Cincinnati Reds drop final game of road trip to Rangers

The Cincinnati Reds couldn’t complete a winning road trip, falling to the Texas Rangers.

After an 8-2 win against the AL West-leading Rangers on Tuesday night, the Reds couldn’t sweep the brief two-game set on Wednesday, falling 6-4. Considering the Reds didn’t win their first series away from home until the beginning of June, though, they can’t be too upset at going 4-5 on their road trip over the last 10 days.

One bad inning

Overall, Dan Straily put in another solid start. But the fourth inning — the only frame in which he didn’t face the minimum of three batters — proved to be his downfall. Straily loaded the bases with no outs by walking Shin-Soo Choo, hitting Rougned Odor and walking Nomar Mazara. With the heart of the order coming up, that didn’t bode well. Adrian Beltre drove home the first run of the game on a single up the middle, before Prince Fielder laced a single to right field that scored two more. The Reds had a chance to get out of the inning when Mitch Moreland hit a grounder to first base. But after touching first base, Ivan De Jesus Jr.‘s throw to second base was airmailed into left field, allowing another run to score.

Resiliency

Despite being faced with a four-run hole, the Reds didn’t roll over. They were shut out by Cole Hamels through five innings, but finally broke through in the sixth when a one-out Jay Bruce double was followed with an RBI single by Adam Duvall. In the eighth against Jake Diekman, the Reds put another dent in the Rangers’ lead. Again with one out, Bruce hit another double and Duvall followed with a walk. The next batter was Eugenio Suarez, who didn’t let the run-scoring opportunity go to waste, bashing a three-run home run to left field that just snuck around the foul pole to close the gap to one, 5-4.

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More first-batter homers

The offensive perseverance was for naught, however, as the Reds’ bullpen gave up a pair of solo home runs to allow the Texas lead to extend. In the seventh, J.J. Hoover gave up a long ball to Ian Desmond, the first batter he faced, to make it a 5-1 game. It was déjà vu in the eighth, as Tony Cingrani allowed a homer to Choo, who was also the first batter he faced, to let the Rangers take 6-4 advantage. If it seems like Reds relievers have given up a lot of home runs to the first batter they’ve faced, it’s because they have. According to MLB.com’s Mark Sheldon (and relayed by the Cincinnati Enquirer’s Zach Buchanan), the bullpen has now coughed up 16 home runs to the first hitter faced in a game.

Notes:

• Duvall drew two walks, the first time he has done so in 2016. He had walked only nine times all season coming into the game.
• Joey Votto missed his second straight game with an illness.
• The Reds will return to Great American Ball Park for a four-game series over the weekend, and will retire Pete Rose‘s No. 14.