Wojciechowski added for insurance
Rick Stowe set CINCINNATI — a personal record Saturday.
The Reds senior director of clubhouse operations — who’s worked for the team since 1981, when he started as a batboy under his father, Bernie — added the longest name of his career to a jersey when he placed “Wojciechowski” on the back of the camouflage tops Cincinnati wore against Colorado.
“My longest name,” the always-affable Stowe said as media entered the Reds’ Great American Ball Park clubhouse to learn more about new relief pitcher Asher Wojciechowski.
The Reds selected the contract of the 6-foot-4, 235pound right-hander from Triple-A Louisville as a crutch for their battered bullpen. Cincinnati is Wojciechowski’s second major league team. He was 0-1 with a 7.16 ERA in 16⅓ innings over five games, including three starts, with Houston in 2015.
The Arizona Diamondbacks released Wojciechowski, 28, in spring training, and he spent three weeks at home in South Carolina wondering about his future before the Reds called, looking for somebody to fill a slot in the Bats’ rotation.
“I was happy to get the opportunity,” he said. “I was home, throwing to guys at The Citadel and wondering what was going to happen.”
Wojciechowski pounced on the opportunity. He went 1-0 with a 1.40 ERA and 29 strikeouts with just six walks in 25⅔ innings over five starts. Opponents were hitting .172 against him.
“I was attacking the strike zone – just going out and competing and throwing quality strikes,” he said. “I was leaving it all out there, every single pitch.”
That was the report received by manager Bryan Price.
“He competes in the strike zone,” Price said. “We’ve gotten good reviews about how he goes about attacking hitters. During his time with Louisville, he was throwing strikes.
“I’m happy for him because he got the opportunity and he seized the opportunity.”
Price admitted he still was learning how to spell his newest pitcher’s name.
“As he said, ‘Wojo’ works best, so I’ll go with that,” Price said.
The Bats were in the 17th inning of an 18-inning game early Saturday morning when Wojciechowski got the news about the promotion.
“I went into the clubhouse to get something to eat because I was starving,” he said. “(Trainer Steve Gober) trainer came in yelling at me that (manager Delino DeShields) needed me for something. I grabbed my cleats and went out there and (DeShields) asked me if I was good for an inning. I said, ‘Well, I threw a bullpen today, but sure.’ He looked at (pitching coach Jeff Fassero), who had kind of a smirk on his face, and he told me I was going to the big leagues.
“It was pretty crazy how they played that joke on me.”
The Reds moved right-handed pitcher Nefi Ogando, currently on a rehab assignment with Louisville while coming back from a strained right thumb, from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day list to make room on the 40-man roster for Wojciechowski. To create a slot on the 25-man active roster, the Reds placed catcher Stuart Turner on the 10-day disabled list with a strained right hamstring.
Making room: Cingrani update:
Left- handed reliever Tony Cingrani, who’s been on the disabled list since April 21 with a strained right oblique, threw 20 pitches in the bullpen before Saturday’s game, Price said.
“He had zero issues with the oblique,” Price said. “(Today) is the day we hope he feels really good. If he does, then we can start looking at a rehab schedule. That doesn’t mean we’re going to send him out on a rehab assignment right away. We’ll want to extend him a little more in the bullpen first.”
Cingrani made five appearances before his injury, logging a 1.93 ERA over 4⅔ innings.
Homer closer:
Righthander Homer Bailey threw two 15-pitch innings of simulated action in Goodyear, Ariz., on Friday, setting him up to most likely pitch in a camp game on Wednesday.
“If he were to show up with some stiffness on (Tuesday), we might have to push him back to (Thursday), but he’s been recovering well, so it’s likely he’ll pitch on (Wednesday),” Price said.
Bailey is working his way back from three surgical procedures on his right arm over the past 32 months, the latest an arthroscopic procedure to remove small bone spurs from his right elbow in February.
Series finale:
Right-hander Bronson Arroyo (3-3, 6.31) is Cincinnati’s scheduled starter in today’s 1:10 p.m. game against the Rockies. Arroyo hasn’t faced Colorado since June 5, 2014, when he allowed six hits, including two home runs, and four runs in 6⅓ innings and still got credit for the win in a 12-7 Diamondbacks victory.
Left-hander Kyle Freeland (4-2, 3.13) is due to start for the Rockies. Freeland is 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA in four road starts this season, and Colorado has won all four of those games.
Catcher Devin Mesoraco, making his second appearance and first start since last Sunday while dealing with a hamstring problem, and third baseman Eugenio Suarez homered and drove in two runs as the Reds reached double figures in runs for the first time since a 14-2 home win over San Francisco on May 6.
“We had some really nice offensive contributions,” manager Bryan Price said. “Schebler had the big blow, and then to come back in the next inning and add two runs — tacking on a couple of runs is important. Adding on those runs made the difference.”
Right-hander Asher Wojciechowski, promoted from Triple-A Louisville before the game to shore up a sagging bullpen, opened the door for Cincinnati’s comeback and cemented the win by retiring the first 11 batters he faced before allowing a two-out hit in the ninth, giving way to Raisel Iglesias.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” said Wojciechowski, who was out of work for three weeks after being cut by Arizona in spring training before hearing from the Reds. “To be home for almost a month without a job and to have this day happen, I’m on cloud nine. After the first pitch, it was just baseball. I was able to calm down. I was just trying to attack the zone and get quick outs. I was happy to help the team. What a great team win. I got doused by a bunch of stuff in the shower.”
Price was at the same time grateful to get a bullpen-saving effort from Wojciechowski and impressed at the efficiency.
“He was sensational,” Price said. “He came in attacking the strike zone. That was a really nice recipe for success. He couldn’t have come up bigger. He was beyond impressive, in my opinion.”
Wojciechowski, the 41st overall pick by Toronto in the 2010 draft, earned a standing ovation and his first major league win in his sixth appearance and first since 2015.
For the second time in less than 24 hours, the Rockies batted around in an inning. Friday, it was 14 batters in an eight-run sixth. Saturday, the Rockies overcame losing a baserunner when replay review overturned an umpire’s safe call to still send 12 batters to the plate, turning a 3-2 deficit into an 8-3 lead.
Left fielder Adam Duvall, a Gold Glove finalist last season, lost a two-out fly ball during the inning that was capped by pitcher Antonio Senzatela’s first-pitch tworun single.
Cincinnati right-hander Tim Adleman, in his first start since leaving after one inning with a stiff neck last Sunday in San Francisco, lasted 4⅔ innings, allowing six earned runs on seven hits and four walks. The combined earned-run average of Cincinnati’s starting pitchers during the losing streak rose to 8.60 (37⅔ innings, 36 earned runs).
The Rockies pushed across a run in the first. Billy Hamilton extended to 20 his career-high streak of consecutive games reaching base at least once with a first-inning leadoff walk, but he was stranded when Duvall took strike three.
The Reds tied the score in the second when Suarez scored from second on a one-out single by Mesoraco.
The Reds loaded the bases with one out in the third. Joey Votto scored the go-ahead run on Schebler’s sacrifice fly and Jose Peraza followed with a soft, run-scoring line drive to center.
Hamilton just missed making a spectacular diving catch of Alexi Amarista’s line drive to right-center field in the fourth. The ball glanced off Hamilton’s glove and rolled to the wall, allowing Carlos Gonzalez to score from first base.