Late homer dooms Reds in last-place battle against Royals

The final score was 4-3, in case you were looking for that.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Dilson Herrera rarely gets a sniff of playing time these days, but the still just 24 year old still packs the kind of punch in his swing that makes him an ever-intriguing prospect.

The Cincinnati Reds got a 2-run homer from him in a pinch-hit appearance on Tuesday, which was easily the biggest play for them on the evening. It was good to both see Dilson get a chance in a good spot and to see him deliver, since odds are that we won’t really see him much for the rest of this year. And considering that he’s out of options after this season, we might not see him around the Reds at all after this year despite his still-great potential.

Congrats on the big fly, Dilson.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Phil Ervin, who singled twice, scored a run, and drove one in; Joey Votto, who singled twice; Scooter Gennett, who tripled and scored; Amir Garrett, who fired a pair of impressive scoreless innings; and David Hernandez, who once again tossed a clean inning (with 2 Ks).

Key Plays

• The Royals strung together a series of hits off Matt Harvey in the Top of the 2nd to open the scoring. Salvador Perez singled and eventually scored thanks to a double by Ryan O’Hearn and an RBI single by Brian Goodwin hit to a diving Gennett. Reds trailed, 1-0.
• After a decent-sized rain delay, Harvey came back out for the Top of the 4th, and a similar cast greeted him with more runs. Perez singled into CF, and O’Hearn backed him with a moonball of a homer that just cleared Ervin’s glove at the LF wall for a 2-run shot. Reds trailed, 3-0.
• Herrera finally got the Reds on the board in the Bottom of the 5th, his 2-run blast over the wall in right-center coming off lefty reliever Brian Flynn after Ervin had singled in front of him. Reds trailed, 3-2.
• Scooter tripled to put himself in scoring position in the Bottom of the 7th, and Phlerv did his thing by backing him up with an RBI single to tie the game, 3-3.
• Unfortunately, Raisel Iglesias continued his homer-woes for the season when tasked with the Top of the 9th. He served up a meatball to Hunter Dozier, which was turned around for a solo dinger that put the Reds behind, 4-3. That’s exactly how things finished.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Prior to the start of this one, front office Reds-y guy Dick Williams finally spoke at length about the state of the team’s managerial situation. We tried to cobble a post together that accurately relayed the bulk of the information discussed today here, with the primary news (thus far) being that John Farrell will for sure get an interview while Barry Larkin - reportedly due to his own decision - won’t be a candidate for the job this offseason.
• The rain delay certainly impacted what might well have been Matt Harvey’s final start with the Reds. His final line: 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 6 K on 75 pitches.
• The Reds will wrap this quick two-game series against the Royals on Wednesday, and Cody Reed will get the chance to start against the team that traded him to Cincinnati back in 2015. Heath Fillmyer will start for Kansas City, with first pitch set for 6:40 PM ET.
• Tunes.