Author: Hal McCoy

By Hal McCoy

CINCINNATI — Eugenio Suarez’s English is getting better and better and it was near-perfect early Tuesday afternoon in the Cincinnati Reds clubhouse as he walked around singing, over and over, the first stanza of, “Take Me Out to the Ball Game.”

Because it was a scheduled day off for Suarez, he should have been singing in the dugout during the game, “Put Me Into the Ball Game.”

Manager Bryan Price waited until the seventh inning and did just that — put him into the ball game.

With the Reds down three run to the Cleveland Indians and with two runners on base, Price dispatched Suarez to the batter’s box as a pinch-hitter.

On a 3-and-2 pitch, Suarez drove one into the right center field seats, a three-run home run, his first career pinch-hit home run, and it tied the game, 7-7.

NOW IF THE REDS WENT on to win it from there it would make a good story for Reds fans, right.

Unfortunately for them, and fortunately for the many Indians fans occupying seats in the Great American Ball Park, the Tribe scored the winning run ingloriously — a two-out wild pitch by Drew Storen in the eighth inning that led to an 8-7 Cleveland victory.

Perhaps it wa poetic justice that the Indians won it because they attacked the outfield seats for four home runs off Reds starter Amir Garrett, two by former Reds third baseman Edwin Encarnacion.

AND ENCARNACION ALMOST started the day the same way as Suarez, sitting in the dugout lounging through a day off.

But he talked manager Terry Francona out of it.

“Glad I didn’t give it to him,” said Francona. “He kinda really talked me into it. On one hand, you are really glad to hear it when a guy wants to play that bad. I appreciate that. He is getting more and more dangerous.”

After hitting 42 and 39 home runs the last two seasons for Toronto, Encarnacion’s two homer Tuesday gives him nine this year.

ABOUT NOT TAKING A day off, speaking through a translator, Encarnacion said, “When I feel this way I want to play. I feel good on the field and that’s where I am going to improve. I can’t improve when I’m sitting on the bench.”

Asked if he liked hitting in Great American Ball Park, where he hit 26 home runs for the Reds in 2008, he broke into a broad smile and said, “Yes, of course.”

FRANCONA, THOUGH, ISN’T certain he could survive managing in GABP and he doesn’t like seeing the Reds in the batter’s box.

“They have a really good offensive club,” he said. “If you make a mistake, as we found out, they can put up some numbers in a hurry. There was traffic all night with hits, walks, hit batsmen. It seemed like they had two guys on every inning.

“They had the one big inning (Suarez’s home run) and fortunately we scratched one across.”

THAT CAME IN THE TOP of the eighth without benefit of a hit. Drew Storen issued a walk and Encarnacion reached on third baseman Scooter Gennett’s error. The Indians bunted into a fielder’s choice at third base, but Encarnacion took third on a deep fly to right and scored the winning run when Storen bounced a pitch in the dirt.

For Amir Garrett, it was a second straight clunker since his recall from a 10-day exile in Louisville, where he could save pitches and save the team service days.

After giving up six runs, five hits and four walks in Chicago against the Cubs last Thursday, he was raked by the Tribe for seven runs, seven hits (four home runs) and a walk in five innings.

THE REDS GAVE GARRETT a 3-1 lead in the first two innings before Cleveland starter Carlos Carrasco settled in.

Francisco Lindor homered in the first inning for the Tribe’s only run until they spliced together four hits, two of them home runs, for five runs in the third inning.

Encarnacion’s first home run was a two-run rip and Yan Gomes finished the inning with another home run and a 6-3 Cleveland lead. Encarnacion homered again in the fifth to make it 7-3.

THE REDS had Tribe relief icon Andrew Miller staggering in the eighth. Jose Peraza led the inning with a single and stole second. With two outs, Miller was 3-and-2 on Zack Cozart and he lined a single to right field.

Third base coach Billy Hatcher, knowing Peraza owns flying feet, waved him homeward with the potential tying run. But right fielder Daniel Robertson threw strongly and accurately to catcher Yan Gomes, who made a plush sweeping tag and Peraza was out, with the next scheduled hitter, Joey Votto standing near the plate.

“That was a heck of a throw,” said Francona. “He got a good runner on second and we don’t need to get that game tied again. . .on the road. That was a hard game to win.”

Votto led the ninth with a full-count walk against Tribe closer Cody Allen. Adam Duvall went to 3-and-0, but struck out on the next three pitches.

Pinch-hitter Tucker Barnhart singled to center, putting the potential tying run on second and the winning run on first with one out. But Devin Mesoraco popped to second and Scooter Gennett struck out to end it.

Afterwards, asked how he liked the ball park, Francona spat out a few humorous expletives and said, “Oh, man. Suarez’s ball? I know he hit it pretty good, but damn, a home run?”

Francona shook his head and said, “One of our coaches, Mickey Callaway, made the point by saying, ‘How’d you like to go through this every day. I mean, every day.’ You are holding your breath. And it hasn’t even got hot yet.”

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — As Cleveland Indians manager Terry Francona sat in his visitor’s clubhouse office before Monday night’s game, entertaining the media, he leaned back in his chair and said, “I don’t imagine you see too many 2-1 games in this ballpark.”

No, Terry, you certainly don’t, not in Great American Small Park or Great American International Airport, where meek fly balls become wall-scraping home runs.

Well, Francona nearly saw a 2-1 game Monday night against the Cincinnati Reds — that was the score heading into the bottom of the seventh with the Indians trailing the Reds.

THE REDS, THOUGH, MADE Francona’s comment self-fulfilling when they manufactured three runs in the seventh inning with a hit-and-run and a safety squeeze play en route to a 5-1 victory.
Before that, though, it was indeed a rare pitcher’s duel between Cincinnati’s Scott Feldman and Cleveland’s Josh Tomlin, a pair of pitchers without glossy portfolio’s before the game.

Feldman, 2-and-4 with a 4.29 earned run average when the game began, struck out the first five Indians he faced and six of the first seven.

Asked what he was thinking when he struck out six of seven, he grinned and said, “Why can’t I do this every time? My breaking ball was pretty good and I was getting it where I wanted it to go.”

He pitched six innings and gave up one run, four hits, walked two, struck out nine and picked up three contusions. The Indians hit him three times with batted balls and he turned all three into outs and said, “I made a couple of plays with my foot and my wrist.”

TOMLIN TOOK THE MOUND with a 2-and-5 record and a 6.86 earned run average and pitched 6 1/3 innings, giving up five runs (four earned), nine hits, no walks and he struck out four. But before the seventh he had muzzled the Reds on two runs — a first-inning run on Adam Duvall’s two-out single and a second-inning run on Scott Schebler’s 13th home run.

After tripping along at 0 for 13, Schebler has six hits in his last 13 at bats that includes three home runs, one in each of the last three games.

The Reds led, 2-0, when Jason Kipnis led the sixth with a home run. Then Francisco Lindor doubled and Michael Brantley walked on four pitches.

SO IT WAS 2-1 AND FELDMAN faced runners on second and first with no outs. But he coaxed a double play ground ball out of Carlos Santana and former Reds infielder Edwin Encarnacion took a called third strike, the third time Feldman struck him out.

With two on and nobody out and the Reds precariously leading by one run, pitching coach Mack Jenkins came to the mound and Feldman said Jenkins, “Told me to get a double play and it worked out. I listened to him. Santana is a good hitter and I went with a first-pitch change-up, a pitch I don’t throw often. I thought I might fool him on it and luckily he rolled it over.”

And before he struck out Encarnacion for the third time, Encarnacion hit a 425-foot foul ball, a ball that hooked barely hooked to the left of the foul pole. A home run would have put Cleveland up 4-2. Instead it stayed 2-1 Reds.

“I nearly had a heart attack when he hit that ball,” said Feldman. “I would have hated to see the lead surrendered right there. I probably went in there (inside) one too many times and didn’t get it in far enough. Luckily, it hooked foul.”

Then he struck him out for the third time.

The Reds put it away in the seventh when Jose Peraza singled with one out and Tucker Barnhart singled on a hit-and-run, smallball that started a three-run rally..

Arismendy Alcantara, batting for Feldman, pushed a safety squeeze bunt up the first base line and Cleveland pitcher Tomlin threw it into right field and a run scored. Alcantara was credited with a hit and an RBI.

With two outs, Zack Cozart singled to center field to score Barnhart and Alcantara to make it 5-1 – a smallball rally that produced three runs.

ABOUT THE HIT-AND-RUN with Peraza running and Barnhart batting, manager Bryan Price said, “You can’t steal off Tomlin. He is too quick to the plate, varies his times to the plate, throws over to first a lot. Nobody steals against him.

“So our option was to get Tucker the (hit-and-run) sign and put the ball in play,” Price added. “And the safety squeeze? Alcantara is such a good bunter and he was able to put down the perfect safety squeeze. Having a fast runner at third like Peraza made it not a terribly challenging decision to go that way.”

After Feldman left, the reliable bullpen did its thing — Wandy Peralta, Michael Lorenzen and Raisel Iglesias combined to each pitch a scoreless inning to close it out.

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — The media stepped softly, sort of beating around the bush, or is it beating around the mound, while asking about Bronson Arroyo and his immediate future with the Cincinnati Reds.

The 40-year-old Arroyo commands that kind of respect and talking about his demise is not a pleasant approach.

Arroyo pitched 5 1/3 innings Sunday afternoon against the Colorado Rockies and gave up six runs and nine hits – four of the hits left the premises.

All four home runs were bases empty bolts, but they were enough for the Rockies to pin a 6-4 defeat on the Reds.

One of the four home runs even came off the bat of the opposing pitcher, 25-year-old rookie Kyle Freeland.

Carlos Gonzalez homered, D.J. LeMahieu homered, Pat Valaika (brother to former Reds infielder Chris Valaika homered) and Freeland homered, his first career home run.

After Valaika’s home run, Arroyo walked pitcher Freeland, his third straight time on base, and Arroyo’s day was done.

His day probably would have been done in the bottom of the fifth when it was his turn to bat with one out and the Reds trailing, 4-1.

But with fresh and viable bullpen arms in short supply, manager Bryan Price permitted him to bat and strike out. And he didn’t make it past one out in the sixth.

SO ONCE AGAIN A REDS starting pitcher couldn’t hang around more than half of a game, putting another heavy burden on the bullpen. Arroyo gave up six runs and nine hits, four home runs, in his 5 1/3 89-pitch outing.

In 47 innings this season, Arroyo has watched 15 home runs clear the walls and fences while he is on the mound.

The elephant in the clubhouse, of course, is whether the Reds can continue to send Arroyo to the mound every fifth day. And Price quickly jumped to Arroyo’s defense.

“I don’t know how to even start to answer that,” said Price. “He is a veteran pitcher, a quality human being and a part of the culture here in the clubhouse. Talking about anything other than him making his next start would be wrong.”

Asked about Arroyo’s feelings, Price added, “He is extremely honest with us and with himself. He has never been known to mislead anybody. My concerns are inning-to-inning with his health issues. This game is a challenging game and it is unforgiving. It doesn’t respect the best of people, the best of pitchers, the best of players. I have a lot of optimism with him because he knows how to pitch and he has been a winner.

“I’m sure it is hard for him when we need a big game, a well-pitched game, that he was not the guy who was able to do it today. I’m sure that weighs on him,” Price added. “He is that kind of person.”

ARROYO, THOUGH, BELIEVES he is getting stronger and can still compete and he knows what’s ahead. With three starters on the disabled list, the Reds have few options and one of them is not to immediately remove Arroyo from the rotation.

“You can’t continue to give up a run an inning and expect a big league club to continue to run you out there,” said Arroyo. “In the position we’re in, we have a lot of guys hurt who will be coming back in a month or so. That is my window of opportunity to see if I can solidify myself as somebody who can continue to be good enough to be a big league starter. That’s when I’m going to find out if I’m still good enough.”

Although he still feels capable and comfortable Arroyo says, “There is an ebb and a flow to this game. I’ve been in this position a lot of times, even when I was young, when I was 100 percent healthy and had great stuff. It is just the way the game is. I reeled off four or five in a row that I felt confident in and I’m feeling better all the time.

“I just have to find ways to get deeper in the ballgames,” he said. “In the past I found ways to beat people in multiple ways. Now I have less to beat people with different options. Sometimes I have to show people the tricks in my bag too early.”

ANOTHER SHORT START BY a starter was the last scenario Price wanted to see.

“I can’t keep throwing out the early life lines for our starters,” he said. “You hate it for the fans and for the players on the field and for the starter to leave them out there. When they’re struggling and you just ask them to pitch through it, the challenge is when is enough enough.

“We do have to keep a mind’s eye on the bullpen because we lead the National League, and maybe all of baseball, in innings pitched by the bullpen,” Price added. “That isn’t going to work for the full season. If we stay on this pace, by the time the other guys (Homer Bailey, Anthony DeSclafani, Brandon Finnegan) come off the DL and are ready to pitch, the bullpen will be tired, really tired

“This puts me in the position where I have to stick longer with starters even if there are some early struggles and some big innings early in the game. It is our only way to work through this without always being in the situation where we are short and overworked in the bullpen.”

The beleaguered bullpen shut it down, 1 2/3 scoreless innings by Robert Stephenson and two scoreless innings by Blake Wood.

The Reds, though, could not come back from five runs down this time, as they did Saturday when they were 8-3 behind and won, 12-8.

THE REDS SCORED FIRST IN the first — without a hit. Billy Hamilton reached on a rare error by third baseman Nolan Arenado — a ball that bounced off his face and cutting the skin.

Hamilton then stole second and third. Jose Peraza walked on a full count and stole second. It didn’t rattle Freeland, though. Hamilton scored on Joey Votto’s grounder to shortstop and Peraza was picked off second base when he broke too soon trying to steal third.

Freeland settled in from there, giving up no runs and two hits after the first inning through the fifth.

The Reds mounted another late-game charge in the sixth when Peraza tripled off the top of the left field wall and Votto cleared the left field wall, cutting Colorado’s lead to 6-3. It was Votto’s 233rd career home run, tying him with close friend Jay Bruce for seventh on the Reds’ all-time chart.

Scott Schebler, unwilling to give up the club lead to Votto, pulled his 12th home run of the season, tying Votto. That drew the Reds to within 6-4 and spelled the end of the afternoon for Freeland.

DEVIN MESORACO LED THE seventh with a double, but didn’t budge because pinch-hitter Patrick Kivlehan struck out, Billy Hamilton flied to right on a 2-and-0 pitch and Jose Peraza grounded to second.

Votto led the eighth with a single, Adam Duvall struck out and Eugenio Suarez struck out. Could Scott Schebler hit his third home run in two days and match his three-run home run that put the Reds ahead Saturday?

Nope, not this time. He struck out. Arismendy Alcantara also struck out, leaving the potential tying runs standing on the basepaths.

The Reds put the leadoff batter on base for the third straight inning when Colorado closer Greg Holland walked Mesoraco to start the ninth. It was more false hope when pinch-hitter Scooter Gennett struck out, Hamilton flied to center and Peraza struck out, already the 19th save for Holland in 19 opportunities this season.

The Reds have lost eight of their last nine and lost this series, two games to one, and have lost three straight series with the Cleveland Indians coming to town Monday for a two-game series.

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds wore camouflage jerseys Saturday against the Colorado Rockies, perhaps hoping nobody would see them losing their eighth straight game.

It turned out that it certainly wasn’t the reason. They weren’t hiding anything because after falling behind by five runs in the fifth inning they tore into the Colorado pitching staff like the U.S. Marine Corps and now have a one-game winning streak.

After giving up six runs in the fifth inning, the Reds scored six of their own in the sixth inning, three on a go-ahead three-run home run by Scott Schebler and piled on for a 12-8 victory.

AND DESPITE ALL THE OFFENSIVE weaponry hauled out on this day, perhaps the best individual performance came from the least expected source.

A pitcher. And it was a pitcher called up from Class AAA Louisville as a desperate measure by the Reds because the bullpen was overtaxed and weary.

So they reached down to Louisville to find what they could and selected non-roster right hander Asher Wojciechowski.

Wojciechowski (pronounced wo/juh/HOW/ski) was a starter at Louisville, but was about the only pitcher not used by the Bats Friday night during an 18-inning game. He had thrown a bullpen session in preparation for his next start before the game and wasn’t unavailable.

So the promotion to Cincinnati fell to him by default and the 29-year-old No. 1 draft choice of the Toronto Blue Jays in 2010 took full advantage of it.

WHEN STARTER TIM ADLEMLAN AND relief pitcher Drew Storen couldn’t quiet the Rockies, Wojciechowski was shoved into duty and he did it well. The guy they call ‘Wojo’ started the sixth and retired 11 of the 12 Rockies he faced after they had scored eight runs on 10 hits in the first five innings.

And it was fitting he wore camouflage because he attended military school, The Citadel, before he was drafted and as pitching coach Mack Jenkins said of the guys’s cool and calm, “The stuff of an Army kid.”

It was 12 up and eleven down, just one single given up. When he had two outs in the ninth, manager Bryan Price replaced him with Raisel Iglesias.

“What a lift for this ballclub,” said Price, whose bullpen is ravaged. “Asher was sensational. He threw strikes and attacked, a real nice recipe for success. He threw 3 2/3 essential innings. He couldn’t have come up bigger. It was beyond impressive, in my opinion.”

WHEN THE ROCKIES LED, 8-3, Eugenio Suarez homered in the fifth to make it 8-4 and then Devin Mesoraco started the six-run sixth with a home run that was finished off by Schebler’s three-run homer.

Mesoraco was mesmerized by Wojo’s performance.

“I’d never seen the guy, never met him,” he said. “I met him in the training room just before the game. That was awesome. That was incredible. He came in pumping strikes and wasn’t afraid at all. He has been around a while but he knows now there are only so many opportunities he can get and he really took advantage today. He located everything and didn’t make any mistakes at all. He was not afraid.”

IT HAS BEEN QUITE THE CLIMB, TOO, for the Beufort, S.C. native who was looking for work, out of a job, in late April when the Reds contacted him.

While he has been in the Blue Jays, Astros and Marlins minor league systems, he appeared briefly in the majors for Houston in 2015 – five appearances, three starts, 0-and-1, 7.16 earned run average on 13 runs in 16 1/3 innings.

He was signed in December by the Arizona Diamondbacks and was in their camp this spring.

“I got released by the Diamondbacks at the end of spring training and I went home for three weeks,” he said. “I continued to throw to the guys at The Citadel — home for three weeks without a job and wondering what was going to happen.”

ON APRIL 21 THE REDS called and offered him an opportunity to start games at Louisville and Wojo said, “I was just happy to be in Triple-A. And now this.”

Yes, and now this.

“That was great, it couldn’t have worked out better,” said Wojo. “To be sitting at home about a month ago, pretty much to this day, without a job and then for a day like this to happen is pretty remarkable. I’m on cloud nine, I feel so good.

“I just threw strikes,” he said. “Once I threw that first pitch for a strike I calmed down and realized it was the same game of baseball I’ve been playing for a long time.”

Thus it was basically a pitcher rescued off the trash heap to come out of nowhere and put the stop to an eight-game losing streak.

“So many sensational things happened for us today and talk about re-invigorating a ballclub,” said Price. “Those home runs by Suarez and Mesoraco and that inning and the three-run homer by Schebler really brought our group back to life, especially after being down so much.”

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — The rock band Red Hot Chili Peppers played next door at the U.S. Bank Arena while the Cincinnati Reds and Colorado Rockies played a baseball game Friday night at Great American Ball Park.

Before the game, RHCP guitarist Josh Klinghoffer was in the Reds clubhouse visiting Bronson Arroyo. It isn’t likely that Arroyo requested that RHCP play their classic song, “Can’t Stop,” at the concert.

Whether he did, or not, the Reds can’t stop losing, and losing badly and losing ugly. Their ever-expanding losing streak stretched to seven straight Friday night, a 12-6 loss to the Red Hot Chili Rockies, a team that is 27-and-16 and leading the National League West.

For now, the Red Hot Chili Peppers could have dedicated their son, “Shallow Is Thy Game,” to the current Reds, tumbling toward the bottom of the National League Central.

Also hanging around GABP was Joey ‘Jaws’ Chestnut, the nine-time Nathan’s Hot Dog eating champion, who once devoured 70 hot dogs in 12 minutes, the all-time record.

BUT IT WAS A LEFTHANDER NAMED Tyler Anderson who devoured the Reds. The Rockies pitcher began the game with a 2-and-4 record and a 6.43 earned run average. The Reds, though, were just so much buns for Anderson to munch. He held the Reds to two runs over six innings.

Reds starter Lislaverto Bonilla gave up two runs in the first inning on a leadoff double by Charlie Blackmon, a hit batsman (D.J. LeMahieu), an infield hit by Nolan Arenado, a bloop run-scoring single by Mark Reynolds and a sacrifice fly by Carlos Gonzalez.

It stayed 2-0 until Cincinnati’s Eugenio Suarez homered into the left field cheap seats with two outs in the fifth inning, cutting the Reds’ deficit to 2-1.

IT ONLY LASTED UNTIL COLORADO came to bat in the top of the sixth and eight runs quickly appeared on the Rockies’ ledger.

Gonzalez singled, Ian Desmond doubled and No. 7 hitter Alexi Amarista lofted his second home run of the season into the first row of the right field seats. The three-run shot pushed the lead to 5-0.

The Rockies didn’t stop there, though. Catcher Tony Wolters kept the sixth inning going by beating out a bunt after Amarista’s home run. Anderson bunted Wolters to second and that was the end of Bonilla’s night.

Wandy Peralta replaced Bonilla and the the slugfest continued. Blackmon beat an infield hit to third and D.J. LeMahieu scorched a two-run double to left. Then Nolan Arenado drilled a home run to left, his 11th, and the Rockies led, 9-1. Mark Reynolds singled, Gonzalez walked and Amarista punched his second hit of the inning, a run-scoring single and it was 10-1.

In the time it takes Joey Chestnut to eat 70 hot dogs, the Rockies sent 14 batters to the plate in the sixth and scored eight runs on nine hits (two home runs) for a 10-1 lead. The eight-run inning was the most runs given up in one inning by Reds pitchers since July 26, 2015, when they gave up 10 runs in the third inning to the Rockies in Coors Field.

BECAUSE THE BULLPEN WAS taxed on the just-completed 1-and-6 trip to San Francisco and Chicago, manager Bryan Price told Bonilla, starting only his second game for the Reds that there was no safety net for him, “There would be no early hook.”

And there was no need for one until the sixth inning went on and on and on and on. Bonilla went 5 1/3 innings and gave up six runs, eight hits, three walks and hit a batter, needing 108 pitches to get that far.

For the same reason, Peralta had to take it on the chin and both shins and stay in much longer than normal. He threw 40 pitches in his two-thirds of an inning and manager Bryan Price was embarrassed by it. But had little choice.

“It was one of those rare days when Wandy didn’t have it and I left him out there to throw 40 pitches and that’s a disgrace on my part for me to do that,” said Price “But we have some limitations and he needed to get through that inning. I hoped he’d get through the sixth and maybe the seventh, but they were on him and he just wasn’t sharp. I left him out there for 40-plus in two-thirds of an inning and it didn’t feel good. We had to beat up our bullpen again to finish the game.”

MEANWHILE, COLORADO’S ANDERSON worked six innings and gave up two runs and four hits while walking two and striking out seven en route to his third victory of the season.

As has been the case often during this losing streak, once the Reds fall eight or nine runs behind early in the game, they score several runs late in the game, but never enough.

This time, after falling behind, 10-1, they scored five runs, including a two-run home run by Jose Peraza, his first of the season, to pull within 10-6 after eight.

AND THAT PUT THE ONUS on Price again. With the team down six runs, he planned to use infielder Scooter Gennett to pitch the ninth. But when Peraza hit the home run in th bottom of the eighth to draw the Reds within four, Price had to bring in Austin Brice to pitch the ninth.

“We didn’t want to use Austin Brice, but you have to respect the game,” said Price. “I would have used a position player to pitch at 10-4 and I hate to do that, but I would have pitched Scooter Gennett.

“But when Suarez hit the two-run home run, it’s only 10-6,” Price added. “There are people paying to see a ball game and our guys out there busting their butts trying to win a ball game. I can’t bring a position player in to pitch in a 10-6 game. That would be a disgrace.”

Alas, the Rockies added two in the top of the ninth on two hits, pushing their run total to 13 and their hit total to 16.

THE GAME WAS STREAMED live on Facebook by MLB.com and by the third inning there were 515,000 hits, more fans than the Reds have drawn in their first 23 home games.

By HAL McCOY

If there can be any positive taken from a 9-5 beating, it should be a lesson hard-learned by Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Amir Garrett.

The lesson? Don’t let an umpire upset your equilibrium and don’t outwardly display your displeasure.

That’s what happened to Garrett Thursday afternoon in Wrigley Field. Brought up from Class AAA Louisville to apply a tourniquet to his team’s losing ways, Garrett was visibly upset with 27-year veteran umpire Ed Hickox’s strike zone in the first inning.

HEY, AMIR, HICKOX WAS an Eagle Scout sworn to honesty and integrity. Would he cheat you?

And the endgame was that Garrett gave up three walks and a grand slam home run to Javier Baez during a five-run first inning.

Garrett couldn’t get a strike call on some close inside pitches in the first inning.

After retiring the first hitter, Garrett thought he had a couple of strikes on Kris Bryant but walked him a full count.

ANTHONY RIZZO BLOOPED ONE to right field that everybody lost in the sun and it fell for a single.

Garrett retired Ian Happ on a line drive to right field and he was one out away from escaping with no damage.

But Garrett walked Wilson Contreras on a full count — disputing a couple more close calls — to fill the bases. Then he walked Addison Russell to force in a run.

He got to 1-and-2 on Javier Baez and hung a changeup and Baez lost it deep into the left field bleachers for a grand slam home run and a quick 5-0 lead for the Cubs.

IN THE FOURTH INNING Hickox called Albert Almora Jr., and Ben Zobrist out on strikes and Garrett raised his hands as if to say, “Those were the same pitches you wouldn’t give me in the first inning.”

The Cubs added on until it was 9-0 after five innings.

Garrett pitched four innings and gave up five runs, six hits and four walks to drop his record to 3-3 and raising his earned run average to 5.18.

Cubs starter Jon Lester took that 9-0 lead into the seventh inning and gave up three straight singles to Jose Peraza, Tucker Barnhart and pinch-hitter Arismendy Alcantara for a run and Lester’s day was done.

Hector Rondon gave up three hits, a double to Billy Hamilton and singles to Adam Duvall and Eugenio Suarez during a four-run inning, six-hit inning.

Too little, too late, even though the Reds made it squirmy in the ninth. They filled the bases with no outs against lefthanded relief pitcher Brian Duensing.

Billy Hamilton and Zack Cozart singled and Joey Votto was hit by a pitch, forcing Cubs manager Joe Maddon to bring in Koji Uehara.

Adam Duvall flied to left in foul territory and Hamilton scored after the catch. Eugenio Suarez took a called strike three. Pinch-hitter Stuart Turner struck out and that was that.

The fact that Turner pinch-hit instead of Devin Mesoraco indicates that Mesoraco’s injury is more serious than thought.

The Reds won the first game of the trip, 3-2, in San Francisco, then they lost the next three to the Giants and three straight in Chicago, giving up 25 runs in the three games and bringing home a six-game losing streak.

They play a quick five-game homestand and it won’t be easy. They play three against the Colorado Rockies, a team leading the National League West and owner of a 9-and-0 record in one-run games. Then they play the Cleveland Indians Monday and Tuesday.

By Hal McCoy

When Scott Feldman trudged to the Wrigley Field mound Wednesday night, the Chicago Cubs were the only major league baseball team on the planet he had not faced.

And now he wishes it was still that way.

Because of his own wildness and some suspect work by the usually well-oiled Cincinnati Reds defense, Feldman lasted only 2 2/3 innings and absorbed a 7-5 defeat.

IT WAS CINCINNATI’S FIFTH straight loss and dropped them below .500 (19-20) and into fourth place in the National League Central.

The Reds gave Feldman a 1-0 lead in the first and he pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the first.

But it took him 68 pitches to cover the second and third innings during which he gave up five in the second and two in the third.

HIS PROBLEM IN THE SECOND began with a walk to Ian Happ. Ben Zobrist singled to right, sending Happ to third. Happ scored on a fielder’s choice ground ball, tying it, 1-1.

Feldman walked Miguel Montero but hit Jon Jay with a pitch. He struck out opposing pitching Kyle Hendricks for the second out.

But Middletown native Schwarber hit one hard at first baseman Joey Votto and it skipped past him (a ball he could have blocked) for a two-run single.

He issued his third walk of the inning to Kris Bryant. Rizzo hit one hard to the grass in short right field, a catchable ball. But it glanced off Jose Peraza’s glove for another two-run single and a 5-1 Cubs lead.

Zack Cozart homered leading off the third, the fifth straight game in which he has hit a home run in Wrigley Field.

THE CUBS SCORED TWO MORE runs in the third. Ben Zobrist doubled and with one out Montero hit a fly ball to deep left. Adam Duvall dropped it for an error, putting runners on third and second.

Then came the Joe Maddon Factor. With pitcher Hendricks batting and a 3-and-2 count, manager Maddon brazenly and daringly flashed the bunt sign and Hendricks got it down, scoring Zobrist. Jay followed with a single to make it 7-2.

Then came the highlight of the night for the Reds. Austin Brice replaced Feldman and retired seven straight, six on ground balls and one via strikeout.

THE REDS MADE IT A game in the seventh, scoring three runs when they had two outs and nobody on.

Cozart singled and Votto walked (he has reached base in 20 straight games). Adam Duvall, who had not driven in a run during the first seven games of this trip, singled to left for a run. Suarez, who also hadn’t driven in a run on the trip, doubled for two runs, cutting it to 7-5.

But Scott Schebler grounded out and the final seven Reds went down in order.

EVEN THOUGH THERE WAS a 25 miles an hour wind blowing out, the Reds bullpen of Austin Brice, Drew Storen, Wandy Peralta and Raisel Iglesias turned the spigot off from the third through the eighth — no runs, one hit.

Iglesias did walk the bases loaded with one out in the eighth but struck out Jon Jay and Kyle Schwarber to slink out of it.

But the mountain of a 7-2 deficit after two innings was too high to climb, although the Reds made some noises with their three runs in the seventh.

And the game ended strangely with Cubs closer Wade Davis on the mound. Billy Hamilton struck out on a bad pitch on 3-and-2 and Zack Cozart popped up.

Joey Votto grounded up the middle and shortstop Addison Russell’s throw was wide, forcing first baseman Anthony Rizzo to stretch full out. Originally, Votto was called safe because it appeared Rizzo’s foot may not have been on the bag. The Cubs challenged and the replay folks in New York reversed the call.

Out. Game over.

After the game, Reds manager Bryan Price told Fox Sports Ohio that he planned to call general manager Dick Williams to have him check with MLB in New York to see if the replay crew had definitive video evidence that Rizzo kept his foot on the bag and if they don’t, “I’m going to be really pissed.

And who are the Reds asking to stop the bleeding. They are recalling Amir Garrett from Class AAA Louisville to start the series finale Thursday afternoon.

By HAL McCOY

Whenever the Chicago Cubs need a player or two, they reach down into their minor league system and pluck out a star. And if they are playing the Cincinnati Reds they seem to become instant superstars.

It is if they grow them in the cornfields outside of Des Moines.

On Tuesday night in Wrigley Field, there were two guys called up in the last week that did major damage to the Reds during a 9-5 Cubs victory.

IT WAS IAN HAPP AND Jeimer Candelerio on this night and Happ’s contribution was particularly painful.

He played his collegiate baseball at the University of Cincinnati where he was an All-American and the Cubs No. 1 draft pick in 2015.

He was playing his third major league game and hit his second home run. He also walked, drove in two runs and scored two.

Candelario was 1 for 17 when the night began but had two hits and drove in a run.

AND, OF COURSE, THE established stars did their usual damage to the Reds — Kyle Schwarber, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo.

Schwarber, the Middletown native, had two hits, including a 462-foot home run, scored two and drove in one.

Bryant had two hits, scored a run and drove in a run — his 36^th RBI in 38 games against the Reds.

Rizzo, a power-hitter who hadn’t homered in 54 at bats, hit a home run, his fourth in four games against the Reds this season.

WITH A STIFF 20 MILES an hour wind blowing out, the Reds hit three home runs — Zack Cozart, Tucker Barnhart (his first of the year) and Joey Votto (hit team-leading 11^th), but it wasn’t enough.

The Cubs, though, trumped that with four home runs.

The Reds took a quick lead in the first inning against John Lackey when Cozart homered in the first inning, the seventh straight game in which the Reds scored in the first. But it hasn’t been enough. They’ve now lost four straight.

That 1-0 lead lasted only until the bottom of the first when the Cubs scored three off Bronson Arroyo.

AFTER HE RETIRED SCHWARBER, he gave up a single and two walks to fill the bases. Candelario singled for a run and with two outs Wilson Contreras doubled for two more and a 3-1 Cubs lead.

The Reds cut it to 3-2 in the second on Barnhart’s home run. The Cubs retrieved that run in the bottom of the second when Schwarber, batting .179, nearly cleared the right field bleachers with his 462-foot blast.

The Reds crept back to within one in the fourth when Scott Schebler walked and eventually scored on a wild pitch on which Arroyo struck out.

And once again the Cubs retrieved that run when they came to bat in the fifth, this one on Happ’s home run to push Chicago back to a 5-3 lead.

ARROYO LEFT AFTER FIVE, giving up five runs, eight hits, two walks and two home runs. The Reds had won the last five games Arroyo started but that ended on this night.

Blake Wood replaced Arroyo and the Cubs scored two against him in the sixth on a run-scoring single by Bryant and a bases loaded walk by Wood that pushed the score to 7-3.

Votto’s two-run home run in the seventh put the Reds back in contention, 7-5, but Addison Russell led the seventh with a home run off Robert Stephenson and the Cubs closed the scoring in the eighth when Rizzo homered off Michael Lorenzen.

The fourth straight loss dropped the Reds back to .500 at 19-19 and the defending World Series champion Cubs scrambled back to .500 at 19-19 to tie the Reds for third and fourth place.

By HAL McCOY

The up-and-down Cincinnati Reds are down right now. Way down, after the San Francisco applied an 8-3 beating Sunday afternoon.

They beat the Giants Thursday night, their fourth straight win over the Giants this season, and were in first place in the National League Central at 19-15.

Then came Friday, Saturday and Sunday and three straight losses to the Giants, who were 12-24 and in last place in the National League Central after Thursday’s loss.

NOW THE REDS ARE 19-18 and in third place, 2 ½ games behind the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals.

Losing three of four to the Giants came a week after they outscored the Giants 31-5 in a three-game sweep at Great American Ball Park.

Two things came into play in San Francisco. The scene shifted from Great American Small Park, where fly balls die in the stands for home runs, to AT&T Park with an outfield as big as all outdoors, where fly balls die in outfielder’s gloves.

THOSE 31 RUNS IN 24 innings in GABP turned into nine runs in 36 innings at AT&T.

And when the Reds mauled the Giants in Cincinnati the Giants were without two of their best hitters, center fielder and leadoff hitter Denard Span and shortstop Brandon Crawford. Both came off the DL for this series.

While Crawford was relatively silent on offense but devastating on defense, Span was a major thorn in the posterior. In the four games Span collected nine hits that included two home runs and a double, scored four and drove in three.

And it was Span who started Sunday’s mayhem. He led the bottom of the first with a hard shot to right center. Right fielder Scott Schebler called off center fielder Billy Hamilton, the guy who should have made the catch. But Schebler tried to catch it and dropped it.

That opened the gates for a four-run first inning against Reds starter Tim Adleman. After the error, Adleman gave up four runs, three hits and two walks. He left after the first inning with a sore neck.

Barrett Astin took over in the second and gave up three more runs that included a leadoff triple by Span and a two-run single by Crawford.

THE BENEFICIARY OF THE carnage was San Francisco starter Jeff Samardzija, who came into the game with a 0-and-5 record and a 5.44 earned run average.

And he entered the game with the second lowest run support for any starter in the National League. The Giants took care of that quickly with those seven runs in the first two innings.

The Red offense was deeply handicapped by a dearth of production by the middle of the order. Neither cleanup hitter Adam Duvall nor No. 5 hitter Eugenio Suarez drove in a run during the four-game series. Suarez was 3 for 18 and Duvall was 3 for 16.

Shortstop Zack Cozart missed his second straight game with a sore wrist.

After a much-needed day off Monday, the Reds open a three-game series against the struggling Chicago Cubs, who lost two of three over the weekend to the Cardinals and are one game under .500 at 18-and-19. They are in fourth place, one game behind the Reds.

There is the possibility that Amir Garrett could return from Class AAA Louisville to face the Cubs Friday. And Lisalverto Bonilla, who pitched a complete game in Saturday’s 3-1 loss, could face the Colorado Rockies in Great American Ball Park Friday.