KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Bullpen Blows Two Games, Loses Series

We made it into the month of August playing meaningful Cincinnati Reds baseball. However, the season might finally be slipping away as the Reds have now lost eight of their last nine games. These last two losses at the hands of the Miami Marlins have come in especially excruciating fashion.

On Tuesday night, Jorge Soler hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to give the Marlins a 3-2 advantage. Then, on Wednesday afternoon, Josh Bell hit a three-run shot to tie the game in the eighth inning. Another home run in the ninth took the rubber match for the Marlins. The Reds’ bullpen had been a surprising bright spot for the majority of this season. However, it is starting to unravel down the stretch.

Now, Cincinnati is 60-57 and outside of the playoffs. Milwaukee has a 2.5-game lead in the National League Central. In the Wild Card standings, the Marlins are a half-game up and the Chicago Cubs might be a full game up by the time we go to bed on Wednesday. That is exactly what the season slipping away looks like.

The Reds will take Thursday off which might be exactly what the doctor ordered. When they return to play on Friday it will be out in Pittsburgh against the Pirates. Andrew Abbott will take the ball for a 7:05 p.m. EST first pitch to try and stop the bleeding. Brandon Williamson and Luke Weaver will also start in the weekend series.

Reds Snap Losing Streak at Six Games

The Cincinnati Reds have been nothing if not resilient this season. Their first six-game losing streak of the season was answered with a five-game winning streak. Recently, the Reds started the second half of the schedule with five consecutive losses. However, they promptly answered with six wins in a row. On Monday night in Cincinnati, another losing streak was snapped. Jorge Soler hit a solo home run for the Miami Marlins in the first, but it was all Reds from that point on.

TJ Friedl tied the game with a RBI triple in the third inning. Then, Christian Encarnacion-Strand and Joey Votto belted back-to-back home runs in the fourth to make it a 4-1 game. Spencer Steer would go on to add an insurance run via a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Another home run by the Marlins, this time off the bat of Jazz Chisholm Jr. in a pinch-hit situation, set the eventual final score of 5-2.

On the mound for Cincinnati, Brandon Williamson turned in a fabulous start. The 25-year-old left-hander went six and two-third innings allowing just one run on three hits while striking out a career-high nine batters. Williamson also did not allow a walk in the game. His record is now 4-2 on the year while his earned run average improved to 4.54. When Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo return to the starting pitching rotation, Williamson will make a very competent fifth starter.

Jorge Soler Home Run Evens the Series for the Marlins

Admittedly, expectations aren’t high for the Cincinnati Reds when Luke Weaver takes the mound. However, he pitched out of some trouble and turned in a serviceable start on Tuesday evening. Weaver turned the ball over to the bullpen after four and one-third innings allowing just one run on five hits while striking out six batters. Then, newly acquired Sam Moll pitched one and one-third behind him to get the Reds within 10 outs of a victory. Buck Farmer would record three outs of his own before hitting a Marlins batter with two outs and nobody on in the top of the seventh.

After the hit by pitch, Cincinnati manager David Bell made the call to the bullpen and brought in Lucas Sims. Unfortunately, on the very first pitch, Jorge Soler unloaded a two-run home run to centerfield that gave the Marlins a 3-2 advantage. That lead would hold as they evened up the series at one game a piece.

For the Reds, TJ Friedl knotted the game up and 1-1 with a two-out RBI double in the bottom of the second inning. Stuart Fairchild then turned in the most exciting play of the day in the bottom of the fifth to give the Reds the lead for the time being. He got one to drop along the right field line as the Marlins’ player overran the ball, allowing Fairchild to come all the way around the bases and score on the little league version of a home run. The play was officially scored a triple with Fairchild scoring on a throwing error from the Miami second baseman. That excitement would go to waste though after Soler’s seventh-inning two-run blast that ultimately won the game for the Marlins, setting up Wednesday afternoon’s rubber match.

Potentially Season-Crushing Loss for the Reds

There are losses, bad losses, and soul-crushing losses. The Cincinnati Reds suffered a soul-crushing loss on Wednesday afternoon. As the losses pile up, the playoff picture starts to look a little bleaker. It is August 9th and the team is still very much in the picture, but it is absolutely trending in the wrong direction. The bleeding will have to stop and it will have to stop in a hurry.

Miami got on the board first with a Josh Bell home run in the top of the fourth inning. However, for the majority of the game, it looked like the Reds would win the rubber match. Spencer Steer answered with a solo shot to tie the game in the bottom half of the fourth. Then, Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit a two-run shot making it 3-1. In the sixth, CES added a RBI single up the middle to increase the Reds lead to 4-1. That lead would hold through the rest of Graham Ashcraft’s start, but for the second straight night, the bullpen blew the game.

Speaking of Ashcraft, he deserves his flowers before we get to the ugly part of this game. Over his last eight starts, Ashcraft has allowed 11 earned runs in 51 innings which is good for a sparkling 1.94 ERA. He turned in seven innings of three-hit, one-run baseball on Wednesday. It was absolutely good enough to win, but it didn’t work out that way.

In the top of the eighth, Ian Gibaut allowed a single but also recorded a pair of outs before handing the ball off to Sam Moll. The lefty allowed a single and then a first-pitch home run to Josh Bell that tied the game at 4-4. Then, in the top of the ninth, Alexis Diaz gave up what would be the game-winning home run to Bryan De La Cruz. Miami held on to win the rubber match, and the series, 5-4.