Reds Beat: Elly De La Cruz, Matt McLain Flash Leather, Nick Lodolo Hit Hard But ‘Felt Good’ In 4-inning ‘Build Up’

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Nick Lodolo felt very good about the work he put in Thursday night at Camelback Ranch.

But, as has been the case for many on the Reds’ staff this spring, the results were not pretty. Lodolo was hit hard in the first inning, starting with the first batter, Miguel Rojas, who lined a sharp grounder to the right of Elly De La Cruz in the hole at short. De La Cruz made the stop, fell to his knees and then got up and threw a one-hop strike to Sal Stewart for the first out. But the next three batters all collected loud hits against the Cincinnati lefty.

But obviously, this is spring and the idea is to get “up and down” cleanly, feeling stronger with each start and results be what they are.

“Obviously, number one, building up. I got there, the four-inning mark, felt good,” Lodolo said. “Overall, first inning definitely was leaving fastballs over the plate. They got hit. But other than that, felt pretty good.”

Offensively, Matt McLain went 1-for-3 with a strikeout, actually dropping his spring average to .581. Noelvi Marte had a pair of hits and Sal Stewart fought off a pitch from Cole Irvin to center for a single in the first. The Dodgers got a two-run homer from Max Muncy off Lodolo and two-run shot from Teoscar Hernandez off Tejay Antone, as the Dodgers beat the Reds, 9-5, before an announced sellout of 12,001 at Camelback Ranch. The Reds now stand 9-9 in Cactus League while Dodgers are 13-6.

Lodolo would give up an RBI double to Hernandez in the opening inning and a bullet RBI single to Freddie Freeman before Santiago Espinal, who had a pair of homers against the Reds a week earlier in Goodyear, drove home two with a double. Lodolo gave up six runs on six hits in four innings Thursday, striking out three and walking none while hitting a batter. He threw 61 pitches (40 strikes).

“In the first inning, they were kind of hunting this fastball, and he was missing middle, and then he hung up breaking ball to a guy (Freddie Freeman) that’s a really smart hitter,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “But I did think he got better as he went.”

Lodolo, who took his first-ever loss in spring action, had been 9-0 with a 4.18 ERA in 24 previous spring training appearances (19 starts) dating back to 2020. But that was hardly what was on his mind. Being on track for his first start of the season on March 28 against Boston was.

“Yeah, for sure, I felt strong today all the way through the four (innings) so you know, definitely getting closer there,” Lodolo said. “Pitches and everything like that, they’re coming together.”

Elly De La Cruz went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts.

Sal Stewart, who continues to look comfortable at first after a spring of work with Mike Napoli, made nice scoops on throws from Elly De La Cruz and Matt McLain to finish off each of their diving stops of grounders. Lodolo did acknowledge a miscommunication between himself and Stewart on a potential inning-ending double play in the first, as Lodolo called for the bag and Stewart covered instead, resulting in an awkward meeting at the bag and the runner reaching safely. Espinal followed with a two-run double that made it 4-0.

Tejay Antone allowed a long two-run homer to Hernandez in relief of Lodolo to start the fifth as Lodolo finished his work on the night with an extra session in the Reds bullpen beyond the right field fence.