coverage. The 34-year-old left-hander has big league experience, and he was just coming off a six-inning start for Triple-A Louisville, a reminder that Cincinnati is leaning on experienced stopgaps to get through the day while the pitching situation continues to test its depth. [Read more 🡒]