Reds rookie Gutierrez earns first career win

ST. LOUIS -- In his second big league start for the Reds, Vladimir Gutierrez overcame some early shakiness and pitched well on Thursday vs. the Cardinals. But Gutierrez also got crucial help from all corners of his team.

In a 4-2 win over St. Louis in the opener of a four-game series at Busch Stadium, the Reds gave Gutierrez huge support from their bullpen, their lineup and on defense to secure his first Major League victory.

“It means a lot, especially, it’s my second start of my career in this league,” Gutierrez said via translator Jorge Merlos.

Gutierrez -- ranked by MLB Pipeline as the Reds' No. 12 prospect -- threw 77 pitches over five innings while allowing two earned runs, three hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

After being given a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, the rookie had a lengthy bottom half while throwing 31 pitches. Two of Gutierrez’s first three batters reached on singles, including Tyler O’Neill’s hit to left field that scored Tommy Edman. Yadier Molina’s two-out single to left field put Cincinnati down, 2-1.

A balk and a walk followed before Gutierrez escaped the first inning.

“That first inning, they got him deep into counts,” Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart said. “After that, we were able to get some quick outs. I think it kind of showed them that he was going to be around the strike zone and they were going to have to kind of just be on the attack. He was able to limit the hard contact and get quick outs.”

The rookie retired 10 batters in a row after settling in. Gutierrez worked primarily from his four-seam fastball, which he threw 39 times and drew 19 swings with eight whiffs or called strikes, according to Statcast.

“Right when we got into the second inning, I felt like I turned more into myself and I felt better with myself as well,” Gutierrez said. “I got into a better routine from the second through the fifth and I made my own adjustments as the game went on.”

By the third inning, Gutierrez was breezing through a five-pitch frame against the heart of the St. Louis lineup.

“[Gutierrez] was unbelievable tonight,” said left fielder Jesse Winker, who hit his 14th home run of the season, a 425-foot two-run drive to right field in the second inning for the lead. “He really, really pitched well, both of his starts. He's pitched very, very well. It's a pleasure to play behind him. Very happy for him.”

Gutierrez was able to get through the fifth inning scoreless despite a pair of walks allowed. That enabled manager David Bell to use the best portion of his bullpen perfectly.

Tejay Antone delivered two scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh. Lucas Sims handled the scoreless eighth and ninth innings for the save.

“For him to go five there, [it] did set it up to give us a shot,” Bell said. “And we had other guys ready to go, but Tejay and Lucas, that’s really good what they did to go four innings to close it out. I mean, two innings scoreless from Tejay, but then another two innings to save the game. It doesn’t happen a whole lot. So both of those guys had a great night.”

Besides the relievers, Barnhart provided two clutch plays in the final two innings. In the top of the eighth against Daniel Ponce de Leon, he fought from a 1-2 count for a nine-pitch at-bat with four foul balls before hitting an RBI double that scored Mike Freeman.

In the ninth inning with runners on first and second base for Sims, José Rondón bunted. Barnhart snatched up the ball in front of the plate and fired to third base to get Matt Carpenter before Eugenio Suárez completed the 2-5-3 double play.

“Anything you can do defensively, for me, it beats anything offensively,” Barnhart said. “It was a fun one to be a part of -- kind of stressful at times. But those are the most fun. I don’t have much hair on my head. It makes me lose what hair I do have on my head, for sure.”

After giving him little support in his big league debut, a 1-0 loss to the Cubs last Friday, the Reds gave Gutierrez something to savor while also helping themselves.

Thursday marked the first of seven games against the two National League Central rivals ahead of them in the standings -- second-place St. Louis and the third-place Brewers.

“You want to come in and win that first one, for sure,” Winker said. “That's always great, it's always great to pick up a win and start the series off right.”