Bauer goes full seven, Reds sweep DH

One thing the Reds have confidence in is their starting pitching. It was proven during the second game of a scheduled doubleheader on Sunday afternoon. Right-hander Trevor Bauer was dazzling for seven innings and helped Cincinnati blank the Tigers, 4-0, at Comerica Park. The Reds improved their record to 4-5 to start the season.

In the first game, right-hander Anthony DeSclafani made his 2020 debut and dominated the Tigers in a 4-3 victory. The two games were seven-inning affairs after Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association jointly announced recently that both games of doubleheaders would be seven innings in length for the duration of the 2020 season.

• Box score

Bauer was dealing in the second game. He was pitching on six days of rest, but Detroit had a tough time figuring him out. He pitched seven shutout innings, allowed just two hits and struck out seven batters. Bauer retired the last 13 hitters he faced after walking Miguel Cabrera in the third inning. Bauer was dominating with his fastball and breaking ball.

Bauer became the first Reds pitcher with a complete-game shutout of seven innings or fewer since Mike LaCoss did it in a 6-0 win vs. the Braves on April 11, 1980, at Riverfront Stadium.

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“You talk about determined and motivated, Bauer was laser focused. He had every intention to finish that game,” Reds manager David Bell said. “He was efficient. He threw well over 100 pitches. We believe in Trevor’s ability to prepare himself. He came into the season at full speed. It helped we were able to trust him right there and give him that opportunity, which he deserves.”

Bauer wasn’t sure if he was going to pitch on Sunday. He was ready to throw the previous day, but the game was called because of rain just as he was ready to go on the hill. It wasn’t until Sunday, about an hour before the first game, when he walked into the clubhouse and said he was ready to pitch.

Bauer had to lobby to stay in the game after the fourth inning. From the first pitch, he was determined to go the distance. In his mind, nobody was taking him out of the game.

“I never really locked it in,” Bauer said. “I was fighting myself the entire time -- command wise. I was exhausted the entire game. … I always have my mind. I always have my competitive spirit. My stuff was really good. My fastball velocity was down. I’m pleased with it. We needed some wins. … We came out with a lot of energy, a lot of fight, a lot of good at-bats and a lot of good defensive plays.”

The only time the Tigers had a chance to score occurred in the third inning. They had runners on first and second with two outs, but Jonathan Schoop popped up to second baseman Christian Colón to end the threat.

"If you've been in this Central division, you know this guy,” Tigers manager Ron Gardenhire said. “We've seen an awful lot of him, and he can pitch, and he can change speeds. He's a tough guy out there on the mound and he was good today. He spun it when he had to. His fastball was good. The guy threw 100-plus pitches in seven innings and I think he would've come back for the eighth and ninth. I just think he believed that was his ballgame, and you could see it out there on the mound."

The Reds gave Bauer a 2-0 lead early in the game off Tigers left-hander Daniel Norris. In the first inning, Eugenio Suárez scored on a single by Matt Davidson. An inning later, Colón scored on a single from Aristides Aquino.

The Reds added on in the top of the seventh inning when Colón knocked in two runs with a single off right-hander Bryan Garcia.

• Reds second baseman Mike Moustakas left Game 1 of the doubleheader with a right forearm contusion after being hit by a pitch in the sixth inning by left-hander Tyler Alexander and is listed as day-to-day. The pitch hit the muscle area of the forearm, and Moustakas couldn't play the second game of the doubleheader.