The Cincinnati Reds intend to activate closer Emilio Pagan from the injured list on Tuesday, and he can expect a warm welcome back from his beleaguered bullpen mates.
Pagan’s return should provide a much-needed boost for the Reds, who will continue their four-game series against the host Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night.
Pagan has been sidelined since May 5, when he strained his left hamstring in a game against the Chicago Cubs.
Milwaukee rallied to win the series opener 5-3 over Cincinnati on Monday on Joey Ortiz’s tie-breaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning.
Cincinnati led 3-0 after five innings before the Brewers scored two runs in the sixth and tied the game on Brice Turang’s home run in the seventh.
Milwaukee reliever Aaron Ashby pitched a scoreless eighth inning and improved to 11-1 with a 3.24 ERA. He leads the majors in victories, with all of them coming in relief.
“That was a Brewers’ win tonight,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said. “We’ve seen that before. It was gritty. We had no luck early. We were having good at-bats; we just couldn’t come up with anything. Everybody played, and it was special that (Oritz) was the hero.”
Cincinnati starter Nick Lodolo limited the Brewers to one hit in five innings.
The Reds are 19-49 in their past 68 games against the Brewers, who snapped a two-game skid on Monday. Milwaukee is 38-18 since April 26.
Tuesday’s pitching matchup will feature a pair of right-handers as Cincinnati’s Rhett Lowder (3-5, 4.81 ERA) faces Milwaukee’s Brandon Sproat (2-4, 5.43).
Sproat tossed six scoreless innings with no walks and a career-high 10 strikeouts in a 2-0 victory road victory over the Reds last Tuesday.
“He was dominant. He was great,” Murphy said of the rookie. “Best outing of the year. Best stuff of the year.”
Sproat has allowed one or no earned runs in two of his past three starts. He is 1-1 with a 2.25 ERA in two career starts vs. Cincinnati.
The Reds will counter with Lowder, who allowed three runs over 5 2/3 innings in a 6-5 home loss to the Brewers last Wednesday. He has a 3.66 ERA over his last four outings, covering 19 2/3 innings.
“I’m on the right path process-wise over the last couple of games,” Lowder said. “I’m trending the right way. There are some things I want to get better at. I’m learning a ton. There’s always stuff I feel getting better.”
Lowder is 0-2 with a 3.72 ERA in two career starts vs. Milwaukee.
The Reds’ bullpen has become a growing concern without Pagan, who is 2-1 with a 6.43 ERA and six saves in 15 games this season. Manager Terry Francona said Pagan will immediately reclaim his role as the team’s closer.
“I think it makes sense to do that,” Francona said. “If you’re not pitching him in the ninth, why in the world would you want to pitch him in the seventh or eighth? He can handle it.”
The Reds are monitoring the status of outfielder Dane Myers, who exited Monday’s game in the fourth inning after making a running catch on Andrew Vaughn’s fly ball and crashing into the wall in center field with the left side of his body. Francona said X-rays taken at the ballpark were negative; Myers was taken to a hospital for evaluation and was in significant pain.
–Field Level Media
