Cincinnati Reds: Bullpen wastes Brandon Finnegan’s gem

An outstanding outing from a Cincinnati Reds rookie was for naught thanks to another bullpen implosion.

Everyone knew the Reds had a glaring weakness in the bullpen when the season began, and that proved to be true once again on Monday night.

Starter Brandon Finnegan took a no-hitter through 6 2/3 frames against the Chicago Cubs before surrendering a hit, but the relief corps couldn’t hold on to a 3-0 lead in the final innings. The loss drops the Reds into second place in the NL Central behind the Cubs at 5-2.

Finnegan shines again

While he didn’t get a win to show for it, Finnegan was the story in this one. Despite his shaky command (five walks) the southpaw had all three of his pitches working well and was able to keep the Cubs out of the hit column through the sixth inning. Manager Bryan Price made an interesting choice to send Finnegan back out after six innings and 92 pitches. He was able to record two outs before giving up a line-drive single to former Red David Ross to end the no-hit bid. Inexplicably, the Reds had no one warming in the bullpen at that point and Finnegan walked one more hitter before being removed. The southpaw was ultimately charged with two runs on one hit and five walks, while striking out five. Through two starts, Finnegan has been as impressive as could be expected, posting a 2.84 ERA and fanning 14 in 12 2/3 innings.

Ugly bullpen showing

Finnegan turned the ball over to Caleb Cotham, who issued a walk to load the bases and was promptly removed in favor of Tony Cingrani. The lefty got ahead of Jason Heyward 0-2, but couldn’t put him away as the Cubs’ right fielder knocked a two-run single into right field. The Reds escaped the inning with a 3-2 lead, but wouldn’t be so fortunate in the eighth. Cingrani’s simply couldn’t find the strike zone, issuing a one-out walk to Ben Zobrist before hitting Jorge Soler to end his game. Jumbo Diaz came on and wasted no time in giving up the lead, allowing a three-run homer to Addison Russell on the very first pitch he threw. There’s no doubt the bullpen performed well in the first week of the season, but the unit always seemed destined for regression. That happened in a big way on Monday night.

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Reds work Lester

The Reds were able to get to Cubs lefty Jon Lester early and often, scoring in three of the first four innings. The run production came from some unlikely sources as well, with Billy Hamilton hitting a solo home run to lead off the third inning — the 11th of his career — and Finnegan helping himself out with an RBI single in the fourth. Lester was knocked from the game after six innings and 100 pitches, having allowed three runs on five hits and two walks.

Notes:

• Zack Cozart, coming off of a major injury to his right knee, had to leave the game in the fourth inning with quadriceps tightness in that same leg. He went 1-for-2 before exiting.
• On a more positive note for Cozart, he has yet to swing and miss on any of the 32 pitches he’s swung at this season.
• Joey Votto (2-for-4) was the only Red to notch multiple hits. Adam Duvall was the only other player to reach twice, walking and hitting his third double in the last two games.
• It wasn’t a great day for Eugenio Suarez. He was held hitless for the first time since Opening Day and also made his third error of the season at third base.