Lowder's strong rookie campaign continues with scoreless outing

CINCINNATI -- With his star rookie heading into his fifth career start, Reds manager David Bell said that he didn’t want to put too much on Rhett Lowder’s plate. Early on, the goal was to let him go out and pitch and let the game teach him.

The early returns for the Reds’ second-ranked prospect continue to be excellent. Lowder twirled a scoreless outing for the third time in his burgeoning career as he led Cincinnati to a 7-1 win on Saturday at Great American Ball Park.

Lowder, MLB’s No. 32 overall prospect, put baserunners on in every inning, with five singles and two walks spread across five frames. But he was able to navigate the traffic by pounding the zone and eliciting weak contact.

“Today was one of the bigger lessons that I've had so far,” Lowder said. “Knowing I have that ability to bear down when it gets tough. Every inning I'm learning something new, learning hitters, learning myself honestly. That's been this whole year. Just getting into pro ball and taking something away from every start.”

The 22-year-old’s first trouble came in the fourth inning, when he faced runners on the corners with one out. A Tyler Stephenson RBI single and a Ty France homer spotted him a three-run lead in the previous frame, but the Pirates were in position to tie it up and change the game.

Lowder missed out of the zone on three straight pitches away to Connor Joe before battling back to get his fourth and final strikeout on his sixth offering of the at-bat. Facing Nick Yorke, he got a swinging strike and a pair of foul balls on high fastballs before dropping a slider on the outside corner, which Yorke softly lined to right for the inning-ending out.

“It was huge as the story of today,” Lowder said. “Just being able to bear down and make those pitches in crunch time. I think that at-bat was probably one of the bigger ones of the day. It kind of gave me a little boost going on, not panicked, getting up 3-0. I just gotta keep making pitches.”

Elly De La Cruz plated three runs on a massive homer to right field -- making him the first shortstop in MLB history to hit 25 homers and steal 65 bases in a season -- but Pittsburgh threatened again by loading the bases in the fifth in its third time through the order. Still, Lowder maintained his composure and escaped with no damage when he coaxed another easy lineout to right.

“You'd like to be able to let a pitcher pitch through any situation like that,” Reds manager David Bell said. “We had a little bit of a lead, a cushion. But really, it was all about Rhett and the confidence in him to be able to get it done. So it was perfect to be able to allow him to pitch through it, and he did his job by making pitches when he needed to.”

Lowder has made a point to lean on his sinker, especially against righty-heavy lineups like the Pirates have. That allows him to keep the ball on the ground and get out of innings quickly -- he only needed 87 pitches to get through five frames.

And Saturday’s start was much like he’s been all year. Only two of the 22 hits he's allowed have gone for extra bases, both doubles. That also makes him the fourth Reds starter in the expansion era (since 1961) to not allow a homer through his first five starts, after Tyler Mahle (2017-18), Ron Villone (1999) and Tom Browning (1984-85).

The end result: Learning as he goes, Lowder has a sterling 1.40 ERA and is the third Red to go at least four innings and allow one run or fewer in four of his first five games, following Browning and Andrew Abbott (2023).