Schoop backs strong pitching in win

CINCINNATI -- Wednesday brought brilliant displays of pitching from both a veteran in Ubaldo Jiménez of the Orioles and a rookie in the Reds' Amir Garrett. It was Jimenez and Baltimore that came away with a 2-0 victory at Great American Ball Park.
Entering with a 10.38 ERA through his first two starts, Jimenez put that behind him in fine fashion with 7 2/3 innings of work and two hits allowed for his first win of 2017. He walked four and struck out three.
Garrett, who entered with a 1.42 ERA after two starts, took his first career loss despite striking out 12 batters over seven innings. The lefty gave up two earned runs and seven hits with one walk.
"[Jimenez] pitching his team into the eighth inning, especially after a short start yesterday by their starter, was a big effort on his part," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "Then we had somebody close to matching him in Amir. I don't know if you can have a more impressive rookie debut than he's having in his first three starts."

Following a leadoff single in the second by Mark Trumbo, Welington Castillo scorched a one-out double down the left-field line. That set up Jonathan Schoop to line an RBI single for a 1-0 lead.

In the fifth inning with the bases loaded and one out, Manny Machado added a key insurance run with a sacrifice fly to center field.
Jimenez left the game with Billy Hamilton on third base and Joey Votto representing the tying run at the plate. Submarine-throwing lefty Donnie Hart got Votto to fly out in foul territory.

"That was a big out by Donnie," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said. "That guy hits righties and lefties."
Brad Brach handled the ninth inning 1-2-3 to get his first save.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Schoop-ing it out: Schoop continued his strong road trip by extending his hitting streak to seven games. With one out in the second inning and runners on second and third base, Schoop's RBI single up the middle gave Baltimore a 1-0 lead. On the road trip, he is 11-for-30 (.367) with two homers and eight RBIs.
Garrett K's the side: Garrett notched his 12th strikeout of the game to end the sixth inning as he struck out the side. After getting Chris Davis (for the third time) to look at a strike three fastball and Castillo to whiff on a heater, Garrett went offspeed and got Schoop to miss on an 80-mph curveball to finish to get No. 12. It tied the Reds record held by Dennys Reyes on Aug. 20, 1998, for most strikeouts by a left-handed rookie pitcher. By striking out Schoop, Garrett K'd all nine batters in the Orioles' starting lineup at least once.
"You can see why they're so high on him," Showalter said. "We didn't exactly solve him. We should have had three runs. We had a man on first and third with one and out and didn't score."
ALMOST IMMACULATE
One night after Reds reliever Drew Storen struck out the side on the minimum nine pitches needed in the ninth inning on Tuesday, Wandy Peralta notched his three strikeouts in Wednesday's top of the ninth inning on 10 pitches. Peralta has a 1.42 ERA in seven appearances.

"That was not thrown past me," Price said. "I realized what happened last night and looked up at the board after the top of the ninth and realized Wandy had thrown 10 pitches there. The young guys kind of feed off opportunity right now. Guys are showing that they're not scared to be here and are willing to compete in the strike zone. It's the only way to find out how to pitch. You have to throw the ball over the plate and the hitters will tell you what you need to learn."
UPON REVIEW
Adam Jones appeared to successfully steal second base in the eighth inning as Machado struck out. The Reds challenged Toby Basner's call on the play and it was proved successful when it was overturned following a review by replay officials. It was determined that Jones did not maintain contact with the base as he was being tagged.

WHAT'S NEXT
Orioles: The Orioles send left-hander Wade Miley out against the Reds in the Game 3 of the series in a 7:10 p.m. ET matchup on Thursday. Miley's control has been up and down. He walked seven and struck out five in his first start. In his second start, he walked none and struck out eight.
Reds: The series concludes with Scott Feldman getting the ball for Cincinnati in the finale on Thursday. Feldman issued five walks in his five innings with two runs allowed, but left with a lead before the Reds took a 10-4 loss to the Brewers on Friday.
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