MILWAUKEE – Between innings at American Family Field on Monday, Vladimir Gutierrez was always the first man to run onto the field.
There’s no time to waste when he can return to the mound. He’s worked his entire life to make it to the big leagues, so he’ll spend as much time there as he can.
The Cincinnati Reds will gladly keep sending Gutierrez out there, especially after the way he pitched in their series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers. Gutierrez, making his fourth Major League start, completed six innings in 110 pitches and the Reds needed all of them in their 10-2 victory.
Gutierrez had retired 10 consecutive batters before he issued a leadoff walk to Christian Yelich in the bottom of the sixth inning with a two-run lead. Heath Hembree was warming in the bullpen, but Reds manager David Bell opted to give Gutierrez a chance to pitch out of it.
The Reds have the worst bullpen ERA in the Majors, and they’re without Tejay Antone for the series, but Gutierrez has earned his manager’s trust.
Gutierrez struck out Avisaíl García on a slider that elicited a check-swing. He induced a flyout against Omar Narváez in a seven-pitch at-bat. Gutierrez’s pitch count had climbed from 86 at the start of the inning to 105 after Narváez’s out.
He was given an opportunity to face one more batter, shortstop Willy Adames. Gutierrez struck Adames out in five pitches, spinning an 81-mph slider on his final pitch. After Adames swung through it, the emotions poured out of Gutierrez.
He punched his right hand into his glove twice. Bell and Gutierrez’s teammates lined up at the bottom of the dugout stairs to congratulate him. After the high-five line, bench coach Freddie Benavides walked over to Gutierrez for a fist bump. Wade Miley and Tucker Barnhart, neither who had played, circled back to embrace Gutierrez for hugs.
Gutierrez, pitching against the Brewers for his second straight start, permitted four hits, two runs and two walks in six innings while striking out six. He’s posted a 2.74 ERA through four starts and he became the first Reds rookie to win three consecutive starts since Robert Stephenson in 2017.
The Reds have won 11 of their past 14 games and climbed within four games of first place in the National League Central. Starting pitching has been a key to their hot streak.
It was a three-run second inning that gave Gutierrez a cushion. With two runners on base and one out, Jonathan India hammered an RBI double into the left-center gap, a rocket that left his bat at 110 mph. Jesse Winker followed with an RBI single to center and Nick Castellanos added a run with his hustle.
Castellanos was jammed on a pitch and hit a soft one-hop liner to second base. Busting it down the line like he usually does, he prevented a double play by a step, and allowed a run to score on the fielder’s choice for a 4-1 lead.
Gutierrez allowed four hits and two runs in the first two innings. The Brewers managed only one baserunner afterward – Yelich’s walk in the sixth inning.
The bullpen shined as Heath Hembree, Amir Garrett and Art Warren combined to strike out six of the nine batters they faced in the final three innings. Then the Reds’ offense kept piling on.
Joey Votto crushed a two-run homer to the second deck in right field in the seventh inning. It was his sixth straight game with at least one RBI, and he’s hit three homers in the past week.
The Reds had four straight batters reach base in the ninth inning. Tyler Stephenson hit a one-out double and Votto followed with a single, moving up to second base on a throw to the plate. Eugenio Suárez hit a two-run bloop double to center field and Aristides Aquino put the exclamation point on the victory when he lined a homer to left.
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