Scooter Gennett...pitching? The Cincinnati Reds position player was up to the task on Monday night. Necessity forced manager Bryan Price's hand - the team was getting crushed and running out of relievers. Besides, it's not like Cincinnati is pushing for the playoffs this season. Lo and behold, Gennett pitched like he wasn't a pitcher, making a critical mistake in a game that shone poorly upon his team once more.
Gennett's questionable outing
The Reds provided a rare highlight for their fans when they sent Gennett in to pitch in the bottom of the eighth inning, with the team trailing the Chicago Cubs 13-5.
Normally, these position players find a way to get through their work relatively quickly and relatively unharmed. That was not the case for Gennett, however. Things fell apart for him pretty quickly, as he walked Jason Heyward before giving up a two-run dinger to Javier Baez to increase his team's deficit to double digits.
He settled down to retire the next two batters. He then gave up a single and hit a batter, putting two runners back on the bases. Gennett finally induced a fielder's choice to get out of the inning. Needless to say, Cincinnati couldn't produce ten runs in the ninth inning, meaning the second baseman didn't get another chance to go out there and flash his stuff.
After the game, Gennett jokingly expressed disappointment about his performance on the mound.
He thought he was throwing much harder than what the radar gun showed, calling the readings "fake news." It was his first pitching appearance of his career, so his ERA is now stuck at a lowly 18.00. He's sure to be upset that he failed to record the first strikeout of his pitching career. Luckily, Cincinnati is bad enough that Gennett could get another chance before the September call-ups likely wipe out opportunities in September.
Scooter Gennett stepped up when asked, he's just curious if the radar gun was broken? pic.twitter.com/aYQIoozXgF
— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) August 15, 2017
Reds get crushed
Chicago fomented a rough night in Cincinnati. The Cubs scored five runs in the fifth and six runs in the seventh to tear about the Reds' pitching, necessitating Gennett's trip to the mound in the eighth.
Meanwhile, catcher Devin Mesoraco broke his foot in the second inning when he was hit by an errant pitch. At least Joey Votto broke a team record by reaching base twice for the 19th consecutive game, the longest streak in baseball since Barry Bonds did it 13 years ago. There are three more games left in this series, which should cement both of their places in the NL Central.
