ST. LOUIS — It could easily be overshadowed and lost in the spectacle and din of what Elly De La Cruz and some of the other young Cincinnati Reds hitters are up to these days.
But if this team goes anywhere other than home after the season, it will be because of guys like southpaw Andrew Abbott, who made his debut the day before De La Cruz and has made his own noise in two starts since.
And even marked the history of the franchise.
“Two good starts. What a great way to start your major league career,” Reds manager David Bell said after Abbott threw two deep strikeouts in the sixth inning without allowing a run to launch the Reds to an 8-win. -4 over the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday.
“And these are important games for us.”
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Abbott (2-0) made his debut Monday going six games without a score in a win over the Dodgers. His 11 2/3 scoreless streak is the longest by a Reds pitcher to start a career since Amir Garrett started with 12 in 2017.
And this: Abbott is the Reds’ first pitcher since the mound was moved to its current distance in 1893 to begin his major league career with consecutive scoreless starts of at least five innings.
“It’s pretty good,” he said when told after the game about the story he had written. “A lot of good players have come through here, and there will also be a lot of good players afterwards. It means a lot to hear that.
Abbott, who walked three and retired four, survived a long first inning, eventually working through a goal-laden traffic jam before settling in and retiring 14 of the last 19 he faced, with just one rider reaching second place the rest of his outing.
“He’s been really impressive,” said receiver Luke Maile, who sees more consistency as the next step for Abbott.
“Just more precision,” Maile said. “His stuff is going to be pretty good where it’s going to be a factor, but if he can really refine and land the breaking ball down there and differentiate that between the breaking ball that we want to bounce, and so on and so on sequel is really good.
Said Abbott: “I need to be in the zone a bit more, stop snacking, like my dad said, and we’ll be good to go.
“We will figure things out and switch.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: How Andrew Abbott’s St. Louis win made Cincinnati Reds history