To get Tuesday's 5-3 win in 11 innings that stopped Cincinnati's five-game losing streak, the bullpen provided 5 2/3 innings without an earned run allowed. It was a full team effort that enabled the victory but it was capped by rookie Zach Maxwell earning his first save in the big leagues.
After the Reds took the lead on Stewart's two-run homer in the top of the 11th inning, Maxwell retired all three batters he faced in the bottom half, including Fernando Tatis Jr. and Jackson Merrill to end it.
“We’d have taken a win but it was a nice inning, man. He can do that and it gets exciting," manager Terry Francona said. "Brad [Meador, the Reds' general manager] was saying ‘We need a couple of these young guys to take some steps forward,’ and I get it. If you can get more consistency, the stuff is there.”
Maxwell, 25, debuted for the Reds last season and was recalled from Triple-A Louisville on May 23. He got the ball from the last out as a memento of the first save.
“I’ll put it in a case next to my first strikeout ball," Maxwell said Wednesday. "The first everything you do up here is always special. You get to celebrate the first, you get the ball, some teammate hype.”
Like many in the Reds' bullpen, Maxwell was struggling to throw strikes at times and carried a 16.20 ERA with five walks and four strikeouts into the night over five appearances.
Maxwell followed up on Wednesday with a scoreless seventh inning that included a two-out single to first base and a strikeout before a 5-4 loss. It lowered his overall ERA to 11.57 in seven games. He has triple-digit velocity on his fastball, but has been trying to get more command and control with all of his pitches.
“With mound work, it’s staying consistent while on the mound," Maxwell said. "I’m trying to get into the zone as much as I can with everything. [Tuesday] night was a pretty good indicator that what I’ve been doing is trending in the right direction and you’ve just got to stay on the work.
“You just need to have the confidence that’s like, ‘Hey, I’m going to throw this in the zone.’ It’s not going to have a positive result every time. Even the negative ones, it’s what can you take away from it?”
