Brandon Finnegan outdone by Clayton Kershaw in pitcher’s duel, Cincinnati Reds lose

Despite a valiant pitching effort, the Cincinnati Reds dropped game one in L.A.

Brandon Finnegan fired the best game of any Reds starter this season on Monday night, but it wasn’t enough to beat Clayton Kershaw. The Los Angeles Dodgers ace tossed a complete-game shutout in a 1-0 win, handing the Reds their eighth straight defeat and dropping their road record to 3-15.

Finnegan holds his own

Although Kershaw was dominant, Finnegan was at his best against one of the best pitchers of this generation. The Reds southpaw tossed a complete game of his own — the team’s first of the season — with eight strong innings of one-run baseball on 107 pitches. His effort marked just the third time this season a Cincinnati starter has gone even seven full innings. Finnegan pitched only one perfect frame as he walked four and gave up five hits, but consistently worked out of jams by inducing a whopping four double plays. The one time the Dodgers were able to get to Finnegan, it was a leadoff walk that came around to score. If he can cut down on the free passes and show the pitch efficiency he did in this start, he has a real chance to stick as a starter.

No answer for Kershaw

Not many would’ve given the Reds a chance to win this one and Kershaw showed why. He continued his phenomenal season by throwing his third shutout, holding the Reds to a mere two hits and facing only 29 batters. The best chance against the lefty came in the top of the first inning when Zack Cozart roped a double down the left-field line on the first pitch of the game. But manager Bryan Price opted to give up an out by having Billy Hamilton lay down a sacrifice bunt, and Kershaw retired Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips to get out of the inning. After Tucker Barnhart‘s single in the third inning, the Reds would get only one more baserunner, as Kershaw retired the final 17 hitters of the game.

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Defense helps and hurts Reds

While Finnegan did get some help from the guys behind him on the double plays, it was still a sloppy night for the Reds defensively. The team made three errors on the night, one by Phillips and two by Barnhart. The final error of the night would prove to be the most costly. Justin Turner drew a walk to begin the bottom of the sixth inning and seemed to be picked off when Barnhart fired to first from behind the plate, but the throw skipped in the dirt and went into left field, allowing the runner to go to second. Turner would move to third on a check-swing single by Adrian Gonzalez before scoring on a double play.

Notes:

• A rarity occurred in the fourth inning when Votto drew a walk, just the fifth issued by Kershaw this season.
• Nobody had a tougher time against Kershaw than Adam Duvall. The left fielder struck out three times in as many at-bats.
• Eugenio Suarez got a much-needed day off, with Jordan Pacheco getting the starting nod at third base.