MLB Rankings: Greatest Hits in Week-24
9. Brian O’Grady, 39 percent
The Reds came to Seattle for their final interleague series of the season seeking to find some meaning in a season that has seen them fail to break into the NL Central’s upper ranks. What ensued was a continuation of their frustrations, three games in which they out-scored the Mariners 17-14 yet lost two out of three.
And they did so despite leading into the seventh inning of all three games.
Tuesday’s 5-3 defeat was typical. Freddy Galvis’ second-inning base hit, following on Phil Ervin’s triple, gave the Reds an early lead, and although the Mariners got single runs in the fifth and sixth the Reds remained closely in touch behind Trevor Bauer’s strong outing. Bauer held the Mariners to just those two homers and three hits while striking out eight.
Austin Adams relieved starter Justus Sheffield to begin the seventh and retired the first two batters he faced, Galvis and Josh VanMeter. But Tucker Barnhart worked a walk on a 3-2 pitch, putting the tying run on base for O’Grady, a pinch hitter for Alex Blandino.
Reds manager David Bell’s selection of O’Grady over fellow rookie Blandino was strictly a platoon decision since Blandino came into the game hitting 70 points higher. But it was also a prescient decision. He took a first-pitch ball, then attacked a low fastball and drilled it into the right-field upper deck.
That hit gave the Reds a 3-2 advantage and improved their chances of winning by 39 percent, to 65 percent. This, however, was destined to be a frustrating night for the Reds, for reasons that involve the week’s biggest hit.