By Hal McCoy
No matter what manipulations Cincinnati Reds manager Tito Francona tries with his bullpen, it is as if the baseball gods say, “That ain’t gonna work, either.”
This time Francona put starting pitcher Chris Paddack in the bullpen a few days ago and waited for a time to utilize him.
That time came Sunday afternoon in Busch Stadium and as has happened time and time again, it didn’t work.
When the fumes cleared, the Reds were 5-3 losers as the St. Louis Cardinals completed a three-game sweep that was all about the bullpens.
In the three games, the Reds bullpen gave up 13 runs in 11 1/3 innings. The Cardinals bullpen gave up one run in 12 2/3 innings.
It was the fast-sinking Reds fourth straight loss and eighth loss in 10 games, dropping them two games under .500 (31-33)
They are firmly ensconced in last place in the National League Central, 9 1/2 games behind the division-leading and fast-disappearing Milwuakee Brewers.
Matt McLain and Tyler Stephenson hit back-to-back home runs in the third inning to give the Reds a 2-0 lead.
A rusty Rhett Lower, making his first start in more than a month, pitched a wobbly three innings — a scoreless three innings despsite five walks and a hit batter.
That’s when Francona called upon Paddack to start the fifth and his first pitch was cold-cocked into left field for a double by Alec Burleson.
Jordan Walker picked on the first pitch and doubled Burleson home. With one out, light-hitting Bryan Torres torqued a Paddack pitch over the right field fence, a two-run rip to give St. Louis a 3-2 lead.
But McLain struck again in seventh, another home run, his seond of the day and third in two days, tying it 3-3.
Then came the fateful eighth and deja vu. The Cardinals won Saturday’s game, 6-5, with two runs in the eighth off Sam Moll.
Moll started the eighth Sunday and it was a mess for the entire team.
Jose Fermin, the No. 8 hitter drilled Moll’s first pitch for a single. Pinch-hitter Nelson Velazquez also singled, putting runners on second and first with no outs.
Victor Scott II, a .191 hitter, was a dead cinch to bunt. And he did. And Moll fielded it with an easy throw to third for a forceout. And Moll threw the ball into left field, a run-scoring error that broke the tie.
Moll then issued a walk to re-fill the bases.
Francona, displaying his masochistic side, brought in oft-beaten up Tony Santillan with the bases loaded and nobody out.
Santillan induced an easy double play ball toward McLain at shortstop. He booted it for a run-scoring error and it was 5-3 and the game was gone.
Santillan did get out of it after that with two force outs at home and a fly ball.
But once again it was the same old story with a plot twist as in, how many ways can a bullpen find ways to blow games.
After the Lost Weekend in St. Louis, Francona held a brief post-game clubhouse meeting.
“We talked to the guys after the game, just for a minute,” Francona told reporters after the game. “It’s just been the same. When it is the hardest to believe, you have to.
“When there is doubt, you have to believe in each other and pick each other up. I told them, ‘Run the bases with your pants on fire and don’t leave anything on the field’.
“That’s not the best way, that’s the ony way,” he added. “We’re gonna get where we want to go. It’s hard for us right now. And there are a lot of things that aren’t going right. But we can make it better. . .and we will.”
The game turned on Moll’s errant throw that tied the game.
“Ultra-aggressive, which we needed to be, and he knew it,” said Francona about the play. “He just didn’t throw it where he needed to. You have to play your infield in and play your infielders into unique spots and sometimes things happen.”
And not for the good.
Said Moll about his misplay, “I was just trying to jump off the mound with the force over there (at third base) and it has got to be easier than that, but I just didn’t make a good throw.”
Moll made one mistake Saturday, a hanging breaking ball that Lars Nootbaar whacked for a two-run homer that was the game-decider.
Said Moll (1-5), the loser in the last two defeats,“Today was the exaqt opposite for me because I just wasn’t executing pitches,” he said. “I didn’t execute many at all (two hits and a walk). I really didn’t have a good feel for anything, kinda the opposite of yesterday where it was just one pitch.”
But the results were the same.
Lowder’s three innings were eventful. A hit batter, a single and a walk filled the bases in the first, but he got away with no damage through 30 pitches.
Two more walks in the second, but no runs, and two walks in the third but he struck out the side.
“Early on he was 2-and-0 on everybody,” said Francona. “To his credit, man., he fought back, kept them from scoring. We hoped to get a little more on his pitch count (70 pitches), but it’s his first time back and when you throw that many pitches, that’s hard than having lower-pitch innings.”
Francona had one final comment about Santillan retiring the side with the bases loaded and no outs: “I thought Tony Santillan pitched his ass off.”