“Los Rojos” Lose Another

Not much has made sense in 2014 for the Cincinnati Reds, but one thing has been certain: there is not much hope in one-run games. Once again, it was the slightest of miscalculations that cost the Reds as they dropped the rubber match of their series with the New York Mets by a final of 4-3.

Although the offense and relief pitching have been about as consistent as snow in July, the one constant has been the Reds’ defense. While having committed the fewest errors in the baseball is really just another way of saying that your defense doesn’t get to nearly enough balls (which would not be the case with Cincinnati), this has been a club predicated on their defense—even though they would fail to show it on Sunday.

It is not often that a Reds starting pitcher allows zero earned runs in a start, yet finds himself with an L next to his name. By so many unrelenting circumstances, that is how Mat Latos found himself against the Mets.

Well accustomed to having only a single run to work with as a lead, when Skip Schumaker brought home Latos on a RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, Latos was well aware that may be all the offensive help he was going to get. Some may claim that lining a base hit and then having to sprint the remaining 270 feet around the basepaths may have hindered his pitching performance from there on out, but Mat Latos happens to be built like a tight end.

It was a lazy fly ball to centerfield that Billy Hamilton had to go back on. And then keep going back on. Eventually, due to the fact that he’s the fastest player in the sport, he got camped under the ball, just for it to glance off his glove. Remember that conclusion of not making as many errors because of the lack of the ability to get to the ball? That could not be further from the truth, as not many centerfielders even get to the ball Hamilton would be charged for an error with.

In one of the most “Reds” things to happen all year, Anthony Recker, the Mets backup catcher who looks like a more chiseled version of the Michelangelo, and his sub-.200 batting average, cranked a two-run home run off Latos to put New York ahead 3-1.

Ranking up there with the most illogical baseball statistics (right along with the hold and the save), getting a loss where a team never manages to tie the game or regain the lead has to be among them. Sunday served as the perfect example. Latos would exit the game trailing by two runs—his team would eventually score those two runs back, meaning logically, whoever gave up the fourth run should be on the hook for the loss. But alas, the last thing J.J. Hoover needs is another loss.

Then again, Hoover is not entirely at fault for the run he surrendered in the eighth either. (Or, at least not as much at fault as someone who allowed a home run could be.) With what appeared to be a curiously slippery warning track around the diamond (because what else could find its way to derail the Reds this year), first baseman Jack Hannahan went flying down on his back in what will surely be a reoccurring moment on SportsCenter’s Not Top 10 Plays. Later in the at-bat, Curtis Granderson clobbered a Hoover offering to put the Mets up 4-1.

A comeback was in the works. Why the Redlegs wait until the ballpark has emptied to make a significant effort offensively is beyond many in Reds Country, but there were some fireworks against highly volatile Mets closer Jenrry Mejia.

There would be no rain-dancing on the first batter as Jay Bruce clobbered a Mejia offering into the right field seats for his 16^th home run of the season and calmly jogged around the bases like a competent human being. After walking nearly everyone in sight, and sending Mets broadcasters Gary Cohen and Keith Hernandez into a tizzy, Mejia seemed to have closed out the ballgame on a groundout from Todd Frazier. Stomping around on the ground as if he was trying to kill a colony of poisonous ants, Mejia stopped his ridiculous antics midway through just to realize the Reds were challenging the play, and ultimately have Frazier ruled safe.

After striking out Devin Mesoraco to secure the victory, Mejia did a gyration that would make anything Yasiel Puig does seem amiable and conservative. Mejia would give up three hits (two of which sounded like lightning making contact with a tree), walk two batters, get a lineout, give up two runs and do everything he possibly could without blowing the save, yet celebrated as if his club had just clinched a Postseason berth. Instead, they clinched the fact that they would remain out of the cellar in the National League East for another day.

Having two-out-of-three taken at home from them from an average-r than average Mets squad, the Reds now welcome in the destructive force that is the St. Louis Cardinals. No longer are these the quiet, slumping Cardinals, these are the Yadier Molina, shove-guys-to-the-backstop-until-they-judo-kick-you-Cardinals.

The series gets underway Monday night with Dylan Axelrod hoping to avoid getting mauled, both physically and performance-wise, while the Cardinals send Shelby Miller to the mound for a 7:10 p.m. start.