Reds sweep Tigers as 7-inning doubleheaders debut in major-league baseball
Trevor Bauer made short work of the Detroit Tigers, capping Major League Baseball’s first seven-inning doubleheader with a shutout.
Bauer threw a two-hitter in visiting Cincinnati’s 4-0 victory in the second game Sunday. The Reds beat the Tigers 4-3 in the opener. MLB recently decided to use doubleheaders of seven-inning games, which are common in the minor leagues and colleges, to help teams alleviate an expected crush of twin bills caused by weather and coronavirus-related postponements.
“It was great to win two games when we’ve been struggling so badly, but it was even better to sweep the first one of these in major-league history,” Reds manager David Bell said. “Someone said the Hall of Fame has called for some memorabilia from today.”
Shogo Akiyama hit an RBI single in the top of the seventh to lift the Reds to the win in the first game.
Nick Castellanos homered twice and drove in three runs for Cincinnati in the opener against his former team. But his three-base error in right field with the bases loaded in the sixth allowed Detroit to tie the game.
Reliever Tyler Alexander had kept the Tigers in it by striking out the first nine batters he faced, tying the American League record for consecutive strikeouts.
“I don’t normally try to strike guys out, but after about the fifth one, I was trying to strike guys out,” he said.
His streak ended in the top of the sixth, one short of Tom Seaver’s major-league record, when he hit Mike Moustakas with a 1-2 pitch. Moustakas left the game with a forearm injury.
With the score tied and the doubleheader rules in place, Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire brought in closer Joe Jimenez (0-1) to start the seventh inning of the opener. Freddy Galvis led off with a double, took third on Tucker Barnhart’s single...