HalMcCoy.com

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — The elephants are no longer performing for the Ringling Brothrs Barnum & Bailey circus, but there are still elephants in the room with the Cincinnati Reds.

It is the bullpen, or what stands for one. The ineptitude is mind-boggling and it won’t surprise anybody that the Reds bullpen tied a modern-day all-time record Monday night when it gave up runs for the 20th consecutive game.

That matches the record set by the 2013 Colorado Rockies. When the bullpen began its work Monday night, the Reds led by three runs. When the game was over, when the bullpen gave up six runs and eights hits over three innings, the Reds were 9-6 losers.

THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE the night when Johnny came marching home. And he did march in, but he quickly marched out, too. When Johnny Brent Cueto Ortiz, also known as Johnny Beisbol, walked to the Great American Ball Park mound Monday night, fans behind the Reds dugout extended him long and loud applause, louder than he ever received when he wore Reds red and white.

The fans appreciate what Cueto did for them for the eight years he was here and acknowledged him fondly, even though he now wears the orange and black of the San Francisco Giants.

And now he doesn’t do it for the Reds, he does it to the Reds — well, he tried to do it. The Reds undid him and then, of course, the Reds bullpen undid everything.
CUETO FIRST HAD a two-run single in the second inning as the Giants scored three times off Brandon Finnegan to give Cueto to a 3-0 lead.

But the Reds scored six in the third and it appeared Billy Hamilton on second base was a major distraction to Cueto He threw or faked throws to second base over and over and over.

In between throws and make-believe throws, Cueto threw a 3-and-2 pitch to Joey Votto that came down 418 feet from home plate, a three-run rip that pushed the Reds to a 6-3 lead.

“I definitely think I got into his head,” said Hamilton. “He was missing a little bit at the plate (he walked Ivan DeJesus Jr. before Votto’s home run) and I think I had a lot to do with it. I don’t take credit for what happened, but my job is to do stuff out there and the results happen.”

VOTTO AND CUETO both arrived to stay with the Reds in 2008 and Vote remembers a discussion about that with Cueto.

“It was really fun playing with the guy, not only as a man, but he is such a great player, such a great competitor,” said Votto. “I remember the day, Opening Day of 2008, we got to the big leagues and we had a little chat about what we were going to do in the big leagues. It came to fruition.”

Votto has never faced Cueto’s funky, offbeat delivery, not even in spring training. So Monday night was a first-time experience.

“I found that some guys get thrown off by Cueto’s delivery,” said Votto. “And some guys it doesn’t bother at all and they have had some good results on those same trick pitches. I’ve played against lots of guys with a lot of different tricks and it hasn’t really bothered me so far. We’ll see.”

OK, WHAT WAS SEEN in the first inning was Cueto striking out Votto. What was seen in the second inning was Cueto poking a two-run dribbler of a single between first and second to help give himself a 3-0 lead.

What was seen in the third was Votto trashing a 3-and-2 pitch over the center field wall for a three-run home run an a 4-3 Reds lead. The Reds sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs off Cueto.

It appears Votto prefers not to struggle rather than quit after saying the other day, “I’d rather quite than struggle.”

BUT THE 6-3 LEAD disappeared immediately after manager Bryan Price took down starter Brandon Finnegan after six innings because of a tight hamstring.

“He had some hamstring discomfort after the second or third inning but we were more aggressive with him than normally because of our shortage of bullpen pieces for the night,” said Price. “So he threw three more innings.”

J.C. Ramirez started the seventh and after recording a strikeout he gave up three singles and a double to close the Reds’ lead to 6-5. Drew Hayes then came on and the first batter he faced, Brandon Crawford, blasted a three-run home run and it was bye-bye ballgame. Again.

“We have to get some guys on a roll out of the bullpen,” said Price. “If everybody throws to their ability then it is easier to slot guys into roles. Right now we’re just going with the freshest arms because we’ve had a lot of work out of our bullpen It has just been hard getting a recipe.

“We’re banged up and we’re bring some guys up (from the minors) who may not be ready,” Price added. “They are pitching out of roles and we just have to get healthy. We don’t want guys to be here if they’re not ready, but sometimes the impetus is that with all the injuries we do have some guys here who are not ready to pitch at this level consistently.”

By Hal McCoy

The game was as bizarre as a book entitled, ‘Body Builders in Tutus,’ by Phillipp Lomboy.

That’s a real book and what happened Sunday afternoon in PNC Park was as real as a Primanti Brothers sandwich in Pittsburgh.

It was a manual called, “Bad Baseball, Both Teams’ when the Cincinnati Reds played the Pittsburgh Pirates.

THE REDS WERE one out, one pitch, away from winning the game in regulation time, owning a one-run lead with nobody on and two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

But Reds relief pitcher Ross Ohlendorf gave up a home run into the right field seats by John Jason to tie it.

Finally, though, the Reds scored a run on Scott Schebler’s double in the 11^th inning and the Reds held on for a 6-5 victory.

Thus ended a six-game losing streak for the Reds and a six-game winning streak for the Pirates. The Reds, 1-and-5 on the now-concluded trip are 2-and-10 on the road this season.

THE SCRIPT FOR most of the afternoon was the same old story, played over and over and over by the Reds so far this year.

An emergency starter, 28-year-old Tim Adleman, made his major league debut and it was masterful.

Scheduled starter Raisel Iglesias was placed on the disabled list with a shoulder impingement and Adleman, signed out of an independent league, was summoned from Class AAA Louisville to make his first major league start.

And what a start it was — six-plus innings, two runs, three hits, two walks and six strikeouts.

The only run off Adleman while he was on the mound came in the fifth inning. TV broadcaster Jim Day was interviewing Adleman’s parents in the stands when Gregory Polanco launched a home run over the right field stands, a ball that bounced into the Allegheny River, only the 37^th ball to land there in PNC Park.

But the Reds had a 3-1 lead when Starling Marte led the seventh with an infield single. Even though Adleman had only 92 pitches, manager Bryan Price decided to remove him.

THAT PUT THE GAME in the precarious hands of the bullpen and what always happens happened again. The bullpen blew up.

Tony Cingrani replaced Adleman and gave up a triple off the left field wall to make it 3-2.

Caleb Cotham replaced Cingrani and gave up a single to left field by Starling Marte to tie it, 3-3.

AND THEN CAME some of the bizarre happenstances. The Reds took a 4-3 lead in the eighth, without a hit. The Pirates, who made four errors, made two in the eighth that led to a run.

Zack Cozart lined one to right that Polanco misplayed for an error that landed Cozart on second base. And Cozart left the game because he tweaked the knee that was surgically repaired last season.

With one out and pinch-runner Tyler Holt on third, the Pirates intentionally walked Joey Votto, putting runners on first and third.

WITH EUGENIO SUAREZ batting, Votto broke for second. When catcher Chris Stewart threw to second, Votto stopped and Holt broke for home. The throw beat Holt by plenty, but he bumped Stewart’s glove and the ball dislodged.

Safe? Not yet. Holt missed home and ran about 20 feet beyond home, but he sprinted back to the plate to score and give the Reds a 4-3 lead on Stewart’s error.

The lead lasted only until the Pirates batted in the bottom of the eighth against Cotham. Andrew McCuthen led with a single and took second on a hit-and-run ground ball by Josh Harrison. Starling Marte singled and it was tied again, 4-4.

IMMEDIATELY THE REDS took a 5-4 lead in the top of the ninth on a single by Adam Duvall and a double by Schebler, who entered the game the previous inning on a double switch.

Ross Ohlendorf easily retired the first two Pirates in the bottom of the ninth — one out, one pitch away from victory. Jaso homered and it was 5-5.

Then came the 11^th and more Pirates misplays. Suarez led the inning with a liner to left. Marte tried to make a shoestring catch and the ball skidded past him for a triple. With one out, Schebler delivered his second straight go-ahead double to make it 6-5.

This time it held. Blake Wood pitched a 1-2-3 11^th inning for the win, his third to make him 3-0. Ohlendorf also has three wins giving those two bullpenners six of the Reds 10 wins.

THE GAME MIGHT not have gone 11 innings except for some Reds blunders on the basepaths.

The sixth: Tucker Banhart doubled to lead the inning and Coaart walked with one out after Adleman fouled three straight bunt attempts. Billy Hamilton, batting second in the order for the first time in his career, blooped one to short left field that fell in front of Marte.

But Barnhart slipped between second and third and Marte forced him out at third. Fortunately for the Reds, Brandon Phillips was walked intentionally to fill bases and Jay Bruce delivered with a line drive down the right field line.

Even then there was bad baserunning. Two runs scored on Bruce’s hit, but Phillips tried to score from first and was thrown out at home. But the Reds led, 3-1.

The 11^th:  After Schebler’s go-ahead double, Ivan DeJesus Jr. lined to right for an out and Schebler was caught off first base in a rundown that ended with Barnhart thrown out at home.

But all’s well that ends well.

By Hal McCoy

The Cincinnati Reds bullpen has absorbed the brunt of the criticism for its early-season performances, and rightfully so.

But some of it needs to be aimed at the offense, too, the one segment of the team that nobody expected to flounder with a batting order spiced with Joey Votto, Zack Cozart, Jay Bruce, Eugenio Suarez and Brandon Phillips.

Yet flounder it has, like the fish of the same name, especially recently during the team’s ever-expanding losing streak, now at six straight after Saturday night’s 5-1 defeat to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

During the six-game slide for life, the Reds have not scored more than three runs in any of those losses and have scored a total of 10 during those six losses. And their road record for the season is 1-and-10.

THE MISERY SATURDAY night began on the first pitch Reds starter Alfredo Simon threw. Pittsburgh first baseman John Jaso. He hit Simon’s first pitch into the stands for a home run.

Simon went only four innings and needed 97 pitches to get that far, giving up three runs, six hits, four walks and he hit a batter.

On the other side, Pittsburgh starter Francisco Liriano went 6 2/3 innings and gave up one run, five hits, walked none and struck out six.

THE REDS SCORED their one run off him in the fifth when Billy Hamilton singled for one of his three hits, half of the Reds total of six hits, and he scored from first base on Zack Cozart’s double to left field.

Shortstop Jordy Mercer had the ball when Hamilton hit third, but Hamilton beat Marte’s throw with a head first slide.

The tie lasted only until the Pirates came to bat in the bottom of the fifth and scored two runs for a 3-1 lead.

David Freese singled and Marte was hit by a pitch. Francisco Cervelli singled to make it 2-1 and Cincinnati native Josh Harrison hit a sacrifice fly against Reds relief pitcher J.C. Ramirez.

THAT’S THE WAY it stayed until the Pittsburgh eighth against Caleb Cotham. He gave up a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Matt Joyce. That brought up first baseman Sean Rodriguez, a late-game defensive replacement for Jaso, who hit the first-inning home run.

Rodriguez did the same thing as Jaso, a home run that gave the Pirates a 5-1 lead that stood the test, Pittsburgh’s sixth straight victory.

The Reds lead the league in home runs served up and the starters and the bullpen are equal opportunists. The starters have given up 23 and the bullpen has given up 20.

The Reds were 0 for 4 with runners in scoring position and stranded nine, including two in the ninth when Zack Cozart struck out to end the game. For the second straight night, Pittsburgh closer Mark Melancon arrived in the ninth with two outs to record one-batter saves.

Adding to the misery loves company theme, Sunday’s scheduled starter, Raisel Iglesias, is back in Cincinnati having his sore shoulder checked and his stand-in will be Tim Adleman, called up from Class AAA Louisville, another guy making his major league debut.

And catcher Devin Mesoraco is also taking treatment for a sore shoulder.

By Hal McCoy

Nothing else seems to work so why don’t the Cincinnati Reds burn their gray road uniforms.

And while they are at it, throw their bats in the bonfire, too.

With a non-competitive 4-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates Friday night in PNC Park, the Reds are now 1-and-9 on the road this season.

THEY PUT THEIR leadoff batter on base in five of the nine innings, but only one scored and that was only because Pittsburgh center fielder Andrew McCutchen misplayed a two-out fly ball in the ninth inning.

Reds starter Dan Straily was decent, holding the heavy-hitting Pirates to two runs and five hits over five innings.

It was noteworthy because the Pirates ran out five .300 hitters on their lineup card. The Reds had three.

On the other side, the Reds could do nothing against 29-year-old right hander Juan Nicasio, who came into the game with a 2-2 record and a 4.50 earned run average.

BUT THE REDS, losers of five straight, collected no runs and only three hits in seven innings and the Reds struck out eight times.

The Pirates took a 1-0 lead in the third with an old nemesis contributing. A walk. Straily gave up a single to Jordy Mercy to lead the inning and he took second on a sacrifice bunt. Staily, who walked three, walked John Jason and with two outs David Freese singled to right to score Mercer.

The Pirates made it 2-0 in the fourth. Straily walked Francisco Cervelli to open the inning, but Gregory Polanco lined into a double play. But with two outs and nobody on, Cincinnati native Josh Harrison homered to right.

CINCINNATl was still within striking distance in the seventh when manager Bryan Price brought in much-troubled J.J. Hoover.

He retired the first two Pirates, but Mercer, who was 0 for 10 in his career against Hoover, singled up the middle and pinch-hitter Matt Joyce pulled one directly down the left field line just inside the foul pole and into the first row of seats, a two-run homer to make it 4-0.

Joey Votto, who had two of the Reds six hits, singled to open the ninth against relief pitcher Arquimedes Caminero, who threw an assortment of plus-100 miles an hour fast balls.

With two outs Tucker Barnhart busted one to deep center that should have been the third out. But McCutchen, one of baseball’s best defensive center fielders, got turned around on the ball and it glanced off his glove and was ruled a run-scoring double.

If Hoover hadn’t given up the two-run home run to Joyce, the scored would have been 2-1 with the tying run on second base.

Pittsburgh Manager Clint Hurdle brought in closer Mark Melancon at that point, much lesser pressure at 4-2 than it would be at 2-1, and it took Melancon two pitches to end the game, a soft fly ball to right by Scott Schebler.

The Reds left home with a 9-and-10 record and are now 9-14 after getting swept three games in New York by the Mets and this first game of a three-game series in Pittsburgh.

By Hal McCoy

It was a dark night against The Dark Knight and it is always a dark night against the New York Mets for the Cincinnati Reds.

The Reds lost to the Mets for the 11^th straight time Wednesday night in Citi Field, 5-2, as New York completed its three-game sweep.

Matt Harvey, known as The Dark Knight, is not off to a good start and brought a 1-and-3 record and a 5.24 earned run average into the game.

But Harvey held the Reds to two runs and seven hits over six innings, pitching his way out of a couple of jams while walking only one and striking out seven.

CINCINNATI STARTER JON Moscot was in constant trouble, too, but held the Mets to three runs and four hits over five innings, although four walks kept his work in constant turmoil.

Did somebody mention walks?

Well, walks eventually led to the Mets putting the game away against the Reds bullpen in the sixth.

Blake Wood walked two straight batters with one out. When David Wright lined hard to center field for the second out, manager Bryan Price replaced Wood with Drew Hayes.

And the first hitter Hayes faced, Michael Conforto, lined a double up the left-center gap for two runs, turning a 3-2 lead into 5-2.

REDS PITCHERS WALKED six on this night and in 22 games they have walked 102 batters.

Zack Cozart started things off on the plus side by leading off the game with a home run against Harvey. And Ivan DeJesus singled. Then Harvey struck out the next five batters.

The 1-0 Reds lead lasted only until the Mets batted in the bottom of the first and scored two unearned runs off Moscot.

THE METS HAD TWO on and two out in the first when Lucas Duda hit one to left center. Left fielder Scott Schebler had it tracked and stuck up his glove to make the catch. The ball glanced off his glove and two runs scored.

The Reds had the bases loaded with one out in the third, but Harvey struck out Eugenio Suarez and Devin Mesoraco hit a soft liner to second base.

New York second baseman Neil Walker, fast becoming The Incredible Hulk, hit a home run in the third inning — his ninth of the year and his eighth in the last 12 games — and the Mets led, 3-1.

Three of the first four Reds singled in the fifth inning, with a Suarez single scoring a run to cut the deficit to 3-2. But with runners on first and third with one out, Devin Mesoraco hit into a first-pitch double play and the perplexed Reds catcher is hitting .140.

THEN CAME THE two-run Mets sixth and the Reds went away quietly in the final three innings. The last nine Reds went out in order, five via strikeouts. And the Reds struck out 12 times. And in the last four innings, the Mets bullpen retired 14 straight.

The Reds take a much-needed day off Thursday before starting a three-game weekend series in Pittsburgh.

 

 

 

 

 

By Hal McCoy

Would it surprise anybody to hear that the Cincinnati Reds lost to the New York Mets Tuesday night, their 10^th straight loss to the defending National League champions?

Would it surprise anybody to learn that the bullpen was the culprit again in this 4-3 defeat?

REDS MANAGER BRYAN Price knows his bullpen, knows it is the worst in major league baseball right now, knows he is taking a major gamble when he brings most of them into a game.

So when the New York Mets, trailing by three runs, put two men on base in the seventh inning with one out, Price went to the mound to talk to starter Brandon Finnegan.

Two relief pitchers were ready in the bullpen. Price, though, decided to permit Finnegan to stay to face pinch-hitter Yoenis Cespedes, who hadn’t played in nearly a week due to an injury.

AND ON THE FIRST pitch, the Reds three-run lead evaporated as Cespedes lined a three-run home run just over the left field wall.

Price then removed Finnegan and replaced him with Tony Cingrani and it became clear why the Reds would like to keep the bullpen gate locked

Cingrani gave up a first-pitch triple to Curtis Granderson and a two-out 0-and-2 run-scoring single to David Wright to push the Mets in front, 4-3. Wright had struck out his first two times and was hitting .233.

A FAN TWEETED A message to the MLB-TV show ‘MLB Central’ Tuesday afternoon, and they ran it across the bottom of the screen: “Bartolo Colon tonight, easy win.”

Oh, yeah?

The Cincinnati Reds were without Jay Bruce (home in Texas with his new son), Brandon Phillips (sore finger) and Devin Mesoraco (night off), and it appeared it wouldn’t matter through six innings on this night in Citi Field.

THE REDS TOOK care of 43-year-old Colon, known in New York as ‘The Big Sexy.’

And that tweet should have read: ‘Brandon Finnegan tonight. Maybe an easy win.’

Well, it wasn’t easy but Finnegan showed some wizardry on the mound and pitched his heart, guts and soul out until the Cespedes disaster.

Amazingly, the Mets put the first batter of an inning on base in five of the first six innings. None scored.

And in the first five innings, none of those runners who led off the inning by getting on base even sniffed second base.

The Mets finally found second base in the sixth inning when Curtis Granderson and Asdrubal Cabrera led with back-to-back singles. And still the Mets didn’t score.

Finnegan retired David Wright on a fly ball to center on which Granderson moved to third. Michael Conforto popped to third and Neil Walker flied to center and the scoreboard for the Mets read 000-000.

THEN CAME THE dreadful seventh.

And guess who furnished most of the offense for the Reds? It was the three guys who replaced Phillips, Bruce and Mesoraco.

Ivan DeJesus Jr., playing second base for Phillips, blasted a laser-like two-run home run off Colon in the fourth inning. The man on base in front of him was Tucker Barnhart, catching in place of Mesoraco, and the Reds led, 3-0. It was to be their last sniff of a run.

And Tyler Holt, subbing for Bruce in right field, had two hits.

But after the Mets grabbed the lead, set-up man Addison Reed pitched a scoreless eighth and closer Jeurys Familia closed it off by getting Hamilton a weak roller to the mound, by striking out Zack Cozart and by getting Holt on a grounder to short with Joey Votto on deck.

By Hal McCoy

You would think when a team knocks Noah Syndergaard out of the game, they would win.

You would think when a team has 12 runners in scoring position, they would win.

You would think when a team steals five bases, they would win.

YOU WOULD THINK, but you would think wrong in the case of the Cincinnati Reds Monday night in New York.

They did all those things against the New York Mets in Citi Field, but they lost, 5-3.

They were done in by one pitch on this night, a two-run home run in the seventh inning given up by relief pitcher J.C. Ramirez to Mets second baseman Neil Walker.

THE REDS WERE facing Syndergaard, who brought a 2-and-0 record and a 0.90 earned run average in to the game. He throws 98, with a 92 miles an hour slider and a 90 miles an hour change-up.

But when Zack Cozart singled home a run in the top of the seventh to score a run and cut the Mets’ lead to 3-2, Syndergaard was removed.

That erased Syndergaard’s chance to enter the record books. Only one pitcher, Randy Johnson in 1995 with Seattle, ever gave up one or fewer runs and struck out more than eight four times.

Syndegaard had done it three straight and had nine strikeouts and had given up only one run until Cozart singled.

THE REDS STOLE five bases against Syndergaard and they put 12 men in scoring position, but only scored three.

The Reds had runners on first and third with no outs in the second. They didn’t score.

They had runners on first and third with one out in the sixth but Syndergaard struck out Devin Mesoraco and struck out Adam Duvall on three straight sliders.

THE METS TOOK a 1-0 lead on Reds starter Raisel Iglesias in the first after he struck out the first two batters. But the third hitter, Michael Conforto, drilled a home run for a 1-0 lead.

All five Mets runs came on home runs.

The Reds tied it, 1-1, when Billy Hamilton dragged a perfect bunt for a hit, stole second, stole third and scored on Zack Cozart’s sacrifice fly.

The Mets barged ahead, 3-1, in the third when Conforto singled and Lucas Duda homered to right field.

TYLER HOLT LED the Reds seventh with a single and took second on Syndergaard’s wild pickoff throw. Cozart drove him home with a single to make it 3-2.

Antonio Bastardo took Syndergaard’s place and walked Eugenio Suarez on four pitches. Votto singled to tie it, 3-3.

But the tie only last until the Mets came to bat and Walker struck for his game-winning home run, making certain that the Mets beat the Reds for the ninth straight time. Walker’s home run with his eighth, his seventh in the last 10 games.

BRANDON PHILLIPS BEAT an infield single in the second inning, extending his hitting streak against the Mets in New York to 33 games.

But he paid for it. When he batted in the fourth he fouled a pitch off his left toes. He fouled the next pitch off his left ankle and toppled into the dirt. The third pitch, a 97 miles an hour fastball, hit him on the left ring finger and he left the game. X-Rays on the finger were negative.

X-Rays on the Reds also are negative.

 

 

 

By HAL McCOY

CINCINNATI — Maybe the Chicago Cubs became lackadaisical against the Cincinnati Reds, too confident, even cocky.

After beating and bruising and breaking bones while winning the first five games against the Reds this season, the Cubs took a 13-5 beating Saturday night.

That, apparently, snapped the Cubs back to attention against the Reds, made certain the Reds knew Saturday was an aberration and that the Cubs are the Alpha Dog in this relationship.

The Cubs turned the Reds into tail-wagging puppies on this day, scoring a 9-0 victory while Chicago starter Jason Hammel held the Reds to three singles and a walk in six innings.

And the Cubs bullpen added three hitless, scoreless innings.

THE CUBS CAME OUT clubbing early Sunday against Reds starter Alfredo Simon, three in the first, two in the second, three in the third — well, you catch the drift.

Chicago first baseman Anthony Rizzo hit a pair of two-run home runs in his first two at bats, one in the first and one in the third. Jason Heyward drove in three with a first-inning single and a third-inning single.

Dexter Fowler normally leads off for the Cubs and is hitting .385 with an on base percentage of .509. Manager Joe Maddon gave him Sunday off, but what does it matter with these Grizzlie Bears?

Fowler’s replacement, Tommy La Stella, doubled in the first inning and doubled in the second inning and scored both times. And to sweeten his own pot, when La Stella came up in the sixth he hit his first home run of the season, a blast off Drew Hayes to make it 9-0.

Reds leadof hitter Zack Cozart was given the day off, too, but his replacement, Scott Schebler went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts. He wasn’t alone in his futility.

SIMON GAVE UP three hits in each of the first three innings before leaving with two outs in the third, having given up eight runs and nine hits. His last three appearances — two starts and an inning of relief — have resulted in 4 2/3 innings, 17 runs (16 earned) and 16 hits, a 33.23 earned run average.

Simon was returning after missing a start with arm tendinitis, but that wasn’t Sunday’s problem.

“It was poor execution and he didn’t have a pitch to finish anybody today,” said manager Bryan Price. “We’re throwing a lot of pitches (Simon threw 70 in 2 2/3 innings). That’s the stuff that can’t happen. The good news is his arm feels good and the bad news was that he didn’t have good results.

“He wasn’t sharp down in the strike zone and wasn’t banging those sinkers to get some early contact on the ground,” Price added. “We have to get our pitch counts down to keep our starters in the game and it is not just Alfredo. Our bullpen is way overused in April and that’s unfortunate.”

IN ORDER TO ATTEMPT to iron out the vast wrinkles in relief pitcher J.J. Hoover’s game he was inserted in the seventh inning with the score 9-0 and went 1-2-3. And he retired the first two in the eighth — five straight — but in the blink of a fastball the Cubs had the bases loaded on a double and two walks and Hoover had to be removed. Ross Ohendorf retrieved the last out.

Hoover, who hasn’t shown a propensity for throwing pitches inside, threw some inside to push the Cubs off the plate while retiring the first five.

“He was better, especially his first inning when he got two quick outs,” Price said of Hoover. “He gave up a double and a couple of walks with two outs in his second inning, but his stuff was better.”

Meanwhile, Cubs starter Jason Hammel retired the first six Reds, four via strikeouts, before Tucker Barnhart led the bottom of the third with a single to right. Hammel stuck around for six innings and gave up no runs and three hits en route to a 3-and-0 record and a 0.75 earned run average.

“Hammel is a polished veteran experienced pitcher right,” there,” said Price. “He is a guy who had his own challenges when he came into the league with Tampa Bay years back and he has put some real polish on his game and become a top of the rotation type guy if his team didn’t have Jake Arrieta and Jon Lester at the top of the rotation.

“He controls the strike zone with good stuff,” said Price. “He throws up sliders and curves for strikes when he is behind in the count. He commands his fastball in good counts and he is always in good counts.”

So the Reds have lost six of seven this year to the Cubs and finished the homestead 3-and-5. A six-game trip is staring at them beginning Monday with a three-game series in New York against the Mets and then three over the weekend in Pittsburgh.