[DG18]

April 9th:
Reds 7 @ Phillies 1
WP: Yovani Gallardo (1-1, 5.59)
LP: Nick Pivetta (0-1, 5.23)
C Tucker Barnhart 2-4, 3B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
1B Joey Votto 1-4, HR, R, 2 RBI, BB
2B Scooter Gennett 1-3, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, BB
RF Jesse Winker 2-3, R, BB
HR: CIN: Joey Votto (3), Scooter Gennett (1), Tucker Barnhart (3) PHI: Rhys Hoskins (2)
Three home runs by the offense and a quality start by Gallardo led to an easy win in the series opener at Philadelphia.

Around the League:
Nationals reliever Ryan Madson is out 5 weeks with strained biceps. Madson has a 2.45 ERA in 7 appearances this year.

Top Performances:
Mariners RF Nelson Cruz 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 3 R in 5-4 win vs Royals
Braves C Kurt Suzuki 4-6, 2B, HR, RBI, 2 R, BB in 5-4 win vs Nationals
Indians 3B Jose Ramirez 2-4, 2B, HR, 4 RBI, 2 R in 9-2 win vs Tigers

April 10th:
Reds 1 @ Phillies 2
WP: Ben Lively (2-1, 3.71)
LP: Luis Castillo (0-2, 5.84)
SV: Edubray Ramos (1, 9.53)
CF Billy Hamilton 2-4, R, 2 SB
LF Adam Duvall 2-4
SS Jose Peraza 2-4
RF Jesse Winker 1-4, RBI
HR: None
Quiet day at the plate but at least Luis Castillo finally had a good start, striking out 5 batters in 6 innings and allowing just 2 runs (1 earned).

Transactions:
Kevin Shackleford, Michael Lorenzen, David Hernandez, and Brandon Finnegan have all been sent to AAA Louisville for rehab assignments. Sal Romano has also been activated from the DL, and he will make his second start of the season tomorrow. Robert Stephenson has been optioned to AAA, but is likely next in line to return to the rotation in the event of another injury.

Top Performances:
Dodgers CF Chris Taylor 4-5, 2B, 3B, HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, hit for the cycle in 9-1 win vs Athletics
Yankees CF Aaron Hicks 3-3, 2B, HR, RBI, 3 R, 2 BB in 9-5 win vs Red Sox
Astros SP Justin Verlander 8.0 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K in 4-2 win vs Twins

April 11th:
Reds 2 @ Phillies 1
WP: Sal Romano (1-0, 1.00)
LP: Aaron Nola (1-2, 2.50)
SV: Raisel Iglesias (1, 6.00)
SS Jose Peraza 1-3, HR, R, 2 RBI
C Tucker Barnhart 1-3, R
HR: CIN: Jose Peraza (1) PHI: Odubel Herrera (2)
Jose Peraza's two run shot in the 5th provided all of Cincinnati's offense, and we survived a solo homer from Odubel Herrera in the 9th. Sal Romano was great after missing his last start, pitching 6 strong innings.

Top Performances:
Padres CF Franchy Cordero 3-5, 2 HR, 6 RBI, 2 R in 8-4 win vs Rockies
Brewers SP Chase Anderson 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K in 4-2 win vs Cardinals
Cubs SP Yu Darvish 8.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 6 K in 3-2 win vs Pirates

April 12th:
Cardinals 4 @ Reds 7
WP: Jimmy Herget (1-0, 3.12)
LP: Brett Cecil (0-1, 16.20)
SV: Kevin Quackenbush (1, 2.35)
RF Scott Schebler 2-4, 2B, 2 R, RBI
C Devin Mesoraco 1-3, 2B, R
1B Joey Votto 1-4, 2 RBI
2B Cliff Pennington 1-3, R, RBI, BB
HR: STL: Paul DeJong (2), Luke Voit (1), Matt Carpenter (2)
Despite just having 8 hits and no home runs, the Reds cashed in on their opportunities with runners in scoring position. Tyler Mahle was inneffective in a short 3 inning outing, but the bullpen picked him up by firing 6 scoreless innings.

Around the League:
Twins 1B Joe Mauer records hit #2,000 for his career against the White Sox. Mauer is a lifetime .308 hitter, and is off to a fast start in 2018, hitting .359 to start the season.
Cubs reliever Brandon Morrow is out 4 months with a partially torn labrum. Morrow was brought in to be Chicago's closer, but now the Cubs will have to look elsewhere as he will miss nearly the entire season.
Red Sox starter David Price will undergo Tommy John Surgery, and will miss the rest of the 2018 season. He finishes the year with a 1.93 ERA in 3 starts.

Top Performances:
Cardinals 1B Luke Voit 3-3, HR, 2 RBI, R, BB in 7-4 loss vs Reds
Yankees SP Sonny Gray 7.0 IP, 8 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 5 K in 11-0 win vs Red Sox
Yankees LF Brett Gardner 2-5, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB in 11-0 win vs Red Sox

April 13th:
Cardinals 13 @ Reds 3
WP: Adam Wainwright (1-1, 2.25)
LP: Homer Bailey (0-2, 13.86)
3B Eugenio Suarez 1-4, HR, R, RBI
PH Devin Mesoraco 1-1, HR, R, RBI
C Tucker Barnhart 2-4, 2B, RBI
RF Jesse Winker 2-3, R, BB
HR: STL: Yadier Molina (1), Jose Martinez (2), Dexter Fowler (2), Kolten Wong (2) CIN: Eugenio Suarez (2), Devin Mesoraco (1)
Homer Bailey got lit up for the third start in a row, and with other pitchers in the organization returning from injury in the near future, it will be tough to keep him in the rotation.

Top Performances:
White Sox 1B Jose Abreu 5-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R in 8-5 win vs Twins
Red Sox RF J.D. Martinez 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, BB in 9-7 win vs Orioles
Dodgers 1B Cody Bellinger 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 2 R, BB in 5-2 win vs Diamondbacks

April 14th:
Cardinals 2 @ Reds 9
WP: Jimmy Herget (2-0, 2.53)
LP: Miles Mikolas (1-1, 5.09)
SV: Wandy Peralta (1, 2.08)
1B Joey Votto 3-4, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI, BB
RF Jesse Winker 2-5, HR, 2 R, RBI
SS Jose Peraza 3-4, 2B, 2 R, 2 RBI, 2 SB
2B Scooter Gennett 1-4, 2B, R, RBI
HR: CIN: Joey Votto (4), Jesse Winker (1)
After allowing 2 runs in the first, we scored 9 unanswered to coast to an easy win. Joey Votto ended his brief cold streak with a 3 hit game, and is not back to hitting .321 on the year.

Top Performances:
Athletics 1B Matt Olson 3-5, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R in 13-0 win vs Mariners
Athletics 3B Matt Chapman 5-5, HR, 3 RBI, 2 R in 13-0 win vs Mariners
White Sox 3B Nicky Delmonico 3-4, HR, 2 RBI, 3 R, BB in 7-4 win vs Twins

April 15th:
Cardinals 2 @ Reds 1
WP: Brett Cecil (1-1, 10.29)
LP: Jared Hughes (0-1, 7.04)
SV: Tyler Lyons (1, 2.57)
SS Jose Peraza 2-4, HR, R, RBI
1B Joey Votto 2-4
CF Billy Hamilton 1-4, BB, SB
LF Adam Duvall 1-3, BB
HR: STL: Paul DeJong (3) CIN: Jose Peraza (2)
Luis Castillo allowed just 1 hit over 6 innings, but St. Louis broke the scoring open on a home run by SS Paul DeJong in the 7th. Peraza answered with a solo shot in the bottom half, but it wasn't enough as the Reds could only cash in on 1 run on 9 hits.

Top Performances:
Royals 3B Mike Moustakas 3-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R, BB in 4-3 win vs Angels
Reds SP Luis Castillo 6.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K
Tigers LF Mikie Mahtook 4-4, HR, 2 RBI, R

NL Central:
Cubs 12-4
Pirates 9-6
Brewers 8-8
Cardinals 8-8
Reds 7-9

Next week:
3 games at Brewers
3 games at Cardinals

Transactions:
RP Kevin Quackenbush was waived and DFA'd to make room for RP Michael Lorenzen on the active roster. Quackenbush has a 4.82 ERA in 8 appearances this year.
OF Phil Ervin was optioned to AAA Louisville, and RP Kevin Shackleford was added to the major league roster. Ervin has made just 1 start so far this season, going 2-12 with a double and 2 RBI at the plate.