CINCINNATI -- Reds starting pitcher Nick Martinez dominated the Padres on Friday night, throwing eight no-hit innings en route to a 8-1 victory.
It was all Cincinnati (43-39) tonight behind Martinez’ masterful outing and a three-home-run day from first baseman Spencer Steer.
Martinez (5-8, 4.12 ERA) was in complete control against a helpless San Diego (44-37) offense. He was pinpoint, unloading his arsenal and throwing his entire repertoire for strikes.
His best pitch was his changeup, keeping it down for weak contact and letting his defense work behind him. He threw it away to lefties and in towards righties. His command of the plate led to eight no-hit innings.
Pinch hitter Elias Diaz broke up the no-no in the ninth, taking advantage of Martinez’ only mistake of the night and crushing a hanging changeup for a double. The hit finished Martinez’ outing, allowing one hit, one earned run with six strikeouts in eight innings pitched.
Starter Dylan Cease (3-7, 4.53 ERA) had issues locating against a hot Reds lineup. They were all over everything he threw their way, producing quality at-bats that led to high pitch-count early on.
The Padres shot themselves in the foot early. A walk, a throwing error and a passed ball led to a 2-0 deficit in the first inning and San Diego never seemed to recover.
Steer added on in the second inning, working a seven-pitch at-bat and crushing a fastball away to push the lead to 3-0. Steer didn’t stop there, adding on another home run in the fourth and finally another in the fifth (9).
Cease finished his day allowing three earned runs, five hits and three walks in four innings pitched. San Diego looks to bounce back from the rough loss on Saturday at 1:10 p.m. Randy Vasquez (3-4, 3.60 ERA) is getting the start against Andrew Abbott (7-1, 1.79 ERA).