CINCINNATI -- It’s not exactly for all the marbles, but the Reds are staging their own three-game “Summer Series” to add a more competitive wrinkle to their intrasquad scrimmages.

Friday was Game 1 of a best-of-three series between "Fred’s Reds" and the "Cincy Ballers," with coaches Freddie Benavides and Jeff Pickler managing each club. The prize on the line? A day off from Monday’s workout.

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“It'll be a lighter day for the losing team, as well, but half the team will be off unless they need to come in for any special reason, treatment or anything like that,” said Reds manager David Bell. “That was the reward. Who knows, they might be playing for something else. I'm not sure. That's what I came up with to give them something to play for.”

Cincy Ballers featured Nick Castellanos, Mike Moustakas, Nick Senzel and Tucker Barnhart, while Fred’s Reds had Joey Votto, Eugenio Suárez, Shogo Akiyama, Jesse Winker and Freddy Galvis in their lineup. Lefty Wade Miley started for the Ballers, and Fred’s Reds touted Tyler Mahle.

Bell has been happy with the intensity of the scrimmages since they began on July 8. On Friday, there was clearly a different tone. Besides having two official umpires -- Chad Whitson and Will Little -- the teams wore different jerseys; Cincy Ballers were in green St. Patrick’s Day tops and white pants as the home team.

Fred’s Reds donned the regular red tops and gray pants, and both teams played under the lights of Great American Ball Park and with artificial crowd noise. Public address announcer Joe Zerhusen introduced the players before they batted. It was a full gameday experience.

So if Benavides and Pickler were managing, what was Bell doing?

“Basically," he jokes, "I'll be second-guessing everything that happens."

The game started in scary fashion when the second batter -- Castellanos -- was hit high on the back by a Mahle fastball. Castellanos spent a few moments on the ground and was able to walk off on his own power, but he was replaced by pinch-runner Travis Jankowski.

Two batters later, non-roster invitee Matt Davidson hit a three-run home run to center field. In the fourth, Davidson added a leadoff homer to right-center field to make it a 4-0 game as he continued to boost his hopes of making the 30-man Opening Day roster.

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Mahle, who will likely be a swingman this season, gave up four earned runs and three hits over four innings, with no walks and seven strikeouts -- including six in a row at one point. Miley, the No. 4 starter in the rotation, worked four scoreless innings with two hits, three walks and seven strikeouts.

The only run for Fred’s Reds came on a Winker homer to left field against Tejay Antone, as Cincy Ballers took the 5-1 victory in Game 1.

There were some light moments. With two outs in the fifth inning, Josh VanMeter stole second base in a close play. Fred’s Reds thought he was out, but there was no umpire at second base. The players looked to Little at first base, who shrugged that he didn’t know before deciding VanMeter was safe, causing heckles to come from the benches.

Dietrich looking good
Non-roster invite and utility player Derek Dietrich is catching up to his teammates after being a late add to the player pool following a recovery from COVID-19. Dietrich is working out at Prasco Park in Mason, Ohio, and the reports to Bell from field coordinator Chris Tremie have been positive.

“He looks midseason form,” Bell said. “I’ve talked to Derek enough over the break to know that he’s in great shape. I don’t think we have any question there.”

Dietrich is not expected to make the Opening Day roster, but he could be a factor later in the 60-game season.

“It’s one thing to be in great shape, and that will allow him to get ready from a baseball standpoint as quick as he can,” Bell said. “It’s going to take some time. He’s on Day 2. It will take him a little bit longer than everyone else, but not too much.”