Marquis Struggles as Cincinnati Reds Fall to White Sox

W: Carlos Rodon (1-0)

L: Jason Marquis (3-2)

After an impressive 10-4 win in game one of Saturday’s doubleheader, the Cincinnati Reds fell flat on the mound and at the plate in game two, falling to the Chicago White Sox, 8-2.

Jason Marquis got into trouble early, as he gave up a two-run home run to Alexei Ramirez — his second of the doubleheader and the season — to put the Reds in an early hole in the second inning.

Despite six hits and six walks on the day, the Reds scored only two runs, both coming in the third inning off of pitcher Carlos Rodon, who was making his major league debut. After back-to-back singles by Zack Cozart and Billy Hamilton, and a Marlon Byrd walk loaded the bases, Joey Votto — who went 3-for-4 on the day — lined a two-run single to left to tie the game.

Marquis had new life with the game tied at two, but continued to struggle, giving up a run in the fourth and solo home runs to Avisail Garcia and Gordon Beckham in the sixth. His final line was ugly, giving up five runs on 10 hits with a walk and no strikeouts. Marquis’ ERA now sits at 5.66 on the season.

Rather than bring in someone like Tony Cingrani to keep the game close, manager Bryan Price elected to bring Pedro Villarreal, who was called up today as the 26th man for the doubleheader. The right-hander got out of the sixth, but could only get two outs in the seventh, giving up three runs and putting the game completely out of reach for the Reds at 8-2.

If there was one positive to take away from game two’s dismal pitching performance, it was that Burke Badenhop threw 1 1/3 scoreless innings with one strikeout.

Other Notes

• Tucker Barnhart showed off his strong arm today as he caught two runners stealing. He’s thrown out three of six runners attempting to steal on him this season.
• For the first time in 24 games, Devin Mesoraco started a game, but it wasn’t at catcher. Mesoraco served as the designated hitter in game two and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• After walking zero times through his first 20 games, Byrd walked four times in today’s doubleheader (three in game two) and has now walked eight times in his last eight games. You can tell he’s really seeing the ball well right now.

Up Next: The Reds and White Sox meet at 2:10 p.m. ET on Mother’s Day to conclude their three-game set. Michael Lorenzen (1-1, 3.27 ERA) will make his third career start and will face off against veteran left-hander John Danks (1-3, 6.20 ERA).

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