Cincinnati Reds outfielder Ryan Vilade gave up on a fly ball despite starter Nick Martinez making a bid for a no-hitter during Friday night's MLB game against San Diego.
Vilade came into the game in the top of the eighth inning, replacing Gavin Lux in left field. We would presume that Vilade was brought into the game because Reds manager Terry Francona deems him to be a better fielder than Lux. As it happens, we witnessed Lux lose a fly ball in the sun earlier this year. However, that turned out not to be the case.
Martinez still had a no-hitter in progress into the ninth inning with a comfortable 8-0 lead, although he had thrown over 100 pitches. After walking Padres leadoff batter Trenton Brooks, Elias Diaz came into the game as a pinch hitter and hit a fly ball to deep left field. Vilade appeared to have a chance to catch it, but stopped at the warning track as if setting up to play it off the wall. As luck would have it, the fly ball did not come down for another two seconds and dropped in front of the wall, which seemed to indicate that Vilade would have had a decent chance to catch it if he went all out for it.
Elias Díaz breaks up Nick Martinez's no-hit bid in the 9th inning. pic.twitter.com/NZxH6qFxaX
— MLB (@MLB) June 28, 2025
With Vilade coming into the game as a late defensive replacement, we would have expected a better effort for a fly ball, especially with a no-hitter hanging in the balance. We understand there is no guarantee that he would have caught it, but you at least have to try.
Martinez was taken out of the game after that, but he had a respectable performance with eight innings pitched and six strikeouts. Brooks did come around to score in the ninth, so Martinez was charged with the earned run, but he earned the win as Taylor Rogers closed out the 8-1 victory.
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Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports).
