Reds
rookie Garrett wins first start against Cardinals
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[April 08, 2017]
ST. LOUIS -- In a baseball
sense, Amir Garrett is indeed a rookie.
But in a sports sense, when you've played big-time college
basketball in Madison Square Garden and scored 15 points against
Villanova, as he did four years ago, you aren't exactly a neophyte.
"When I went out there," he said of his major league debut Friday
night, "I felt like I'd been out here before. Just in a different
sport."
In the patois of his old sport, Garrett hit nothing but net against
the St. Louis Cardinals. He gave up just two hits and two walks in
six scoreless innings Friday night, striking out four and pitching
the Cincinnati Reds to a 2-0 win in Busch Stadium.
A former four-star hoops recruit who played two seasons at St.
John's, Garrett switched to baseball after transferring to Cal
State-Northridge with intentions of continuing his basketball
career. Based on his first MLB game, the 6-foot-5, 228-pound Garrett
might have made the right decision.
After walking Dexter Fowler to start the game, Garrett mowed down
the next seven hitters with a good mix of fastballs, sliders and
changeups. The only hits off him came from opposing pitcher Mike
Leake and second baseman Kolten Wong. Both were singles, and no one
reached scoring position.
"I wasn't as jittery as I thought I would be," Garrett said. "After
I threw the first pitch, I took a couple of deep breaths and I
thought, 'This is just another game.' I just pitched my game."
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In helping Cincinnati improve to 3-1 with its third straight win,
Garrett became the first Cincinnati rookie to work six scoreless
innings since Wayne Simpson way back in 1970.
"It really comes down to the ability to throw the ball over the
plate and get ahead," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "You create a
bigger strike zone for the hitter if you do that. He had a good
fastball going today and the best thing was, he never got himself in
a big batch of trouble."
Garrett probably could have worked another inning, but Price felt 78
pitches were enough, so he went to his bullpen. Michael Lorenzen
sailed through the seventh and Raisel Iglesias retired six of the
seven men he faced, working around a two-out walk in the ninth to
Matt Carpenter for his second save.
Victimized by Cincinnati's shutdown pitching was former Red Mike
Leake (0-1), who fell to 0-3 against them despite an outing that
would have been good enough to win most of his starts in 2016. Leake
allowed only one run on six hits in eight innings, walking one and
whiffing six.
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![](../images/040817pics/sports71.jpg)
Reds starting pitcher Amir Garrett (50) pitches to a St. Louis
Cardinals batter during the second inning of his Major League debut
at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
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But the one tiny crack in Leake's outing cost him.
Billy Hamilton singled to start the sixth and promptly stole second,
his 24th career swipe in 26 tries against catcher Yadier Molina. One
out later, Joey Votto laced the first pitch into the right-field
corner for a double that easily scored Hamilton for the only run
Cincinnati required.
"It's a shame to lose a great start like that," St. Louis manager
Mike Matheny said. "Leake was terrific. But we just couldn't get
anything going offensively."
Scott Schebler tacked on ninth inning insurance for the Reds with
his first homer, a two-out blast into the Cincinnati bullpen in
left-center off reliever Kevin Siegrist.
It was the third straight loss for the Cardinals since an Opening
Night win over the Chicago Cubs. They are batting only .188 in four
games and have fanned 35 times.
But if this game is any indication, St. Louis might not be the only
team that flails to no avail against the guy who's traded hoop
dreams for diamond dust.
"This feels really good," Garrett summed up.
NOTES: Cincinnati OF Tyler Goeddel, who was claimed off waivers from
Philadelphia Wednesday, cleared waivers Friday and was assigned to
Triple-A Louisville. ... St. Louis manager Mike Matheny said Friday
that RHP Trevor Rosenthal (right lat strain), who was scheduled to
throw another bullpen session this weekend, might instead throw a
simulated game on Saturday and then rejoin the team on its upcoming
road trip. ... The Reds announced that RHP Bronson Arroyo will make
the start Saturday in the middle game of the weekend series against
Cardinals RHP Michael Wacha. [© 2017 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
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