Wrigley Sweep: Cincinnati Reds Drop Three Straight
By Jesse Borek
While they may have gotten on the board Wednesday night, the lone run the Cincinnati Reds scored was not enough, as they fell to the Chicago Cubs by a final of 3-1.
The lowest run total in a three-game series at Wrigley Field for the Reds was two runs by the easily forgotten, oft-remembered 1928 squad. Arguably, the 2014 train wreck will be just as forgettable.
The Bats:
Disguised in road grays was the minor league version of what has become a historically dismal offense. Furious with the effort put forth from his starters in the first two games of the series, manager Bryan Price yanked the whole crew (sans Ryan Ludwick), making the game feel more like the back-ups on a varsity team playing the Chicago Cubs.
To start the game, it appeared as if Kristopher Negron would light a fire under the offense when he rocketed a double deep into the left centerfield gap. Desperate for a run, Ramon Santiago would sacrifice him over before Yorman Rodriguez would bring him in on a RBI groundout—the first of his career.
Just when the offense appeared to show a pulse–it flat lined.
Dominated inside and out by Kyle Hendricks, the B-squad Reds would not score again.
There would be minor highlights, such as Tucker Barnhart’s two-hit game, which included a perfectly executed surprise attack bunt down the third base line, proving that even the peskiest of hitters can accomplish the task with some attention to detail.
Also with a multi-hit game was Yorman Rodriguez, who played centerfield and batted in the number three spot in the lineup. As highly touted of a prospect as Rodriguez may be, he should not get comfortable in either position, whether it be defensively, or in the heart of the order.
A lineup featuring the majority of the Pensacola Blue Wahoos and Louisville Bats’ order was not explicitly designed to win, as much as it was made out of disdain of the performance the past few evenings.
* * *
The Arms:
While he may not be Johnny Cueto, Daniel Corcino has proven himself to be quite an effective pitcher in his own right. He would get stuck with the hard luck loss after allowing two runs in the second inning, despite that being the only frame he would even allow a hit, let alone a run.
Corcino does not possess elite velocity—he sat in the 90-91 MPH range the entire evening with his fastball, but he has shown terrific command of his breaking pitches in the short time he has been with Cincinnati. As the story is with any starter, it becomes imperative to establish the secondary pitches in order for hitters to stay off the fastball.
After Pedro Villarreal and Manny Parra combined for four outs from the bullpen, Jumbo Diaz got the ball in the eighth looking to keep the Reds within striking distance. The inning was not a clean one, as the Cubs put another run on the board, which might as well have been a dozen with the current state of the Reds offense.
Allowing just three runs to the Cubs at Wrigley Field should be a formula for success, yet it was spoiled rotten.
* * *
Having been swept by Chicago, there is suddenly a race for the bottom-dweller position in the National League Central. In addition to the sweep, the Reds secured themselves a sub-.500 record for the first time since 2011.
After a day off in St. Louis, the club will get its final road series of the season underway Friday night at 8:15 p.m. when David Holmberg matches up against John Lackey from Busch Stadium.