McCoy: Defense coming up big for Reds

Sometimes in the turmoil and excitement of the offensive moments, defensive efficiency slips through the cracks.

And that might have been the case Saturday night when the Cincinnati Reds conquered the Milwaukee Brewers, 4-3.

The big noise was Eugenio Suarez’s massive opposite field game-winning home run in the ninth inning and Nick Castellanos’ three-run rip in the sixth inning that gave the Reds a 3-1 lead.

Tucked between the pages of this important win was a couple of heads-up defensive play.

The first was in the bottom of the sixth after the Reds took the 3-1 lead Milwaukee’s Omar Narvaez was on first with two outs. Avasail Garcia doubled to left field and Narvaez, a slew-foot catcher, tried to score from first.

Left fielder Jesse Winker fielded the ball and winged a relay throw to shortstop Mike Freeman. Winker’s throw took Freeman into foul territory, but he snagged it, quickly whirled and threw a strike to catcher Tucker Barnhart, who slapped on the tag to save a run.

“Those plays have come up several times the last few games,” said manager David Bell. “Sometimes they go unnoticed, but tonight was a difference-maker. There have been a lot of times where our outfielders have cut own runners that have really impacted games. And Tucker Barnhart is outstanding with the tags.”

Bells said it is neither coincidence nor accident.

“It is important to mention because our players work on these things, maybe more during the season than any team I’ve ever been around. It’s all because they want to, they ask for it. They know how important it is.”

This is how Freeman described Saturday’s play.

“I peeked back at Navarez between second and third to get an idea where he was,” said Freeman. “I looked back to see Winker getting to the ball and he got rid of it real quick.

“The throw took me a little bit toward the foul territory,” he added. “I looked up and saw the back of Navarez (headed home) and tried to throw it as hard as can. Fortunately, it was on the money and Tucker made an unbelievable aggressive tag and held on to the ball.”

Of all the practice the team does on defense and relay plays, Freeman said, “I don’t think I’ve been on a team that practices it this much. When we come to a road city, on the first day we do more than I ever have with different teams in the past. That kind of stuff shows up. We know there is a reason for it.”

The other play was at the beginning of the same inning. Milwaukee’s Christian Yelich dropped a bunt and beat it out. Pitcher Vladimir Gutierrez’s throw skipped past first base.

Yelich cross the base safely and when he saw the ball roll past him he made a slight move toward second base and stopped. Second baseman Jonathan India backed up the play and nonchalantly walked to Yelich, who was off the base, and tagged him.

Umpire John Libka ruled that Yelich made a motion toward second base and called him out. Yelich protested loudly and was ejected.

“I was behind the play in case it was a bad throw and it was a bad throw,” said India. “I thought I saw him take one step (toward second), so I was being safe, put a tag on him and he let me. And he was out. I was just playing the game.”

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