Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings September 22, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1996-Barry Larkin becomes the first shortstop in major league history to join the 30-30 club. Since then, only Jimmy Rollins and Hanley Ramirez of the National League and Alex Rodriguez of the American League have matched this mark MLB.COM Reds ink Barnhart to 4-year, $16 million deal By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | 9:10 AM ET + 3 COMMENTS CINCINNATI -- The Reds did not wait until the offseason to secure catcher Tucker Barnhart for the long term. On Friday, Barnhart was signed to a four-year, $16 million contract with a $7.5 million club option for the 2022 season that has a $500,000 buyout. He also received a $1.75 million signing bonus. A 2:30 p.m. ET press conference will be held with Barnhart and club executives at Great American Ball Park on Friday. "Tucker has made us proud on the field with his play and off the field with his community involvement," Reds general manager Dick Williams said in a press release. "He worked his way up through our system, improving every step of the way, and has established himself as an elite defensive catcher and a productive offensive player. Switch-hitting catchers who can impact the game defensively are tough to find." Barnhart, 26, would have been eligible for arbitration for the first time this winter. The deal covers all three of his arbitration years, and up to two more in which he could have become a free agent. Barnhart was a 10th-round pick in the 2009 Draft. After a slow, steady rise through the organization, he established himself in the Majors when primary catcher Devin Mesoraco was plagued by injuries. Barnhart caught 73 games (67 starts) in 2015, and played 108 games (106 starts) behind the plate last season. Through 113 games this season, the switch-hitter is batting .272/.349/.399 with six home runs and 42 RBIs. This year, Barnhart has excelled with defense and game-calling. He has thrown out 31 of 70 runners attempting to steal (44 percent) -- tops in the National League and second best in the Majors. Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Reds can't overpower Cardinals for Bailey By Mark Sheldon and Andy Call / MLB.com | 12:59 AM ET + 231 COMMENTS CINCINNATI -- Even given scant odds of making the postseason following a sweep by the first-place Cubs last weekend, the Cardinals did exactly what they needed to do in three games vs. the Reds -- win. An 8-5 St. Louis victory over Cincinnati completed the series sweep at Great American Ball Park on Thursday night. It also put the Cards 1 1/2 games behind the Rockies for the second National League Wild Card spot. St. Louis remained five back in the NL Central race, but gained a game on Milwaukee, which sits 4 1/2 behind Chicago and one behind Colorado. "These guys were coming off a tough weekend, and they did a nice job of clearing their minds of that," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. Carlos Martinez rebounded from allowing a career-high-tying seven runs at Chicago in his previous start and pitched 6 1/3 innings for the win, while Yadier Molina and Dexter Fowler backed him up at the plate with two RBIs each. "We didn't play very good baseball in Chicago, but our focus is game to game," said Molina, who raised his RBI total to a career- high 82. Reds starting pitcher Homer Bailey gave up some hard contact over his four innings while allowing four earned runs, seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts. The first St. Louis run came on Jose Martinez's two-out RBI single lined the opposite way to the right-field line. It was a 1-1 game when the Cardinals added three runs in the third on Fowler's two-run double and a sacrifice fly by Molina. "The first two hitters were out in three pitches. After that, it was labor-intensive to get the outs," said Reds manager Bryan Price, who pulled Bailey for a pinch-hitter with runners on first and second base in the fourth. "They gave him some really good at-bats, laid off some borderline pitches and were able to put together some things." The Cardinals' lead was 4-3 in the seventh inning when Molina ripped an RBI double to the wall in center field against reliever Michael Lorenzen and went to third base on the throw to the plate. That enabled Molina to score on Kolten Wong's groundout to first base. "When you're coming off a sweep, the best way to solve that is with a sweep in your favor," Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter said. Carlos Martinez gave up four earned runs, nine hits and one intentional walk with six strikeouts. It wasn't the prettiest of outings as a wild pitch to Patrick Kivlehan scored Jesse Winker in the second inning. Phillip Ervin hit a two-run homer in the fourth and Scott Schebler added a solo homer in the seventh. In the top of the ninth, the Cardinals pulled away with two runs against Raisel Iglesias, with Greg Garcia's pinch-hit RBI double and an RBI single from Alex Mejia stretching the lead to 8-4. Schebler hit his second homer of the game while facing Zach Duke to lead off the bottom of the ninth. MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Fowler stays clutch: Fowler's torrid series continued in the finale, as he went 3-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored. With no outs in the third inning, he hit a double over the head of Ervin in center field that snapped a 1-1 tie. Fowler was 7-for-13 in the series with two home runs, three doubles, six RBIs and six runs scored. Fed to the Lyons: Schebler's one-out monster homer in the seventh -- 432 feet and 110-mph exit velocity according to Statcast™ -- was followed by a Zack Cozart single to force Martinez out. Lefty reliever Tyler Lyons was summoned and he proved filthy. Joey Votto was in command with a 2-0 count before Lyons struck him out while he looked at three sliders. After a 1-0 count, Scooter Gennett missed badly while swinging at two sliders before he took a called third strike on a 91-mph fastball to end the inning. "That was an amazing effort by Lyons," Matheny said. "For him to be able to work that deep into his pitch count (38 pitches) was a huge asset for us." QUOTABLE "They both have come up and have given us a shot of life when they've had an opportunity to play." -- Price, on Ervin and Winker. Ervin has hits in seven of his last eight games, while Winker has a five-game hit streak "These were huge games, every single one of them. It's a great opportunity for us. We'll just have to see how it works out with the teams we don't have any control over." -- Matheny SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Molina's two RBIs were Nos. 21 and 22 in August, the most productive single month of his 14-year career. WHAT'S NEXT Cardinals: The Cardinals open a three-game series in Pittsburgh on Friday at 6:05 p.m. CT at PNC Park. Michael Wacha (12-8, 4.02 ERA) will start for St. Louis against Ivan Nova (11-14, 4.20). Wacha is 2-1 with a 2.89 ERA in three starts against the Pirates this season. Reds: The final homestand of the season begins vs. the Red Sox at 7:10 p.m. ET on Friday, the first game of a three-game series. Sal Romano will make the start and try to continue his hot stretch. Romano is 3-1 with a 2.09 ERA over his last six starts and pitched eight scoreless innings in a 2-1 win over the Pirates on Saturday. Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05. Follow him on Twitter @m_sheldon and Facebook and listen to his podcast. Andy Call is a contributor to MLB.com based in Cincinnati and covered the Cardinals on Thursday. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Slumping Schebler turns it around with 2 HRs By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | September 21st, 2017 + 17 COMMENTS CINCINNATI -- Scott Schebler's second-half struggles haven't sat well with the Reds right fielder. Schebler has been streaky in his two seasons in Cincinnati, but his post-All-Star break results have been particularly dismal. Schebler entered Thursday batting .193/.286/.393 with five home runs in the second half after he slugged 22 homers in the first half. There was only one homer in September. But in his final two at-bats in the Reds' 8-5 loss to the Cardinals, there was some big life with a pair of home runs. A day earlier, Schebler was talking with hitting coaches Don Long and Tony Jaramillo about his hitting. What did they tell him? "If you look at it as a positive, this could be the moment that propels me to be really, really good in the big leagues, going through a moment where you're really struggling," Schebler said.