The defining image in Trevor Bauer’s excellent season was in the sixth inning on Wednesday, pitching out of a jam with runners on the corners and no outs by striking out the next three hitters. Bauer, making the start on short rest, let out a roar from the mound when Milwaukee’s Daniel Vogelbach flailed at an 83-mph curveball in the dirt.
Bauer called it a vintage Trevor Bauer inning, the version that dominated at UCLA. Whenever he ran into trouble in college, he said, he threw nothing but curveballs to rack up strikeouts.
The Cincinnati Reds are one of four franchises that has never had a Cy Young winner, along with Miami, Colorado and Texas.