Cincinnati Reds Prospects Shine In Spring Breakout Win Over San Francisco

CINCINNATI — The Reds prospects shined bright in Thursday night's 10-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants. Chase Petty lead the charge with a standout performance.

Chase Petty Masterclass

The Reds' ninth-ranked prospect overmatched the Giants' hitters, tossing four shutout innings with just one hit allowed and six strikeouts. Most importantly, no walks were allowed. 30 of his 40 pitches were thrown for strikes and his fastball topped out at 102 miles per hour. Command has been the Achilles’ heel for Petty early in his career. That was exposed during his Major League debut last season when he allowed nine runs in 2 1/3 innings. This performance should give fans optimism that there is still a bright future ahead of the 22-year-old.

Petty struck out two in the first inning and allowed a single, his only hit allowed in his outing. He struck out two in the third and two in the fifth as the Giants never got anything going offensively. He was locating his pitches and putting batters away with the breaking ball, something that he struggled with last season.

“You've got to execute pitches with two strikes. Just a tough one," Petty said following his big league debut. "I know I’m better than how I performed tonight. Guys are big leaguers, they’re going to hit the mistakes.”

The Reds have more pitching depth that is ready to pitch at the Major League level this season. With Rhett Lowder and Brandon Williamson healthy, and Chase Burns on the active roster already, Petty looks to lead the rotation in Triple-A Louisville. He was the youngest pitcher to appear in a game for the Reds since Homer Bailey in 2007 at just 22 years and 26 days old last season.

Offensive Takeover

The Reds offense got off to a great start with Keyner Martinez of the Giants. After a leadoff single from Carlos Jorge, Hector Rodriguez homered to give the Reds a 2-0 lead. Cam Collier later singled, but the Giants got out of the inning, only allowing two runs.

They went 1-2-3 in the second and third innings before going off in the fourth. Alfredo Duno led off the inning with a single, followed by a Leo Balcazar single and Edwin Arroyo walk to load the bases. Catcher Ryan McCrystal came through with a two-run single up the middle to give the Reds a 4-0 lead.

Carlos Sanchez was later hit by a pitch, and Hector Rodriguez came through again with a two-run single to give the Reds a 7-0 lead.

In the sixth, Kien Vu and Cam Collier singled off a Kyle Henley groundout to put two runners on for the Reds’ second-ranked catching prospect, Jirvin Morillo, to just miss a three-run home run off the wall to the opposite field in left. That scored both runners to add to the Reds’ lead. They scored once more in the top of the ninth on an Adolfo Sanchez groundout to put the game at 10-0. The Giants scored one in the bottom of the ninth off Trevor Kuncl. Kuncl allowed two hits in the ninth.

Opening Day is right around the corner. The Reds take on the Boston Red Sox on March 26 with Andrew Abbott named the Opening Day starter.