Cincinnati Reds Press Clippings August 28, 2017 THIS DAY IN REDS HISTORY 1967-Johnny Bench makes his major league debut at 19-years-old and goes hitless in three trips to the plate. Bench will go on to collect 2048 hits in his 17 seasons as a Red MLB.COM Batter(y) up: Mahle, Wallach make MLB debuts Pitcher, catcher break into bigs after working together in Triple-A By Andy Call / Special to MLB.com | August 27th, 2017 + 1 COMMENT CINCINNATI -- In a situation where pretty much any athlete would be nervous, Tyler Mahle was surprised to find himself nervous. "In [the clubhouse] before the game, I was a little nervous," Mahle said. "It was a little weird." Mahle made his Major League debut Sunday, a mixed bag of pitching results during a 5-2 Reds' loss to Pittsburgh at Great American Ball Park. The 22-year-old right-hander allowed three earned runs on four hits over five innings. He left after 92 pitches and with the Reds trailing, 3-1. "I liked how he came after their lineup," Cincinnati manager Bryan Price said. "I was pleased by what I saw. Anybody who thinks a kid can come up and throw a complete-game shutout … well that would be a rarity." Reds catcher Chad Wallach, also making his Major League debut, was Mahle's batterymate Sunday. "He was calm, not too jacked up," Wallach said. "The most emotion I've ever seen out of him is a glove pat after a big out." Mahle retired six of the first seven batters. He worked out of trouble in the third inning when third baseman Scooter Gennett, known as "Ryan" for Players Weekend, triggered an inning-ending 5-4-3 double play with runners at the corners. Things did not end as well in the fourth. Mahle walked Josh Bell ("JB") and hit Josh Harrison ("J-Hay") with a pitch. John Jaso ("Easy J") belted a red-hot grounder that skipped past the bag at first base, then smacked off the barrier in front of the stands and back into right field. By the time Scott Schebler ("Scheb") was able to chase it down, both runners had scored and Pittsbugh had taken a 2-1 lead. When Mahle walked the next batter, Sean Rodriguez ("Chich"), on four pitches, he received a visit to the mound from pitching coach Mack Jenkins. Mahle retired the next two batters, stranding two. "[Jenkins] just tried to calm me down," Mahle said, "Especially with my fastball, I was a little wild. I needed to slow everything down." The Pirates added a run off Mahle in the fifth to make it 3-1. Starling Marte ("Tato") led off with a single to right, was sacrificed to second, and scored when Andrew McCutchen ("Cutch") steered a base hit into center field. Reds fans were particularly excited about Mahle's callup because of the degree to which he had dominated Minor League hitters this summer. He compiled a 1.59 ERA in 14 starts at Double-A Pensacola (including a perfect game April 22) and a 2.73 ERA in 10 starts at Triple-A Louisville. He is rated the organization's No 4 prospect according to MLBPipeline.com. Mahle is scheduled for another start against the Pirates, this time at Pittsburgh on Saturday. He hopes to make some adjustments between now and then. "If you can pinpoint [the adjustments that need to be made], you can have a really successful career," Mahle said. Andy Call is a contributor to MLB.com based in Cincinnati. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs. Reds fall in finale despite Mahle's strong debut By Adam Berry and Andy Call / MLB.com | August 27th, 2017 + 115 COMMENTS CINCINNATI -- With Joey Votto (aka "Tokki 2 for Players Weekend) almost single-handedly leading Jameson Taillon ("J-Mo") to an early exit, the Pirates' bullpen and lineup picked up the slack in the Bucs' 5-2 win over the Reds on Sunday afternoon at Great American Ball Park. Pittsburgh's bullpen did the heavy lifting and allowed only one hit over five scoreless innings in relief of Taillon. A.J. Schugel ("Schug") picked up two innings, then Daniel Hudson ("Huddy") and Juan Nicasio ("Arenoso") formed the bridge to closer Felipe Rivero. The Reds loaded the bases in the ninth, bringing Adam Duvall ("Duvy") to the plate as the winning run, but Rivero ("Nightmare") slammed the door as the Pirates sealed their first series victory over the Reds since September 2016. "I thought the bullpen was pretty clean. Good effort from everybody that came in," Pirates manager Clint Hurdle said. "Schugel gave us a nice stop, then everybody finished it off." Taillon threw 108 pitches and didn't record an out in the fifth, largely because Votto walked three times and saw 31 pitches in his first three plate appearances on his way to a club-record-tying five walks. Votto saw 43 of the 177 pitches the Pirates threw Sunday. "Future Hall-of-Famer doing his thing," Taillon said. " He wore me out. … He's special. The guy's a once-in-a-generation kind of guy." The Reds' all-rookie battery held its own. Right-hander Tyler Mahle allowed four hits and four walks while striking out five over five innings in his first Major League start, pitching to catcher Chad Wallach, who also made his big league debut. The Pirates' last two victories came on unlikely home runs: Josh Harrison's Wednesday walk-off to break up Rich Hill's no-hitter and Gerrit Cole's solo shot Saturday night. They found a more conventional way to get it done Sunday. John Jaso ("Easy J") delivered the biggest hit against Mahle, a two-run double to right field in the fourth inning, and Andrew McCutchen ("Cutch") tacked on an RBI single in the fifth. The Pirates padded their lead in the ninth inning with three consecutive hits off right-hander Raisel Iglesias ("El Ciclon"). Elias Diaz ("El Maracucho") singled to right, pinch-hitter David Freese ("Davehuman") doubled to center, and both scored on a line drive from Starling Marte "Tato"), who finished 3-for-5 with 2 RBIs. "It was a day we had to grind it out. Their young starter did a nice job," Hurdle said. "Then when you get to the other side of their bullpen, they've shown the ability to do some things. … Everybody just kept fighting." MOMENTS THAT MATTERED Great escape: After a single, an infield hit that bounced off Josh Harrison's glove and one of Votto's three walks, Taillon found himself facing a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the third inning. He calmly navigated the tight spot by striking out Duvall, getting Scooter Gennett ("Ryan") to pop out and inducing a lazy fly ball from Jose Peraza ("Miguel Angel"). The high-traffic inning required 26 pitches from Taillon, but he escaped unscathed. "He showed extreme fortitude in the third inning," Hurdle said. "That inning gets away from him, I don't know where the game goes. Shut them down in that inning. However, it was a long day and a hard day." You won't like him when he's angry: McCutchen showed a rare outburst of anger in the fourth inning toward home-plate umpire Jeff Kellogg during an at-bat against Mahle. McCutchen said he felt Mahle was working too quickly, especially when he delivered a pitch up and in on McCutchen, so he wanted more time to get set up in the batter's box. He asked for a timeout on three different pitches, he said, and was granted time on just one. After grounding out, McCutchen was restrained and escorted into the dugout by third-base coach Joey Cora. He let his bat do the talking in the fifth inning, however: With one out and Marte at second, McCutchen knocked a single to center for his first RBI in a week. "That's what it's all about. I'm not going to let anyone get in my head. I'll make the adjustment," McCutchen said. "I think you were able to see I didn't leave the box [before the RBI single]. I was ready. He left me something over the plate I was able to hit and get an RBI. If that's the way the game's going to be played, that's the way I'm going to play it. I was able to be victorious for one at-bat. … If I'm not going to get time out, I've got to make the adjustment. I made the adjustment." QUOTABLE "I wanted to be ready. I'm not calling time to be a [jerk]. I'm not calling time to play games -- that's what Jeff said to me. I'm here to try and be ready, to be ready that at-bat. If I'm not ready, I'm going to call time. … That's the way that went. I had to have a glass of woosah water after that, and yeah, all is well now." -- McCutchen, on his argument with Kellogg "My dad was able to be here, which was awesome. This is what we all play for. It was a lot of fun." -- Wallach, son of former Montreal Expos mainstay and current Miami Marlins bench coach Tim Wallach, on his big league debut SOUND SMART WITH YOUR FRIENDS Votto's five walks tied a club record he also tied in 2013. The other Reds players to have walked five times in a game are Hughie Critz and Johnny Bench.