Cincinnati Reds thrashed by Indians again, 13-1

There’s not much to say about this one. The Cincinnati Reds were flat-out humiliated for a second straight day by the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday night, 13-1, in what was arguably the worst pitching performance of the season (and that’s saying something). They leave Progressive Field having been outscored 28-7 in two games and drop to 3-14 on the road this season.

Pitching staff hits new low

Alfredo Simon, who has thrown poorly all year, had his worst outing of the season, allowing 10 runs and 14 hits in 4 1/3 innings. He now has an atrocious 10.34 ERA. Initially, Simon had *only* given up eight runs when he was pulled from the game. That was before Steve Delabar turned in one of the ugliest outings imaginable.

The right-hander came in and walked Jason Kipnis to load the bases. After striking out Francisco Lindor, he walked four straight batters with the bases full and had to be pulled from the game. You read that right: Delabar faced six hitters and walked five of them. For perspective, that’s more than Clayton Kershaw has allowed all season. Unsurprisingly, it was a historically bad showing:

Things got better for the Reds following Delabar’s exit, but mostly because it wasn’t possible to get worse. Although Blake Wood got out of the fifth inning without letting the Indians build on their 12-0 lead, he got himself into trouble in the sixth by walking the first two batters, Rajai Davis and Carlos Santana. Davis would come around to score on a two-out single by Mike Napoli.

Tony Cingrani and Ross Ohlendorf eventually stopped the bleeding by tossing a scoreless inning apiece.

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Bats silenced

Compounding the horrendous pitching was an offense that couldn’t get rolling. Indians starter Danny Salazar allowed only one hit and one walk through the first six innings, looking, at least for awhile, like he would cruise to a complete-game shutout. The Reds would eventually break through for a run on three hits in the seventh, but it was the only scoring they could manage on the night.

Bruce stays hot

There weren’t many positives to take from the game, but Jay Bruce‘s day at the plate was one of them, as he picked up two singles in three at-bats. The right fielder saw his batting average creep down into the .230s around a week ago, but has it back up to .276 after going 8-for-13 over the last four games.

Notes:

• Billy Hamilton returned to the lineup after missing four straight games while on the bereavement list. He went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
• Per MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon, the 14 hits Simon allowed were the most by a Reds pitcher since Homer Bailey gave up 15 on July 26, 2008. The only difference was Bailey only allowed five runs that day.
• The Reds are now 19-32 all-time in Cleveland. They haven’t won a game in Progressive Field since Aug. 5, 2014 and haven’t won a series there since 2010.