Brandon Williamson delivers stellar MLB debut, Cincinnati Reds top Rockies
DENVER – There may not be a tougher place for a pitcher to make his major league debut than Coors Field with the way the ball flies in the altitude and its vast outfield.
It’s even harder when the offense doesn’t provide much run support.
Brandon Williamson, a 6-foot-6 lefthander, permitted one run across 5 2/3 innings in a stellar debut. The offense eventually came around, a half-inning after Williamson exited, when Nick Senzel hit a two-run homer to propel the Cincinnati Reds to a 3-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.
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After a two-out walk in the first inning, Williamson retired 14 consecutive batters with six strikeouts. Rockies rookie shortstop Ezequiel Tovar ended the streak with a solo homer in the sixth inning, one of the few pitches the 25-year-old Williamson left over the plate.
Williamson had a 6.62 ERA through eight starts at Triple-A Louisville, but the Reds had a need in their starting rotation after Nick Lodolo went on the 15-day injured list. Williamson, who pitched better in his last two minor league starts, had all his pitches working during his debut with his family loudly cheering after many of his strikes in the crowd of 20,611.
Pounding the strike zone with cutters, fastballs, sliders and changeups, Williamson was efficient and in control. He didn’t throw more than 15 pitches in an inning. Mike Moustakas hit a ball to the warning track in the fifth inning, but otherwise there wasn’t even much hard contact against him.
Williamson’s shutout ended when he left a 90-mph fastball over the heart of the plate to Tovar and he was out of the game two batters later when he issued a two-out walk to Jurickson Profar. He threw 47 strikes in 72 pitches.
Trailing for the first time all game, the Reds responded against the Rockies’ bullpen. Tyler Stephenson drew a four-pitch walk with two outs in the seventh inning before Senzel lined a first-pitch slider from Peter Lambert over the center field wall for his fourth home run of the season.
Matt McLain, in his second career game, added an RBI single in the eighth inning.
Takeaways from the Reds’ game against the Rockies
1. One issue that plagued Williamson during spring training and his Triple-A starts was how quickly innings snowballed on him. After missing the strike zone with a high-and-wide changeup in the fourth inning, falling into a 3-1 count, Williamson took a few seconds – as much as he could with the pitch clock – to collect himself by walking behind the mound and clean the dirt from the bottom of his spikes.
Williamson induced an inning-ending infield popup on the next pitch.
2. After Chase Anderson was designated for assignment by the Tampa Bay Rays last week, it wasn’t a surprise he pitched at Coors Field on Tuesday. The real mystery was which dugout he would sit in. The Rockies had a higher waiver claim than the Reds and plucked Anderson after an injury to one of their starters.
Anderson, who spent most of this season as Williamson’s teammate with the Louisville Bats, yielded only two baserunners across five scoreless innings. He struck out three in 59 pitches, working on a limited pitch count because he made two relief appearances with the Rays.
3. Jake Fraley was credited with a single on a ground ball that Rockies first baseman Michael Toglia should’ve fielded cleanly to begin the seventh inning, but apparently that’s the type of hot streak he’s on at the plate.
Fraley reached base three times Tuesday. In his last 17 games, he’s batting .396 with 19 RBI.
Stat of the day
Williamson retired 14 straight batters during his start, the most consecutive batters retired in an MLB debut by a Reds pitcher since Johnny Cueto retired 15 batters in a row on April 3, 2008, according to Bally Sports Ohio.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds vs. Rockies game: Brandon Williamson stellar MLB debut in win
