Cincinnati Reds Lose 7th Straight, Falling 6-3 to Diamondbacks

W: Rubby De La Rosa (11-5)

L: David Holmberg (1-3)

SV: Brad Ziegler (23)

We knew the Cincinnati Reds’ reboot would be ugly. The Cueto-less, Leake-less, Byrd-less Reds dropped their seventh straight game on Friday night, losing to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-3. Since the Milwaukee Brewers topped the Washington Nationals on Friday, the loss means the Reds are officially the new cellar-dwellers of the National League Central.

For the second start in a row, David Holmberg did not pitch well. When you’re a pitcher who doesn’t strike anybody out, your control needs to be great and Holmberg’s was not on Friday night. The southpaw consistently left balls up in the zone and got touched up for five runs on 11 hits in five innings, raising his season ERA to 6.57.

Like he has been for most teams this season, all-star A.J. Pollock was a pain to deal with for Reds pitchers. The Diamondbacks center fielder homered, singled, and doubled in his first three at-bats and nearly got another hit in his fourth at-bat, when he hit a scorching line drive right at third baseman Todd Frazier. Pollock would add another hit in his fifth at-bat in the ninth to give him back-to-back four-hit games against the Reds. Oh, and he also stole two bases.

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Holmberg also gave up a solo home run to Yasmany Tomas in a four-run fourth inning, which put the Reds in a 5-0 deficit.

The Reds were able to mount a bit of a comeback after being shut out by D-Backs starter Rubby De La Rosa through five innings. Jay Bruce brought home one run on a ground out in the sixth and Jason Bourgeois made it 5-2 in the seventh with an RBI single to bring home Brayan Pena, who went 3-for-4 with two doubles.

Joey Votto closed the gap further in the eighth with a solo shot, his 23rd home run of the season, but the Reds would never get closer than that.

Sam LeCure relieved Holmberg and threw two shutout innings, much like he did in his 2015 debut on Wednesday. Jumbo Diaz followed and saw his stretch of scoreless appearances come to an end at 11. Diaz got through his first inning of work in the eighth, but allowed a run on two hits in the ninth as the Diamondbacks pushed their lead back to three.

Other Notes

Frazier showed signs of breaking out of his second half slump, going 2-for-4 with his 34th double of the season. Despite his struggles, he still leads the NL in doubles and extra-base hits.
Meanwhile, the Reds’ other scuffling slugger, Bruce, continued to be ice cold at the dish. Bruce went 0-for-4, making him 6-for-62 since Aug. 5.
Brandon Phillips was out for the second consecutive game with right biceps inflammation, but did pinch hit for LeCure in the seventh inning. You can probably expect him to be back in the lineup on Saturday.

Up Next: The Reds and Diamondbacks will meet for game three on Saturday at 7:10 p.m. EST. Anthony DeSclafani will get the ball for the Reds on Tony Perez Day, while Randall Delgado will make his first start of the season for Arizona.

Next: Reds trade Marlon Byrd to Giants

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