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Press Clippings May 9, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1973-Johnny Bench ties a major league record with his fourth home in four consecutive at-bats MLB.COM Though inefficient, Davis has a shot in Cincy By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com | @m_sheldon | 1:00 AM ET + 6 COMMENTS

CINCINNATI -- Through five Major League starts, including Monday's 10-4 loss to the Yankees, Reds Rookie Davis has averaged 82 pitches per game. That doesn't seem like a ton of pitches until you notice that Davis has yet to reach the sixth inning.

Davis lasted 4 1/3 innings vs. New York and gave up five runs (four earned) on seven hits, three walks and four while throwing 91 pitches -- 55 for strikes.

"I know as a starter, anything less than six innings, to me, is unacceptable," Davis said. "I haven't been able to do that this year. I'm going to put a huge emphasis on pounding the strike zone with all pitches and just compete. That's all I can do."

Reds starters were 5-0 with a 1.72 ERA over their five-game winning streak, which was snapped with Monday's loss. One of those games belonged to Davis, who will get more opportunities to improve. There are currently no more attractive alternatives.

Robert Stephenson, who threw three innings for a save on Saturday, is still trying to find consistency. Cody Reed, who struggled with command before being sent down, pitched for -A Louisville on Monday and gave up three runs, four hits, two walks and a homer in 2 2/3 innings. Also at Louisville, Sal Romano is on the disabled list with a right shoulder injury and just resumed a throwing program.

Monday's game started on an off note for Davis, who didn't touch first base with his foot on 's leadoff ground ball to Joey Votto. It set up a big three-run inning for the Yankees.

Davis faced seven batters in the inning and had thrown 39 pitches through two innings.

"The thing I noticed from the first inning was they were recognizing his slider out of the hand and they were laying off it," Reds manager said. "He would get ahead or get behind, either way, and he'd throw a nice slider down and away, just off the corner, and no one was biting. We'll have to find a way to make that pitch a little bit more enticing and add something to his arsenal."

Following Aaron Hicks' RBI single with two outs in the second inning, Davis gave up one more run over his final three innings. That stretch included his striking out the side in the fourth.

"The high pitch counts and the inability to get some balls in play early in the count where we could make some plays jacked up his pitch count," Price said. "The Yankees got too much of an opportunity to see too many pitches, and I think that's the type of a team they are. They don't expand the zone a great deal."

That held true for Davis even during his five scoreless innings last week against the Pirates in his first big league win. On Monday, he was facing the organization that drafted him and traded him in the December 2015 deal.

"The start against Pittsburgh, I felt really good," Davis said. "I felt comfortable. Today I felt fine, calm and collected. I feel fine out there. I don't feel like I'm pressing. I don't feel like I'm trying to do too much. It's just a matter of making pitches whenever I need to, and I wasn't able to do that in the first inning."

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 or its clubs.

Reds lose grip on win streak, falling to Yanks By Mark Sheldon and John Fay / MLB.com | 1:08 AM ET + 414 COMMENTS

CINCINNATI -- If there was any lingering grogginess for the Yankees one night after an 18-inning game and early-morning arrival into town, it didn't show up on the field on Monday at Great American Ball Park. Behind 's effort on the mound and plenty of offense, New York took a 10-4 victory over the Reds.

"It's great," Yankees manager Joe Girardi said. "It's a tough performance by our guys. Guys are really fatigued. To be able to come and get three [first-inning runs] and let Tanaka go to work, then to get another the next inning and put 10 on the board, it shows you a lot about these guys."

A night after outlasting the Cubs in a six-hour epic, the Yankees extended their winning streak to six games while snapping Cincinnati's win streak at five. The Yankees remained a half-game ahead of second-place Baltimore atop the East, while the Reds dropped into second place in the Central, a half-game behind St. Louis.

Tanaka gave a tired bullpen a break by working seven innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on 10 hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

Former Yankees farmhand Rookie Davis labored in his start for the Reds, throwing 91 pitches over 4 1/3 innings and allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits, with three walks and four strikeouts. The door was opened for a big inning for New York when Davis opened the game with an error, accidentally not touching first base while receiving a throw from Joey Votto as Brett Gardner raced to first on a groundout. It led to a two-run single by Gary Sanchez and Didi Gregorius' RBI single for a 3-0 lead.

Aaron Hicks added an RBI single in the second inning, and after Davis was chased following a pair of one-out singles in the fifth, Gregorius added a sacrifice fly to cap a two-RBI night. In a wild top of the seventh for reliever Drew Storen, three batters were hit by a pitch -- including Chase Headley with the bases loaded -- helping the Yanks forge a 7-2 lead.

Add-on runs would burn the Reds even after Tanaka's two-out walk in the seventh was followed by a Votto two-run homer. Matt Holliday and Gardner each smoked a homer against Barrett Astin in the eighth inning.

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED

Sanchez gets it started: Sanchez reached base five times in the game, collecting three hits and one walk around a hit-by-pitch, but it was his one-out single in the first that helped the Yankees take control of the game. The hard single through the left side on a 1-0 fastball plated Gardner and Hicks to make it a 2-0 game and set the tone.

That empty feeling: Following an error by Holliday, who made a rare start at first base, to lead off the fourth inning, the Reds followed with a single by Eugenio Suarez and a rocket off Holliday's glove by that went for a single. That put Tanaka in a bases-loaded, no-out situation with the go-ahead run at the plate. The right-hander still escaped, getting a popout to second base from Jose Peraza and a grounder off the bat of Tucker Barnhart to Gregorius, who turned an inning-ending play.

"Tanaka was good," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "He was throwing the offspeed stuff when he was behind in the count, and that's tough for any team. But we got our hits and we had some opportunities to score and had a couple chances to get ourselves back in the game, but we weren't able to come up with a big hit. In the same respect, we didn't play very well. They had 13 base hits and 24 baserunners. That's not a good sign."

SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS

• Storen became the first Reds pitcher to hit three batters in the same inning since Raul Sanchez hit three in the eighth inning vs. the Phillies on May 15, 1960, in Game 1 of a doubleheader.

"It's frustrating," Girardi said. "We're already beat up. We knew he's not trying to do it. He's struggling with his command. But it is frustrating."

Headley, who took a pitch off the right leg, was the player about whom Girardi was most concerned.

"I was planning on giving him a day off [Tuesday]," Girardi said. "He'll definitely get it now."

"That's not going to happen too often for anybody, and certainly there was obviously no intent," Price said. "But a very unusual inning, for sure."

• Pinch-hitting in the fifth inning, Arismendy Alcantara notched a single, which extended his streak of hits to seven straight plate appearances -- the longest active streak in the Majors. The last Reds player to do that was Steve Selsky last September. Before that, Bip Roberts collected hits in 10 consecutive plate appearances for Cincinnati from Sept. 19-23, 1992.

WHAT'S NEXT

Yankees: New York will send out CC Sabathia in the final game of the two-game set on Tuesday at 7:10 p.m. ET. It will be Sabathia's 13th career start against the Reds but first since 2013. He is 4-2 with a 2.46 ERA against Cincinnati.

Reds: Tim Adleman will be on the mound vs. New York, attempting to follow up a strong outing on Thursday vs. the Pirates. In a 4- 2 victory, Adleman worked six innings and allowed two runs on six hits while throwing 88 pitches.

Watch every out-of-market regular-season game live on MLB.TV.

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.

John Fay is a contributor to MLB.com based in Cincinnati and covered the Yankees on Monday.

This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Adleman in charge of slowing down Yankees By John Fay / Special to MLB.com | May 8th, 2017 + 3 COMMENTS

The Yankees and Reds will wrap up their two-game set with a 7:10 p.m. ET contest at Great American Ball Park on Tuesday, with American League East-leading New York looking to run its winning streak to seven games. Left-hander CC Sabathia (2-1, 5.45 ERA) will be up against right-hander Tim Adleman (1-1, 4.22 ERA).

The Reds, who saw their five-game winning streak come to an end with Monday's 10-4 loss, will be playing the final tilt of a nine- game homestand. Cincinnati will then open a four-game series on Thursday against the Giants, whom they outscored, 31-5, and swept over the weekend.

Sabathia, who opened the season 2-0 but hasn't completed six innings in a start since April 15, has faced the Reds quite a bit from his days with Cleveland and Milwaukee. Tuesday's start will be his 13th against Cincinnati. He is 4-2 with a 2.46 ERA lifetime against the Reds, with 81 strikeouts in 80 1/3 innings.

Joey Votto is 2-for-14 with an RBI in his career against Sabathia, while Zack Cozart is 1-for-3 against the lefty.

Chris Carter (1-for-3 with two walks) is the only Yankees player to have faced Adleman, who is coming off a quality start. The righty went six innings and allowed two runs on six hits to beat Pittsburgh on Thursday.

The Reds have struggled against AL clubs in recent history. They lost a series to Baltimore earlier this year, went 5-15 last year and have not posted a winning record against the AL since 2013. Cincinnati is 7-9 against the Yankees since Interleague Play began.

The Yankees, 12 games over .500 at 21-9, climbed no higher than 11 games over .500 last season. They reached it once, on Sept. 16.

Things to know about this game

• Sabathia can hit. He's a .214 hitter in 117 career at-bats. He has three home runs and 15 RBIs. One of the home runs came against the Reds on July 8, 2008, for Cleveland. This will be his first start against the Reds since 2012.

• Over his first three starts this season, Sabathia allowed an average exit velocity of 84.8 mph, with 29.1 percent of his batted balls hit 95 mph or harder and 3.6 percent resulting in barrels -- the most dangerous type of contact. Yet over his last three starts, in which his performance has dipped considerably, Sabathia has allowed an average exit velocity of 88.5 mph, with 47.1 percent at 95 mph or greater and a barrel rate of 11.8 percent.

• Adleman was born on Staten Island, N.Y., and resides in Wilton, Conn. This will be the first time he's faced the Yankees.

John Fay is a contributor to MLB.com based in Cincinnati and covered the Yankees on Monday. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. CINCINNATI ENQUIRER BAR: Bronx Bombers are back C. Trent Rosecrans , [email protected] 9:41 a.m. ET May 9, 2017

The Blog Above Replacement a daily look at the Reds, their minor leagues and whatever else is on the mind of Enquirer Reds beat writers, C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan. You can follow them on Twitter (@ctrent and @ZachENQ), Facebook (C. Trent Rosecrans and Zach Buchanan) and Instagram (ENQReds).

What was most amazing about Monday’s night’s 10-run, 13-hit barrage by the Yankees was that it came without .

Judge has been one of the stories of the first month or so of the season, he entered Monday leading the majors with 13 home runs. He led the American League with 28 runs, 28 RBI, a .772 and a 1.183 OPS (on-base plus slugging).

There is always the small sample size caveat, but through the first month-plus of the season, the Bronx Bombers are doing everything to live up to their name. They’ve been so good that their fourth is hitting .342/.462/.644 with six home runs. The Yankees have nine players with an OPS+ higher than 100 and six with a 120 OPS+ or better (that's 20 percent better than average).

I went into yesterday writing about the surprising first-place Reds (now the second-place Reds) and about the offense. But last night you could just hear the sounds of the bats of the Yankees and they were loud, even the singles were loud.

The Yankees had been roundly lauded for their rebuild efforts, but not much was expected this year. The way they’re hitting the ball, the Evil Empire may be returning with a new core.

I noticed last night the Yankees won’t be taking batting practice on the field at GABP tonight, so I’m bummed I won’t be able to see Judge pepper the scoreboard.

ICYMI

• Rookie Davis is working on his slider.

• Brandon Finnegan and Sal Romano have started throwing again.

MINOR LEAGUE ROUNDUP

Triple-A: Norfolk 8, Louisville 2: LHP Cody Reed’s return to the minors didn’t go well. He gave up three runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings with two walks and three strikeouts. 3B Brandon Dixon hit his fourth homer of the season. [Box]

Double-A: Pensacola 6, Birmingham 2: RHP Tyler Mahle allowed two runs on five hits and a walk in six innings. He struck out seven. LF Tyler Goeddel was 3 for 4 with two RBI and C Joe Hudson was 2 for 4 with three RBI. [Box]

High-A: Florida 9, Daytona 2: CF Mitch Piatnik was 1 for 3 and drove in both runs for the Tortugas. RF Narciso Crook was 2 for 4 with a triple. [Box]

Low-A: Dayton 4, Cedar Rapids 1: RHP Tony Santillan had the line of the night — 6 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 SO, 1 HR. 2B Brantley Bell was 2 for 3 and 1B James Vasquez was 2 for 4. [Box]

THE ROTATION

1. The Bengals and Reds had no interest in a Billy Hamilton-John Ross footrace. Marvin Lewis said Ross isn’t a “circus show.”

Because, you know, these proud franchises wouldn’t stoop as low as to let people run for a living run in a straight line for fear of injury running in a straight line in a controlled environment. They’d much rather allow them to do safe things like play football.

And, to boot, neither franchise would ever allow such shenanigans…

2. Tyler Kepner of the New York Times on Gift Ngoepe, the first African player in baseball.

3. The story of the Royals drafting Bo Jackson. []

4. The term “bullpen” doesn’t come from the Bull Durham tobacco sign in Durham, N.C. John Thorn writes that it was first used in the Cincinnati Enquirer.

5. The “perfect road trip” stops at Spring Grove Cemetery. I know I’m weird about this, but I don’t believe in touristy stops at cemeteries. For some reason, I feel it’s a bit disrespectful to stop and gawk while people may be mourning. But that’s just me.

Rookie Davis gets chased early by former team Zach Buchanan , [email protected] Published 12:03 a.m. ET May 9, 2017 | Updated 4 hours ago

Rookie Davis doesn’t know many players on the , despite the fact that he was drafted and developed by them until he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds. He was never invited to big-league spring training with New York, and shared a minor- league clubhouse with only two players on their active roster.

That’s not much fodder for revenge against his old organization, and Davis didn’t approach his Monday start with that mindset. It’s just as well, because he certainly didn’t get it, giving up five runs in 4 1/3 innings in a 10-4 loss at Great American Ball Park.

The right-hander has completed five innings only once as a major-leaguer, and has yet to reach the sixth.

“To me, today is over with and I will look forward to the next start and bounce back and work as deep as I can in those ballgames,” Davis said. “I know as a starter, anything less than six innings to me is unacceptable.”

His outing wasn’t quite as ugly as his final line made it seem. He allowed three runs in the first inning, which snowballed after he missed the bag while covering first on the first batter. Three walks complicated matters, although only one of them scored.

He seemed to find a groove in the fourth when he struck out the side, but was pulled after consecutive one-out singles in the fifth. All of his seven hits were singles, and one of his five runs was unearned thanks to his own fielding error. His strikes-to-balls ratio – 55 to 36 – was healthy.

What concerned manager Bryan Price more is what has concerned evaluators about Davis for the last year. When the 23-year-old needed a put-away pitch, he didn’t have one.

“The thing I noticed from the first inning was they were recognizing his slider out of the hand and they were laying off it,” Price said. “He would get ahead or get behind, either way, and he’d throw a nice slider down and away just off the corner, and no one was biting.”

The slider has been a recent addition for Davis, who picked it up almost exactly two months ago. It’s a modified version of his cutter, and pitch tracking data suggests it’s perhaps not modified enough. Davis ostensibly threw the pitch 24 times against the Yankees, but the Statcast tracking system at Great American Ball Park registered 11 of them as cutters instead.

That phenomenon has persisted all season. Pitch data shows Davis having thrown 49 sliders this season, and 41 cutters, a pitch he’s supposedly dumped. Davis thinks the issue is location and not shape and action, but Price floated the idea of more tweaks to give the pitch more bite.

Homer Bailey had the same issue early in his career, Price said. Eventually, after some experimentation, it clicked.

“It’ll be something,” Price said. “It’ll be a grip that makes the ball rotate in a cleaner fashion so it’ll be harder to recognize. Considering he’s really adding this pitch for the first time, it’s come a long, long way and I think it’s going to be a very good pitch for him.”

Five starts into his big-league career, Davis has a 7.58 ERA. He doesn’t seem to focus on the ugliness of that number. He looks instead at the subtler things, the process and not the result.

There, he sees some progress.

“I feel fine out there,” he said. “I don’t feel like I’m pressing. I don’t feel like I’m trying to do too much. It’s just a matter of making pitches whenever I need to and I wasn’t able to do that.”

Reds recap: Cincinnati falls 10-4 in what feels like road game against Yankees Zach Buchanan , [email protected] 10:48 p.m. ET May 8, 2017

Great American Ball Park is the home stadium for the Cincinnati Reds, although it didn’t feel like it Monday.

In front of a crowd of 25,960 that was heavily populated with partisans not wearing red, Cincinnati fell 10-4 to the New York Yankees. Here are the main storylines.

Rookie Davis’ reunion didn’t go as hoped. The 23-year-old right-hander was acquired from the Yankees before the 2016 season in the Aroldis Chapman trade, but he couldn’t quite capitalize on the chance to exact revenge on his former team. Davis lasted just 4 1/3 innings and allowed five runs, four of which were earned. He walked three and struck out four.

Despite the ugliness of his line score, the outing was not disastrous. Most of the damage came in the first, which started poorly when Davis missed the bag while covering first on a groundout for an error. A single, and walk later, the bases were loaded. Two more singles from Davis’ former minor-league teammate Gary Sanchez and former Reds prospect Didi Gregorius made it 3-0.

Davis gave up two more runs over the course of the game – the last allowed by reliever Austin Brice after Davis left the game – but avoided a total meltdown, and even struck out the side in the fourth. All seven of the hits he allowed were singles.

The Reds missed a chance to get to Masahiro Tanaka in the fourth. The Reds tagged Tanaka for a run in the first with three consecutive hits to start the inning, but had just one more hit until the fourth, when a golden opportunity presented itself.

Adam Duvall reached to start the inning when Yankees Matt Holliday couldn’t glove a tailing throw from Chase Headley. Holliday was charged with an error. Eugenio Suarez roped a single to left, and Scott Schebler smoked a hard grounder to first that ricocheted off Holliday’s glove toward second to load the bases with no outs.

The chance was squandered. Jose Peraza popped up weakly to second and Tucker Barnhart grounded into a double play to end the inning and keep the Yankees ahead 4-1.

Drew Storen had a wild inning. Storen took over for the seventh with the Reds facing a 5-2 deficit, but he had trouble controlling his pitches. He plunked Aaron Hicks in the foot with a sinker, then walked Holliday after a would-be strike three was called ball two. lined out, but Storen hit Sanchez with another sinker to load the bases.

Didi Gregorius lined out sharply to third for the second out, and it appeared Storen might escape the jam. But then he hit Headley on the elbow with a 2-2 fastball, the resulting sound so loud it could have been mistaken for a foul ball. A run walked home from third to make it 6-2.

The next batter, , dove out of the way of a first-pitch ball, although replay showed the pitch was just high but not inside. Torreyes rebounded to single to center to drive in another run, although Sanchez was thrown out at the plate by Billy Hamilton to end the inning.

It was the first time a Reds pitcher hit three batters in the same inning since 1960.

Arismendy Alcantara won’t stop hitting. Alcantara came to the plate in the bottom of the fifth as a pinch-hitter for reliever Austin Brice, and smacked a single to right. It was his seventh hit in as many plate appearances.

He’s also 8 for his last 9, and 9 for his last 12. Four of his seven consecutive hits have come as a pinch-hitter. He’s hitting .385 in 27 plate appearances this year.

Yankees raced to airport and slept a little before beating Reds Dave Clark , [email protected] 10:26 a.m. ET May 9, 2017

How close were the New York Yankees to getting stuck in Chicago hours before their series-opening win against the Reds on Monday night in Cincinnati? About 14 minutes, per nytimes.com's Billy Witz.

Witz wrote about the challenge Yankees traveling secretary Ben Tuliebitz faced when the team's 18-inning marathon against the Cubs at Wrigley Field ended at 2:15 a.m. Eastern on Monday morning.

From Witz:

Tuliebitz, the Yankees’ traveling secretary, knew what virtually nobody else with the team did: If the Yankees’ charter flight waiting at O’Hare International Airport was not loaded with 60 players, coaches, staff and broadcasting crew — along with a truckload of equipment — and in the air in 2 hours 9 minutes, he had no idea how they would get to Cincinnati for Monday’s game.

“There was no Plan B,” Tuliebitz said.

Because of Federal Aviation Administration restrictions on pilot hours, if the Yankees’ charter flight was not airborne by 3:22 a.m. Central, they would need to find a new crew to pilot the plane. Oh, and the flight coordinator with Delta, which runs the Yankees’ charter flights, told Tuliebitz that no other pilots were in Chicago to fly it.

So while the players and coaches showered and ate, and the equipment manager Rob Cucuzza and the visiting clubhouse attendants hustled to get the equipment loaded onto a truck, Tuliebitz made sure the team’s two bus drivers knew that they had to make the trip to O’Hare — a 13 ½-mile trip that can be nightmarish in rush hour — in less than 30 minutes.

The buses and the truck pulled onto the tarmac, and players and equipment were whisked through security and loaded onto the plane. At 3:08, the flight was in the air — with 14 minutes to spare.

Tuliebitz is not sure what would have happened if the plane had not gotten airborne in time. It is a 310-mile bus ride to Cincinnati, but the collective bargaining agreement limits the distances teams can travel by bus.

“I was so excited that we made it,” Tuliebitz said. “There were a lot of smoke and mirrors to make it look smooth and easy.”

The Yankees cruised to a 10-4 win despite resting regulars Starlin Castro and Aaron Judge.

They did, however, as Witz points out, luck out with Yankees’ Class AAA affiliate Scranton/Wilkes-Barre getting rained out Sunday, so they had the team's top pitcher, , available Monday to throw 100 pitches out of the bullpen if needed.

And as Witz explained in an earlier story, Masahiro Tanaka, the Yankees' starting pitcher Monday, headed to Cincinnati on Sunday, had a full night’s sleep and had not pitched since Tuesday.

Tanaka allowed three earned runs over seven innings to earn his fifth win of the season.

Standings encouraging for first-place Reds C. Trent Rosecrans , [email protected] Published 7:43 p.m. ET May 8, 2017 | Updated 15 hours ago

Nobody is popping champagne corks at Great American Ball Park simply because the Reds started May 8 all alone in first place. It’s 31 games out of 162, not even a fifth of the season completed. But it’s better than where the team has been over the last several years as it’s gone through a rebuilding process, so you can excuse a couple of smiles.

“We've been in first and we've been in last already this year,” Reds manager Bryan Price joked. “Now we're back in first. It's great. I'd be a lot happier in September to be talking about first place.”

The fact that the Reds were in fifth place in the division on April 28 is indicative of just how bunched the National League Central is right now.

A year ago, the Reds were 13-18 on the morning of May 8, 11 games behind the Cubs.

On Monday, the Reds were a half-game ahead of the Cardinals, a full game up on the Cubs, a game-and-a-half ahead of the Brewers and just three games up on the Pirates. There’s plenty of time for the standings to be jumbled in any number of ways.

While Reds first baseman Joey Votto said it’s way too early to read into the team’s record at this point, he did concede he’s optimistic and having fun.

“It wouldn’t be fair to say that it’s completely meaningless, but it’s just much too early to tell to put anything into it,” Votto said. “I think that every single day we just have to come out and get better and be locked in on getting better as an organization and all the individuals getting better.”

The improvement of those players is the one thing that Reds general manager Dick Williams is happiest to see, especially the strides of young players like third baseman Eugenio Suarez and left-hander Amir Garrett. Suarez is hitting .330/.413/.613 with seven home runs and 22 RBI entering Monday’s game. He’s also shown marked improvement defensively at third base. Garrett, who was sent to Triple-A on Sunday to keep his innings down, is 3-2 with a 4.15 ERA and has been the team’s most consistent starter.

Other players who started slowly, like center fielder Billy Hamilton, Jose Peraza and right fielder Scott Schebler have played well in the last week or so, validating the team’s decisions to stick with them through early-season struggles.

“We've thrown a couple of guys in the fire and they've responded,” Reds general manager Dick Williams said on Monday. “To think that they won't have a learning curve the rest of this year is naive. I'm really glad they're getting these opportunities at the big- league level.”

Already this season, eight players have made their big-league debuts for the Reds. Last year 12 players debuted for the Reds.

Garret and right-hander Rookie Davis started the season in the team’s rotation. The other six Reds to debut in 2017 are right-hander Barrett Astin, catcher Stuart Turner, outfielder Jesse Winker, right-hander Sal Romano, outfielder Phillip Ervin and right-hander Ariel Hernandez.

“We've given opportunities to young players to play and they've taken advantage of them. That's a credit to those young players to take it,” Williams said. “It’s one thing to talk about how good these guys are going to be some day, but at some point, they have to go out there and pitch a good game, pitch a good eighth inning, get a key hit. They've got to do something to validate it. Otherwise, it's just us promising that some day it's going to be better. I'm glad we've been able to get those guys up here and starting to show what they can do.”

Reds Notes: Brandon Finnegan, Sal Romano resume throwing Zach Buchanan , [email protected] 6:02 p.m. ET May 8, 2017

Injured Cincinnati Reds starters Brandon Finnegan and Sal Romano have resumed throwing in the last couple days as they work their way back from shoulder issues..

Finnegan, who has a strained teres major muscle, began throwing Saturday after three weeks of inactivity. Romano, who is on the minor-league disabled list with Triple-A Louisville, threw for the first time Monday after being shut down for 14 days with shoulder soreness.

Both are probably weeks away from returning to throwing, and Finnegan at least will need multiple rehab starts in the minors before he’ll be activated from the 10-day disabled list.

“I don’t think he’s been to 100 feet yet,” manager Bryan Price said of Finnegan. “He’s still a ways away before he will get off a mound. He’s still working towards whatever that next step will be, whether it be a simulated game or a live batting practice or getting back to a regular season minor league game as part of a rehab.”

Romano’s injury in particular has left the Triple-A rotation a bit threadbare in recent weeks, at least until the recent demotions of left-handers Amir Garrett and Cody Reed. Romano, Lisalverto Bonilla and Tim Adleman have all appeared in the majors as call- ups, and Adleman has remained there.

Another rotation member, right-hander Rob Wooten spent time on the disabled list. Bullpen arms Nick Routt and Barrett Astin – the latter of whom is now in the majors – have combined to start five games. The Reds signed right-hander Asher Wojciechowski to a minor-league deal to help eat some innings.

“To the credit of the guys there, they patched together a pretty good job,” said Reds farm director Jeff Graupe. “If you go through the game lines, you’ll see some guys we didn’t anticipate starting.”

Hamilton vs. LHPs

Switch-hitting Reds outfielder Billy Hamilton feels more comfortable hitting from the right side of the plate, but so far in 2017 there haven’t been many opportunities to settle in. Hamilton’s received just 27 plate appearances against left-handed versus 111 against right-handers.

He’s hit just .185 with a .481 OPS against lefty pitchers in that span. Hamilton said he’s talked with assistant hitting coach Tony Jaramillo about being calmer at the plate when he finally does get to bat righty.

“I get so excited for hitting right-handed that I try to do too much,” Hamilton said. “He’s like, ‘You’ve got to be calm.’”

Hamilton feels like he’s made progress. Saturday, he went 3 for 5 against left-handed pitchers, including falling a homer short of the cycle against southpaw Ty Blach. They were just his third, fourth and fifth hits against lefties this season.

Before each at-bat, he reminded himself to take a deep breath.

“That’s what I did the last day,” he said. “When I was in St. Louis, I had a few at-bats right-handed and I struck out a few times. That’s what had me feeling so antsy. I get so excited hitting right-handed, because that’s my natural side.”

Minor league reality: Finding a place to live isn't so easy C. Trent Rosecrans , [email protected] Published 9:10 a.m. ET May 8, 2017 | Updated 19 hours ago

Imagine starting a job — a job that requires constant and immediate travel — and having just a couple of days to find a new place to live. Not only that, you don’t know how long you’ll be living in your new home.

That’s one of the realities of the minor leagues.

Reds second base prospect Shed Long arrived in Daytona, Fla., on April 4. He had an exhibition game on April 5 and the season started in Kissimmee, Fla., on April 6. At some point in that time, he had to find a place to live. He also took the responsibility of doing that for three of his teammates.

Long did that, and then had to actually play baseball.

On April 20, Long was hitting .222. That night he had three hits and hit his first of the season. Since then, he’s hitting .328 with four home runs, including a walk-off homer on April 23.

Those are the ups and downs of baseball, all part of the Great American Dream.

Eduardo Pérez reaches new multiyear deal with ESPN Dave Clark , [email protected] 1:28 p.m. ET May 8, 2017

ESPN announced Monday that it has re-signed veteran MLB analyst and former Cincinnati Red , the son of Hall of Famer and former Reds great Tony Pérez, with a new multiyear deal.

More from a release from ESPN:

Pérez provides analysis primarily on ESPN’s (since 2016) with additional appearances on Wednesday Night Baseball. He also provides commentary across ESPN’s news and information programming, including SportsCenter, which he has done since 2014 when he returned to ESPN.

“Eduardo is the total package,” said Phil Orlins, ESPN MLB senior coordinating producer. “He has a deep and rich history in the game, a large personality and great access to both Spanish and English speaking players.”

Pérez first joined ESPN in 2006 and provided analysis until 2011 when he returned to Major League Baseball as a hitting coach for the Miami Marlins (2011-12) and a bench coach for the Astros (2013). His coaching career also included leading the Leones De Ponce, of the Puerto Rico Baseball League, to the 2008 league championship and managing Colombia in the 2013 World Baseball Classic qualifying round.

His 13-season MLB playing career, primarily as a first baseman, included time with six teams from 1993-2006. Pérez had his most notable season in 1997 with the Cincinnati Reds, reaching career highs in home runs (16), RBI (52) and games (106).

Pérez will be in the booth for tonight’s Monday Night Baseball telecast with Dave Flemming and as the New York Mets host the San Francisco Giants at Citi Field at 7 p.m. ET. on ESPN. WCPO - Channel 9 Yankees pull all-nighter, beat Reds 10-4 Joe Kay | Associated Press 11:25 PM, May 8, 2017

CINCINNATI (AP) -- Brett Gardner and Matt Holliday homered, Masahiro Tanaka won his fifth consecutive start, and the New York Yankees shook off a long game and a short night's sleep, beating the Cincinnati Reds 10-4 on Monday for their sixth victory in a row.

The Yankees have the best record in the majors at 21-9 and are 12 games over .500 for the first time since the end of the 2015 season.

Their biggest challenge was overcoming the fatigue from an 18-inning, 5-4 win at Wrigley Field early Monday. The Yankees didn't land in the Cincinnati area until 5:08 a.m., and the sun was up when some of them finally fell asleep. Players sipped caffeinated drinks and yawned in the clubhouse pregame.

Tanaka (5-1) gave them what they needed after their all-nighter, going seven innings on 112 pitches to rest the bullpen. He allowed four runs - Joey Votto drove in three with a single and a homer - while ending the Reds' five-game winning streak.

Gary Sanchez got the Yankees going with his bases-loaded single in the first off Rookie Davis (1-2), a former Yankees prospect. Didi Gregorius also drove in a pair off Davis, who went to the Reds in the trade for Aroldis Chapman after the 2015 season.

Gardner and Holliday connected in the eighth inning as the Yankees pulled away.

There were some sloppy moments for the AL East leaders. The Yankees committed a pair of errors in the infield and had a runner thrown out at second base while tagging on a flyout.

Manager Joe Girardi gave Aaron Judge and Starlin Castro a day out of the starting lineup, and he'll give a couple more players some rest on Tuesday to help them fully recover from the 6-hour, 5-minute game in Chicago.

PEN PAL

The Yankees called up RH Chad Green as insurance for their bullpen. Green's scheduled start at Triple-A was rained out on Sunday, so he was available to throw a lot of innings. Right-handers and Bryan Mitchell haven't spent 10 days in the minors since they were optioned, so they can't be recalled except in case of an injury. Outfielder was optioned to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Yankees: Girardi said Judge has some soreness from diving for balls, but he's expected back in the lineup on Tuesday.

Reds: LH Brandon Finnegan started playing catch over the weekend but isn't yet ready to throw off a mound. He has been on the DL since April 16 with a strained pitching shoulder.

UP NEXT

Yankees: CC Sabathia makes his first start against the Red since 2012. Two of his three career homers have come against Cincinnati: off Elizardo Ramirez at Great American Ball Park in 2005 and off Homer Bailey in 2008 at Miller Park.

Reds: Tim Adleman makes his first career appearance against the Yankees. He gave up two runs in six innings of a 4-2 win over Pittsburgh on Thursday.

Fay: What can the Reds do to get fans in seats? John Fay 10:57 PM, May 8, 2017 3 hours ago

CINCINNATI -- The Reds are clearly off to a much better start than anyone expected. Consider:

After 31 games last year, they were 13-18 and in fourth place in the National League Central, 11 games behind the .

After 31 games this year, they were 17-14 and in first place in the NL Central, a half game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals.

The success has not moved the needle at the box office -- at least so far. The Reds drew 412,545 for their first 20 home dates -- more than 30,000 fewer than after their first 20 home dates last year.

I'm never one to tell people how to spend their money, but you can do the Reds fairly cheap, and this is an entertaining team to watch. The Reds will never try to guilt fans into buying tickets.

The fact is in Cincinnati -- in any sport -- you have to win to draw. The University of Cincinnati's basketball teams are still recovering from some lean years nearly a decade ago. The Reds are dealing with aftereffects of three straight losing seasons.

And winning does not mean as instant boost in the ticket sales, particularly during a wet spring in Cincinnati.

"I think our challenge so far has been way more related to weather," said Phil Castellini, the Reds chief operating officer. "We've had a couple of great walk-ups with the team playing well. We've been much more challenged with the weather, and you still have kids in school for a couple more weeks.

"We expect this to continue to be a very positive thing and for the ballpark to get more and more full as the summer months come on and the guys continue to play like this. It's been a lot of fun. We fully expect to see a great reception relative to single-game sales.

"But the weather has to be with us. You can sit home and watch a broadcast on flat-screen TV."

Monday night was an example of how far things have fallen. The New York Yankees, the marquee franchise in baseball, were in town. Both teams were in first place. Both teams were on a five-game winning streak. Monday was a bluebird sky day.

And the ballpark was a little over half full.

The reality of baseball attendance is this: You need a strong season-ticket base to put up good numbers. The Reds drew 10,586 from the third game of the season. That tells you fewer than 11,000 full season-ticket packages were sold (the attendance number released counts tickets sold, not people in the seats).

The Reds drew 12,327 for a Sunday afternoon game with Milwaukee on April 16.

"We're realistic," Castellini said. "We only sold so many tickets ahead of the season. Season-ticket sales are down, so you need to do that much more in season in single-game (tickets). Weather, opponent, day of week, kids in and out of school, all that stuff is going to be a challenge when you're in a position of low season-ticket base."

Winning factors into that, but it seems to me that it takes a lot longer to build up attendance than it does for it to fall. The nine straight losing seasons had Reds yearly attendance down to 1,747,919 by 2009. Three playoff berths from 2010 to 2013 built it up to 2,492,059.

Having the All-Star Game in 2015 helped keep the number up, but it dropped from 2,419,506 in 2015 to 1,894,085 last year.

It's going to take some sustained winning to get it back up, but continuing to play well this year will would help greatly. The young players the Reds have been taking about for years are in the big leagues and playing well.

"There's promise," Castellini said. "The guys are having fun. It's a fun team to watch. As the season goes on, we're going to get some of these guys on the DL back. We're optimistic." DAYTON DAILY NEWS Yankees handle Reds in matchup of first-place teams Mark Schmetzer Contributing Writer 11:29 p.m Monday, May 8, 2017

CINCINNATI -- Reds fans hoping that the New York Yankees might’ve been a little sluggish after playing 18 innings against the Cubs on Sunday night into Monday morning in Chicago – and there were more than a few on social media – shouldn’t have counted on it, Cincinnati manager Bryan Price cautioned.

“I’ve been around a long time and been involved in a lot of extra-inning games,” Price said before Monday’s Reds game against the Yankees. “Very rarely does a team show up late like that and not do anything. I’m sure they’ll be energized by sweeping the series in Chicago.”

Despite not reaching their Cincinnati hotel until 5:30 a.m., the Yankees were anything but sluggish. Facing former New York farmhand Rookie Davis without American League home run leader Aaron Judge in the lineup, they scored three runs in the first inning and went on to a 10-4 interleague win before a crowd of 25,960 – many of them wearing some form of Yankee blue – at Great American Ball Park.

“We just didn’t play very well,” Price said. “They got 13 hits.”

Former Reds Didi Gregorius was one of four Yankees with two RBI. Gregorius, who was part of the December 2012 three-team trade that brought Shin Soo Choo to Cincinnati, was coming off an 0-for-8 game in New York’s 5-4 two-day win over the Cubs.

Both teams went into the matchup of division leaders – New York in the American League East, the Reds in the NL Central – riding five-game winning streaks, and the Reds were 6-1 on the homestand. Cincinnati starting pitchers had teamed up to log five consecutive wins for the first time since July 2012, and the entire pitching staff had combined for a 1.60 earned-run average during the win streak.

The luster of division leaders meeting was dulled somewhat by sloppy play that included a combined three errors, a catchable popup that fell in foul territory, one egregious baserunning blunder and Drew Storen hitting three batters in New York’s two-run seventh inning.

“That doesn’t happen very often,” Price said. “Obviously, there was no intent. That was a very unusual inning, for sure.”

The last Reds pitcher to hit three batters in one inning was Raul Sanchez on May 15, 1960, in the eighth inning of the first game of a doubleheader against Philadelphia.

Five of the first six Yankee batters reached base, including Gary Sanchez with a bases-loaded two-run single and Gregorius with an RBI single. One of the runs was unearned as Davis was charged with an error for failing to step on first base while covering on a grounder to second baseman Jose Peraza.

“I’ve got to be aware of where I am on that play,” Davis said.

The Reds opened the bottom of the first with singles by Billy Hamilton, Zack Cozart and Joey Votto to cut New York’s lead to 3-1, but the Yankees got that run back in the second on Ronald Torreyes’ leadoff single, Tanaka’s sacrifice bunt and Aaron Hicks’ two- out single.

New York loaded the bases with one out in the fifth on three straight singles, two off of Davis and one off of Austin Brice. Gregorius cashed in with a sacrifice fly.

Davis (1-2) threw 91 pitches, 55 for strikes, in 4 1/3 innings. The Yankees reached him for seven hits and five runs – four earned – and three walks while striking out four times. Davis struggled with the slider that he just recently added to his repertoire

“I’ll continue to work on it,” he said. “It’s a work in progress. I’ve only been throwing it for two months. It’s a matter of finding the right release point. Location-wise, it has to be better.”

“He was aggressive with his fastball, but they were recognizing his slider out of his hand and laying off it,” Price said. “He’d get ahead and throw one down and away just off the plate and they were laying off it. We’ve got to find a way to make that pitch more enticing.”

Arismendy Alcantara led off the fifth as a pinch-hitter for Brice with a single to right, extending to seven his streak of consecutive plate appearances with a hit. That’s the longest by a Reds player since Steve Selsky had hits in seven consecutive plate appearances last September. No Reds player has a longer streak since Bip Roberts had hits in 10 straight plate appearances in September 1992. New York Times To Build a Contender, Reds Lay a Foundation of Patience JOHN MINCHILLO / ASSOCIATED PRESS MAY 6, 2017 Extra Bases By TYLER KEPNER

Joey Votto tore into a fastball in the first inning Tuesday, driving it 449 feet out to center field, high off the black backdrop at Great American Ball Park. It was his longest home run in years, and it gave his Cincinnati Reds a 3-0 lead — yet the team never scored again and lost by nine runs to the visiting .

Votto, 33, knew there would be days like this when he agreed to a 10-year, $225 million contract extension with the Reds, who host the Yankees for two games starting Monday. Votto signed his deal in April 2012, as the Reds were on their way to their second National League Central title in three seasons. They won a wild-card playoff spot the next year, but have not had a winning record since. Their rebuilding project was inevitable.

“Of course,” Votto said. “We’re a small- to midmarket team. We’re not going to just buy wins. We have to be smart. We have to be disciplined and consistent. We have to be patient. And we also have to be lucky. That, at some point, is going to happen, I would think.”

The Reds have been modestly successful so far this season, with a 14-14 record entering their series this weekend with the San Francisco Giants. The presence of the Giants, though, evokes the greatest disappointment of an unfulfilling run of success. None of the Reds’ three recent playoff teams advanced to the next round.

“We had some really good teams there for a while,” General Manager Dick Williams said. “The most painful was 2012 — we had the Giants 2-0, we came back here, we only had to win one of three, and we let ’em win all three, and then they got the banner that year. That was as close as you could have gotten.

“But for the fans,” he continued, “it’s always a new year. Whether you win or lose, they’re always looking forward. Had we won one back then, we’d still be trying to prove ourselves right now. The key is just to get out there, have fun, get these young guys up and think positive.”

That has been a challenge for fans of the Reds, a team that has traded eight major contributors since the 2013 playoffs: Jay Bruce, Aroldis Chapman, Johnny Cueto, , Mat Latos, Mike Leake, Brandon Phillips and Alfredo Simon. Attendance has fallen — only Miami drew smaller crowds among National League teams last season — and Williams can relate to the Reds’ fans.

He is a Cincinnati native whose father was once a part owner of the team. As a boy, Williams appeared with the slugger George Foster in a 1970s television ad for Bat Day at Riverfront Stadium. This is Williams’s second season as the general manager after he served as an assistant to Walt Jocketty, who is now an executive adviser. Adding pieces to a winning team, Williams said, is more fun than trying to build the next one.

“Now we’re just going to have to do it again,” he said. “You have to get excited about the guys that are just starting their careers, and hopefully get them to become the next version of those guys. The biggest challenge is just making sure you’re communicating to the fans what’s happening and keep them engaged. You can’t really talk to kids about arbitration and cost of free agency and stuff like that. They just have their favorite players, and that’s who they want to see play.”

Lately, the Reds have introduced new faces at a faster pace than any other team. Twenty players have made their major league debuts for Cincinnati during the past two seasons, the most of any team in the majors. Others were traded to Cincinnati with limited experience but could be future cornerstones: Adam Duvall and Scott Schebler, infielders Eugenio Suarez and Jose Peraza, and the injured starting pitchers Anthony DeSclafani and Brandon Finnegan.

For now, the offense is ahead of the patchwork pitching rotation.

“In a year, we’ve really created a much-improved bullpen, and we have an everyday lineup and a strong bench,” Manager Bryan Price said. “We need the depth of starting pitching, and when we get there, I think this is going to be a team that can scare people. Right now, we can make people a little nervous. I don’t think anyone looks at our lineup and goes, ‘Hey, I’ve just got to worry about Votto, and I’ll handle the rest.’ It doesn’t work that way.”

As the Reds wait for their next playoff contender to coalesce around Votto, they have invested millions in infrastructure: analytics, sports science, medical equipment and scouts, including a long-overdue Pacific Rim staff (the Reds are the only team that has never had a Japanese player). The team also exceeded its international bonus allotment in this cycle, spending $7 million on a Cuban shortstop, Alfredo Rodriguez, and $4.75 million on a Cuban pitcher, Vladimir Gutierrez.

Another Cuban pitcher, Chapman, spent his first six seasons with the Reds. They traded him to the Yankees in December 2015, when he was facing a suspension for a domestic-violence episode and was due for a raise in salary arbitration.

Chapman served a 30-game suspension and then thrived with the Yankees, who traded him in July to the Chicago Cubs for an elite shortstop prospect, . Nobody in the prospect package received by the Reds is expected to have as much impact as Torres, and Chapman, of course, re-signed with the Yankees for this season and continues to dominate.

“In hindsight — wow, he came back bigger and stronger and better than ever, but there was no guarantee,” Wiliams said of Chapman. “It’s tough to say. The more you do these trades, the more you see that rearview mirror. You can’t torture yourself. If there’s one thing I’ve learned, you just can’t do that.”

On Wednesday, at least, one of the players the Reds got for Chapman performed like a star: Rookie Davis, a 24-year-old right- hander who pitched five shutout innings against the Pirates for his first major-league victory.

Davis has a 7.36 in four starts, and his fifth will come against his former organization on Monday. He keeps in touch with a minor league teammate, Aaron Judge, whose power surge he will try to slow — at least for a night.

“He’s a very humble guy,” Davis said of Judge. “I texted him after his last multi-home-run game: ‘Hey, you can stop. We all get it.’”

Fangraphs.com Hello! Now You Love by Jeff Sullivan - May 8, 2017

There is a pitcher named Wandy Peralta. You’re familiar with the name Wandy, and you’re familiar with the name Peralta, but chances are you aren’t familiar with a name that combines the two. That’s okay. Most of you aren’t Reds fans. This guy pitches for the Reds, and, just to jump ahead to the point — one thing that’s sexy that pitchers do is miss bats. Another thing that’s sexy that pitchers do is work fast. The two generally don’t go hand in hand. There’s a variety of reasons for that. Anyway, this year, 342 pitchers have thrown at least 10 innings. Here are all of them.

On the x-axis: pace

On the y-axis: swinging-strike rate

Highlighted in red: Peralta

Out of those 342 pitchers, Peralta ranks first in pace. And, out of those 342 pitchers, Peralta ranks first in whiff rate. I’m not going to claim that this will continue. I don’t know what Peralta’s going to do from this point forward. But, last year, in a brief cup of coffee, he also worked fast. That just seems to be a part of his game. And the whiffs? Well, Peralta’s gotten better. This is a guy who keeps his fastball in the mid-90s. His preferred secondary pitch had long been a changeup. Now he has a changeup *and* a slider, and a fastball he still throws. Peralta is a reliever who consistently throws three pitches. Think he’s gotten better about locating? Here’s where his pitches have gone.

Peralta wasn’t good in his debut. Missed a lot to his arm side. So far he’s been able to mostly live down. You’d be hard-pressed to find two more different heat maps, and now it’s time for more visuals! Here’s Wandy Peralta throwing a dynamite changeup.

Peralta has thrown 56 sliders. Out of 234 pitchers who have thrown at least 25 sliders, Peralta ranks seventh in swinging-strike rate. Peralta has also thrown 37 changeups. Out of 176 pitchers who have thrown at least 25 changeups, Peralta ranks first in swinging- strike rate. When Peralta’s thrown a slider, it’s gotten a whiff nearly a third of the time. When Peralta’s thrown a changeup, it’s gotten a whiff nearly half of the time. Mid-90s fastball. These pitches. A faster pace than any other pitcher.

When one thinks about the Reds pitching staff, so much focus ends up on Raisel Iglesias and Michael Lorenzen. They deserve it! So does Peralta. I loved him before this little InstaGraphs post. You probably love him now, after. TRANSACTIONS 05/08/17 Toronto Blue Jays placed C Russell Martin on the 10-day disabled list. Left shoulder nerve irratation. transferred LHP Buddy Baumann from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list. Chicago Cubs recalled Dylan Floro from Iowa Cubs. placed RHP Jose Leclerc on the 10-day disabled list. Bruised right index finger. Texas Rangers recalled LHP Dario Alvarez from Round Rock Express. optioned CF Lane Adams to Gwinnett Braves. recalled LHP Adam Liberatore from Oklahoma City Dodgers. Los Angeles Dodgers placed RHP Brandon McCarthy on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to May 5, 2017. Left shoulder soreness. New York Mets designated LHP Adam Wilk for assignment. New York Mets activated LHP Tommy Milone. San Francisco Giants sent CF Drew Stubbs outright to Sacramento River Cats. Atlanta Braves transferred 2B from the 10-day disabled list to the 60-day disabled list. Fractured left wrist. Toronto Blue Jays sent RHP Mat Latos outright to Buffalo Bisons. sent RHP Chris Bassitt on a rehab assignment to Nashville Sounds. traded LF Danny Santana to Atlanta Braves for cash and LHP Kevin Chapman. optioned RHP Dayan Diaz to Fresno Grizzlies. Pittsburgh Pirates sent 2B Adam Frazier on a rehab assignment to Indianapolis Indians. Toronto Blue Jays designated RHP Casey Lawrence for assignment. Toronto Blue Jays selected the contract of C Mike Ohlman from Buffalo Bisons. Chicago Cubs placed RF Jason Heyward on the 10-day disabled list retroactive to May 6, 2017. Sprained finger (Right hand)). Pittsburgh Pirates optioned C Elias Diaz to Indianapolis Indians. Pittsburgh Pirates optioned 2B Phil Gosselin to Indianapolis Indians. Pittsburgh Pirates recalled 2B Max Moroff from Indianapolis Indians. Pittsburgh Pirates recalled 2B Chris Bostick from Indianapolis Indians. New York Yankees recalled RHP Chad Green from Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. New York Yankees optioned 1B Rob Refsnyder to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. Miami Marlins sent LHP Jeff Locke on a rehab assignment to Jupiter Hammerheads. San Francisco Giants sent SS Brandon Crawford on a rehab assignment to Richmond Flying Squirrels. Oakland Athletics sent RHP Daniel Mengden on a rehab assignment to Nashville Sounds. Boston Red Sox sent LF Brock Holt on a rehab assignment to . Miami Marlins placed 3B Martin Prado on the 10-day disabled list. Right hamstring strain. Miami Marlins recalled SS J.T. Riddle from New Orleans Baby Cakes. sent RF J.D. Martinez on a rehab assignment to Toledo Mud Hens. Washington Nationals recalled RF Brian Goodwin from Syracuse Chiefs. Washington Nationals optioned CF Rafael Bautista to Syracuse Chiefs. recalled 3B Yandy Diaz from Columbus Clippers. Cleveland Indians optioned RHP Shawn Armstrong to Columbus Clippers. Chicago Cubs traded LF Matt Szczur to San Diego Padres for RHP Justin Hancock.

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