Cincinnati Reds Lose 7th Straight Despite DeSclafani’s Strong Start

5. . 1. 61. 2

Coming off of his worst start of the season and a series of bad outings by their Cincinnati Reds’ starting pitchers, the team really needed Anthony DeSclafani to step up today. Step up he did, and against Cy Young winner Corey Kluber, no less.

Both were on top of their games on Saturday afternoon, though Kluber ultimately earned the win as the Reds’ bullpen allowed the go-ahead run in the eighth to give the Indians a 2-1 win.

DeSclafani did all he could to give the Reds a shot, as he tossed seven innings of one-run, three-hit baseball, striking out six and walking two. His only hiccup came in the sixth inning when he got into some trouble with two outs. Jason Kipnis started the rally with a single that went in and out of the glove of right fielder Brennan Boesch. After a walk, David Murphy brought Kipnis home with an RBI single that tied the game at one.

The Reds were able to get nine hits off of Kluber over eight innings, but could only get one run across against him. That run came in the second when Zack Cozart gave the Reds an early lead with a sacrifice fly.

DeSclafani’s great performance was all for naught, as Tony Cingrani allowed the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth. Cingrani walked the leadoff batter of the inning and one out later gave up the game-winning RBI double to Kipnis that scored Michael Bourn from first.

The loss was the seventh straight for the Reds and drops them to 18-24 overall. This is getting ugly.

Other Notes:

For reasons still unknown, Bryan Price was ejected from the game before it ever started, his second ejection of the season. Not a good look. (UPDATE: Price said after the game that it was a carryover from Friday’s game when he disagreed with a lot of balls and strikes. Okay then.)
With a 2-for-4 performance today, Jay Bruce extended his hitting streak to six games. He’s hitting .500 (11-for-22) with two doubles and two home runs over that span.
Many were curious as to why Devin Mesoraco wasn’t used as the designated hitter in the last two games, but it was learned before today’s game that he has had a setback with his hip injury after crouching for the first time since his injury. John Fay speculates that Mesoraco is going to opt to have season-ending surgery.

Up Next: The three-game series concludes on Sunday at 1:10 p.m. ET as the Cincinnati Reds try to avoid a sweep. Raisel Iglesias (1-0, 3.94 ERA) will get the start in place of Johnny Cueto, who was scratched with elbow stiffness. Trevor Bauer (3-1, 3.31) will start for the Indians.

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