Work was what he put in on, which felt refreshing to Masset, who hasn’t thrown a pitch for the Reds this season.
Masset threw 12 pitches to Lansing leadoff hitter Nick Baligod before forcing him to ground out to second. He forced another groundout before Chris Hawkins singled. He retired Kevin Patterson on a pop out. Masset was scheduled to work one inning with a 25-pitch count.
“I was definitely pleased with how it went,” Masset said. “They made me work for it, which was good, because I needed to do some work. It has been a grind throughout the season trying to get healthy, but I’m excited for where I’m at.”
Masset went on the disabled list in March with a shoulder injury while the team was in spring training. He pitched two games with the Goodyear Reds in the Arizona League before arriving in Dayton. Masset said he expects to head to Louisville next and make five or six appearances. There is a chance he may appear again with the Dragons once the team returns from a seven-game road trip, which begins Saturday.
Masset was a key piece of Cincinnati’s bullpen last year as a setup man. With the Reds acquiring Kansas City closer Jonathan Broxton recently, Masset isn’t sure what his role will be with the team once he returns.
“My role is to get healthy, get back with the team, and we’ll deal with that later,” Masset said. “Whatever I can do to help the team I’ll be happy to do.”
Masset had only been on the disabled list once prior to this season. He’s spent time with the Reds and seen the team roll through the National League Central to the best record in baseball.
“It’s one of those things that is going to happen sometime in your career,” Masset said of the DL stint. “It’s been tough and I’ve been doing everything I can to get back. I had been pretty fortunate not to get hurt.”
The Lugnuts scored three runs in the last two innings.
Chris Hawkins broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the eighth with a single. In the ninth, Dayton reliever Dan Jensen walked in two runs.
Dayton had taken the first two games of the four-game series against Lansing, the Eastern Division’s first-place team during the first half. Prior to the series, Dayton had lost 10 straight to Lansing this season.
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