He tried to get on a flight to make it to the Reds game on Wednesday night against the Chicago Cubs, but Givens didn’t make it to the dugout until near the end of the game. He met a few of his teammates, got some sleep and arrived at Wrigley Field the next morning for a day game.
It was a whirlwind day-and-a-half, but it didn’t impact Givens on the mound. In his Reds debut in Thursday’s win over the Cubs, Givens struck out the side on just 11 pitches in a perfect eighth inning.
“Getting traded to the Reds, I was pretty excited,” Givens said. “I know a lot of the boys on this team and kind of grew up with most of them. I’m excited to make this playoff push.”
Facing the top of the Cubs order, Givens fanned Cubs outfielder Rafael Ortega with a 95 mph fastball. In the next at-bat against Cubs catcher Willson Contreras, Givens ramped up to 96.7 mph for a fastball strike three. He finished the inning by striking out Cubs infielder Patrick Wisdom with his fastball, and all three strikeouts in the eighth inning were swinging.
