Zach Buchanan

zbuchanan@enquirer.com

Brandon Finnegan has a term for it, and he sees it in his left-handed contemporary. When he watches Amir Garrett pitch, Finnegan sees “that ‘f--k you mindset.”

Garrett would quibble with the wording, but he doesn’t disagree. He’d rather call it the Mamba Mentality, a nod to basketball great Kobe Bryant.

“It’s the zone that you’re in,” Garrett said. “I’m going to go after this guy. No matter what he does, I’m better than him still.”

The Cincinnati Reds didn’t win Wednesday, but Garrett’s self-confidence wasn’t misplaced. Despite a 2-0 loss at Great American Ball Park, Garrett probably was better than the vaunted Baltimore Orioles lineup sent up to face him.

Amir Garrett shines again, but Cincinnati Reds fall to Baltimore Orioles

The 24-year-old went seven innings for the first time, and has gone at least six in all three starts of his major-league career. He worked quick and had breezy innings. He struck out 12, tying the club record for a rookie left-hander.

He gave no quarter. Not to perennial MVP candidate Manny Machado. Nor to former home run kings Mark Trumbo and Chris Davis, the latter of whom Garrett struck out in three consecutive plate appearances. He owns a 1.83 ERA.

“That’s what you want in a pitcher,” Finnegan said. “Somebody that goes out and just says ‘f--k it’ and gives it all he’s got. I think Amir’s definitely one of those guys.”

Not a moment in Garrett’s young big-league career has the 6-foot-6 lefty looked cowed. In his big-league debut, he turned in six scoreless innings against the St. Louis Cardinals. His next time out, he gave up two runs in 6 ⅔ against the Pittsburgh Pirates, both runs scoring in the seventh. The Reds won both games.

Wednesday was Garrett’s first game in front of the home crowd, but the Cincinnati offense was a no-show. Mercurial Orioles right-hander Ubaldo Jimenez held the Reds to two hits over 7 ⅔ innings, Cincinnati wasting a bases-loaded opportunity in the second when Garrett’s spot in the order came up with two outs.

Garrett wriggled out of a few jams of his own, capping what could have been a pair of big Baltimore rallies at one run. In the second, he struck out two with runners on the corners to keep the deficit at 1-0. In the fifth, he loaded the bases with one out but allowed only a run-scoring sacrifice fly.

Before, during and after, he racked up the punch-outs. His curveball was particularly deadly, generating a swing and miss 40 percent of the time. Manager Bryan Price credited Garrett’s odd and deceptive delivery.

“The ball kind of jumps out of that jersey of his,” Price said. “I think he’s hard to see. He’s 89 to 93 today, but the fastball played like it was an overpowering fastball.”

In the stands Wednesday – trying to stay out of his son’s sight – was Garrett’s father, Darrow. The elder Garrett had missed his son’s first two big-league starts due to heart complications that required the installation of a stent. The last two weeks, doctors hadn’t cleared him to fly.

For his wait, Darrow Garrett got to see perhaps his son’s most impressive game yet. The way the left-hander has pitched so far, the bar may soon be permanently raised. All rookie pitchers experience peaks and valleys. Garrett seems to be trending only upward.

“I know that over the course of his season and his career, he will have the highs and lows that all others experience,” Price said. “But fear is not a part of his game. Because of that, I see fewer dips.”

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