– by Adesina O. Koiki
A Lot of Sports Talk editor-in-chief
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NEW YORK — On a night where the the All-Star starters were announced, Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Andrew Abbott twirled another gem in what turned out to be the latest audition for inclusion into the Midsummer Classic.
And on fireworks night, the Reds’ bullpen got the important outs late to make sure the pyrotechnics contained inside of the New York Yankees offense lay dormant.
Abbott shut out the Yankees for 6 1/3 innings while allowing just three hits, leading the Reds to a 3-2 victory over the New York Yankees on Wednesday night. Noelvi Marte hit a two-run home run in the second inning while Stuart Fairchild added a solo shot in the fifth to provide the game-winning hit for Cincinnati, who has now the first two in the series against the Bronx Bombers.
In the month of June, Abbott went 4-1 with batters just hitting .216 off the lefty, and the start of his July was more of the same as he pitched into the seventh inning for the fourth time this season. In three turns against two-thirds of the American League starting outfield in the All-Star Game, Juan Soto and Aaron Judge, Abbott held them to 1-for-4 with two walks, with both free passes coming in the third inning. A wild pitch from Abbott moved Soto and Judge to second and third, but the lefty hurler retired J.D. Davis on a ground ball to short to end New York’s biggest threat against Abbott.
Abbott has now allowed three earned runs or fewer in six consecutive starts, pitching at least five innings in all of those games.
“I’m a control pitcher. If I can locate my fastball on both sides of the plate, normally, it’s going to be a good start,” Abbott said about his recent stretch. “Just trying to dump off-speed [pitches] into the zone as much as possible. Induce some early contact. All of the above with me. Try to throw the kitchen sink and hope that it works.”
Each of the four Reds’ relievers who came on were able to pitch out of jams where one hit could have swing the game to the Yankees’ favor. Fernando Cruz came on after Abbott allowed a double to Jahmai Jones with one out in the seventh and Cincinnati leading 3-0. Cruz walked pinch-hitter Austin Wells before allowing a two-run double to Anthony Volpe to cut the Reds’ lead to one. Soto and Judge followed, and after the former was issued a free pass, Cruz induced an around-the-horn double play from Judge to end the seventh and preserve Cincinnati’s lead.
Lucas Sims got two outs in the eighth, along with walking one and allowing a single to DJ LeMahieu, before giving way to left-hander Justin Wilson, who struck out pinch-hitter Trent Grisham to end the inning.
Alexis Díaz got the final three outs, inducing a double play grounder to short from Anthony Volpe after walking the first batter of the ninth inning, then getting Juan Soto to fly out to left for the final out.
*Editor’s note: Above the byline is the photo gallery from Wednesday evening’s game, with photos taken by ALOST staff photographer Roberto Carlo. After clicking on a photo to enlarge the picture, press the left and right arrow buttons on either side of the caption to scroll through the rest of the pictures that appear on the first page. Also, click on the numbers and/or arrow appearing immediately below the picture grid to load the next set of photos. There are 21 pictures in total.
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