Lodolo fans career-high 12, exits in precautionary move
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CINCINNATI -- A spectacular performance by Reds starting pitcher Nick Lodolo in Thursday's 2-1 win vs. the Pirates was prematurely ended as a precaution because of a right groin injury.
Cincinnati was optimistic that the injury is not severe.
“I think he’s OK," manager Terry Francona said. "Just spent some time talking to the trainers and Dr. [Tim] Kremchek. They think when we got him out, he’s going to be OK.”
Lodolo tied a career high with 12 strikeouts by getting Andrew McCutchen to whiff on a curveball to open the seventh inning. He then threw a first-pitch curveball to the next batter, Tommy Pham before catcher Jose Trevino called time and asked for the trainer to visit the mound.
“It was kind of in warm-ups in that inning and then just felt like it was progressively getting worse each pitch," Lodolo said after his final regular-season start.
Francona decided to go to the bullpen and summon Graham Ashcraft to take over with a 2-0 lead, which they were able to hold on to with the help of Noelvi Marte robbing a potential game-tying home run by Bryan Reynolds in the ninth.
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Lodolo pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings with two hits and one walk to go with his 12 strikeouts. No Pirate reached second base against him all afternoon. Eight of his strikeouts came via his curveball.
“I was happy with the way I threw it," Lodolo said. "I’ve been looking to spin the ball like that for a while. It felt really good to do that, especially in a time where we needed it. It definitely sucks that it got cut a little bit short.”
Despite a stint on the 15-day injured list from Aug. 5-27 because of a blister on his left index finger, Lodolo set career highs in starts, innings and strikeouts this season. Over 28 starts and 155 2/3 innings, he is 9-8 with a 3.30 ERA, two complete games and 156 strikeouts.
What remained unclear is if Lodolo could return to pitch in the postseason, should the Reds get there. They are fighting for the final National League Wild Card spot and it will be determined during their final series at Milwaukee this weekend.
“I’ll be honest. I haven’t even thought about any of that yet," Lodolo said. "I’m just going to do some treatment and stuff. I don’t think it’s something crazy.”