Same Ol’ Stuff From Reds

By Hal McCoy

Something had to give.

The Cincinnati Reds and Arizona Diamondbacks both were 4-11 over their previous 15 games and neither had won a series over their previous four tries.

And both were 9 1/2 games behind the first-place teams in their divisions.

When it comes to giving, nobody gives more than the Reds’ bullpen.

They gave it up again Sunday afternoon in Great American Ball Park, a 5-3 loss to the Diamondbacks, the Reds’ fifth straight series loss after dropping two of three to the D’backs.

Reds’ starter Andrew Abbott turned over a 2-1 lead to the bullpen after five innings, but Tejay Antone gave up a two-run homer to Geraldo Perdomo in the sixth to put the Reds down, 3-2.

Cincinnati’s Noelvi Marte tied it in the bottom of the sixth with his third homer in three games, a 448-footer, the longest home run by a Reds player this season.

But Zach Maxwell gave up a 352-foot front row home run to Gabriel Moreno in the eighth. Moreno’s home run was 96 feet shorter than Marte’s blast, but it was bigger in importance.

It gave the D’backs a 4-3 lead after eight innings and Arizona was 30-0 this season when leading after eight innings. Now it’s 31-0.

While Cincinnati’s bullpen absorbs all the negative publicity, the offense shares equal blame. Over the last 12 games, the Reds have scored 36 runs — three a game. It scored five once, but only two six times.

“Saying our hitters are inconsistent is very fair,” said Reds manager Tito Francona. “Sometimes runs are harder for us to come by than we want it to be.”

Mark that one down is mammoth understatement column and add this one.

“It’s not a lack of effort,” he added. “It’s just a little bit challenging at times.”

JJ Bleday ripped a one-out home run in the first inning off Arizona starter Zach Gallen.

Once upon a time, Gallen was a standout top of the rotation starter, but he entered this one 3-5 with a 5.45 earned run average.

In his previous three starts over 15 1/3 innngs he gave up 13 runs and 22 hits.

Nate Lowe singled with two outs in the third and Eugenio Suarez doubled him home to give the Reds a 2-1 lead.

Abbott held the D’backs to one run and four hits over five innings, but needed 95 pitches to get that far, necessitating bullpen help that he didn’t get.

His only blemish was a third-inning leadoff home run to No. 9 hitter Tommy Troy.

“I thought Abbott did a good job of climbing back into counts (he fell behind hitters time and time again),” said Francona. “He was competing and had a real good changeup. But it was just a five-inning start because there were so many pitches (95).”

With Antone on the mound in the sixth, Reds first baseman Nathaniel Lowe kicked a ground ball hit by Ilandro Vargas for an error and Perdomo dropped one 400 feet into the right field sun deck for a 3-2 Arizona lead.

Marte’s long distance jolt tied it, 3-3, in the sixth and Gallen was finished after the inning.

The D’backs’ bullpen then did what the Reds’ bullpen was not able to do. Juan Morillo, Kevin Ginkel and Paul Sewald stifled the Reds on no runs and two hits over the last three innings.

And the two hits came back-to-back in eighth inning against Ginkel. With one out, Sal Stewart ended a 0 for 10 skid with a single and Lowe singled.

Both runners advance on a wild pitch, putting the potental tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second.

Eugenio Suarez struck out. Noelvi Marte struck out.

Then came a one hour and 12-minute rain delay and when it stopped they could have left the tarp on the field and sent everybody home.

When play resumed, the D’backs added an insurance run off Chris Paddock with perfect fundamental baseball.

Paddock walked LuJames Groover to open the ninth. With two strikes on him, pinch-hitter Jorge Barrosa laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to dispath Groover to second.

Ketel Marte lobbed a run-scoring single over shortstop Matt McLain’s head to make it 5-3.

McLain walked on four pitches to open the bottom of the ninth, but never budged. Pinch-hitter Will Benson struck out, Edwin Arroyo popped out and Blake Dunn completed an 0-for-5 day by lining out to left.

The Reds offense contributed to its ineffectiveness by hitting into three double plays.

Bleday was hit by a pigtch to open third, but Stewart hit into a 5-4-3 double play started by third baseman Nolan Arenado, the man with the golden glove.

Lowe walked to open the sixth, but Suarez hit into a 6-4-3 double play.

Arroyo reached on an error with one out in the seventh, but Dunn bounced into a 4-6-3 double play.

Of Reds pitchers giving up three homers to the light-hitting D’backs, Francona said, “A little bit of having to pitch behind in the count, not throwing enough strikes. . .we just got behind a lot of hitters.”

It was that kind of day for the Reds. . .again.