REDS WIN SERIES, MAKE TRADES
Pitcher lets dust settle, although trades keep the drama alive.
CINCINNATI — David Bell and Clint Hurdle delivered the lineup cards to home plate Wednesday afternoon without incident. About 14 hours earlier, the managers wrestled in front of the Pittsburgh Pirates dugout and then engaged in a shouting match, one of the many memorable scenes from an eventful night at Great American Ball Park.
There was less drama on the field in the series finale but more news off it. During the game, the Cincinnati Reds traded starting pitcher Tanner Roark to the Oakland Athletics, and not long after the game, second baseman Scooter Gennett was traded to the San Francisco Giants for a player to be named.
The trade deadline news overshadowed a 4-1 victory by Bell’s Reds against Hurdle’s Pirates. No punches were thrown, though there were a few tense moments when Pi r ates starter Dario Agrazal hit two batters in the fourth inning before being removed by Hurdle.
Reds starter Luis Castillo (104, 2.63 ERA) helped ensure there would not be a repeat of the benches-clearing incident. He allowed one earned run in seven innings. He struck out seven and allowed six hits.
“He was the right guy,” Bell said. “He was able to keep it quiet and shut them down. We’ve seen it before, but it was really good
timing to have that kind of game. It was fun to see.”
As Castillo worked on the mound, the Reds front office worked the phones and completed the Roark trade about 90 minutes before the 4 p.m. deadline. In the deal, they received Single-A outfielder Jameson Hannah, a second-round pick in 2018 who was hitting .283 in 92 games for the Stockton Ports (Calif.).
Unlike Yasiel Puig, who was in the game Tuesday night when news broke of the trade sending him to the Cleveland Indians, Roark was on his way to Atlanta, where the Reds play today. He planned to drive his wife’s car to their home in Atlanta but was only 20 minutes outside Cincinnati when he heard the news.
“I was sitting in an Arby’s parking lot, eating some Arby’s because I wanted a beef and cheddar and curly fries,” Roark said, “and then I started hearing chatter. I hadn’t heard anything from anybody. Then I realized I probably should come back.”
Roark was 6-7 with a 4.24 ERA in 21 starts. The Reds acquired him in December from the Washington Nationals. He started Tuesday against the Pirates and allowed five earned runs in 3.1 innings.
Roark joins a team in contention for a wild-card playoff berth in the American League.
“I told him it’s always a good thing when you get traded,” Bell said. “It leads to a new experience. It happens for a reason. He may not know what it is, but some great things will come out of it for sure. For us, he was a really big part of this team, not only as a pitcher but as a teammate and a person.”
NOTES: Jesse Winker gave the Reds a 1-0 lead with a home run in the first inning. The Reds lead baseball with 86 runs and 31 home runs in the first . ... Eugenio Suarez’s two-run home run extended the lead to 3-0 in the third. Suarez hit 12 home runs in July. He has 29 this season . ... The Reds (50-56) won their third straight series and are now four games ahead of the last-place Pirates (47-61) in the National League Central Division.