Cincinnati Reds Road Woes Continue

Falling short of winning their first road series since the beginning of August, the Cincinnati Reds were clobbered 9-2 by the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday afternoon.

In a game Milwaukee desperately needed to keep pace with the marathon sprint that has become the National League playoff picture, they wiped the Reds off the board with a five-run seventh inning that effectively ended the game.

For the third time this season, Matt Garza tore apart the Redlegs. His six innings of one-run baseball made it difficult for the team to hang around.

The Bats:

Prior to the ninth inning, the Reds would go 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position, failing to capitalize on the few opportunities they would have against Brewers starter Matt Garza.

The only member of the starting lineup to have a multi-hit night was Ryan Ludwick, who has proven that when used in a limited role, his bat can be lethal in the seventh spot in the order. He would drive in the game’s final run in the ninth inning on a base hit to left field that would score Yorman Rodriguez.

Trailing by eight runs entering the final frame, Rodriguez was sent up as a pinch-hitter for Devin Mesoraco. He wasted no time at all collecting his first Major League hit, as he lashed a single up the box and into centerfield. Lost amongst the blowout loss in a game that was largely meaningless for Cincinnati, was a moment that Yorman will surely never forget.

Accounting for the other Reds run was Todd Frazier. After narrowly missing a pinch right down Broadway in the third inning, which ended the frame on a pop-up to first base, Frazier got all of the one in the sixth inning. Brewers’ left fielder Khris Davis did not even make an effort, as Frazier took Garza way deep in his final appearance against him.

The Arms:

While it is quite the accomplishment of longevity for Mike Leake to reach 200 innings pitched in a season, the start in which he reached that milestone was like many of the others he tossed in 2014: purely average. In six innings pitched, Leake allowed eight hits and three walks, while allowing three runs and striking out three.

Batters reached base in every inning he threw, but Brewers’ MVP candidate Jonathan Lucroy was especially tough. Entering the contest on Sunday, Lucroy was 9-for-23 off Leake—by days end, he would collect three more base hits. His two-RBI single on a 0-2 pitch in the bottom of the fourth that put Milwaukee in front 3-0 was truly the beginning of Cincinnati’s downfall.

With the game still certainly in reach, the Reds bullpen took over after the seventh inning stretch. It would not stay within reach for long.

The first two batters Logan Ondrusek faced both lashed base hits before first baseman Matt Clark connected with a moon shot that sailed deep into the right field stands. Ondrusek would be bailed out defensively by Zack Cozart at shortstop, but could still not escape the inning.

Dumping gasoline onto the fire was Carlos Contreras, who compounded an already unwinnable situation by refusing to throw the ball over the plate. The first three batters he faced would also reach, before he could mercifully end the frame on a deep fly ball from Khris Davis.

Just as insult to injury, Mark Reynolds took J.J. Hoover deep in the bottom of the eighth for his 22^nd home run of the season. While Hoover would punch out two batters in the inning, his season of horrors has become seemingly never-ending.

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Limping out of Milwaukee with another series loss, the Redlegs can kiss Wisconsin good-bye until next April. With a series at home against Milwaukee looming next week, the Reds will have a large say in whether or not the Brewers make the Postseason.

Next on the schedule are the Chicago Cubs. In what can be billed as a battle to avoid futility in the Windy City, the two clubs will oddly face off in three consecutive night games at Wrigley Field, which has to be about as un-American as sympathizing to the Russian flag, or refusing to watch football on Sunday.

In the series opener, Alfredo Simon gets the ball opposite former Red Travis Wood. With a dozen games remaining, the exhilarating part comes in wondering whether or not the young guns will get a chance to show their stuff as the Cubs are the only team remaining on the schedule who are not in the thick of the playoff chase.