Cincinnati Reds burned by homers vs. Mariners, lose 6th straight

There wasn’t much to get excited about for the Cincinnati Reds on Ken Griffey Jr. bobblehead day.

As the Reds celebrated the career of a hometown favorite on Saturday afternoon, the team with which he spent most of his career — and had the most success — was busy winning for a second straight game. The Seattle Mariners didn’t have to wait until see the Reds bullpen this time, however, taking the victory in convincing, shutout fashion.

The loss marks the Reds’ sixth straight and drops them to 15-28 overall.

Offense can’t capitalize vs. King Felix

The Reds had their work cut out for them against one of the best pitchers in baseball, Felix Hernandez. But when they did have a chance to do some damage against him, they couldn’t get the job done. In the third and fifth innings, he loaded the bases with two outs and Joey Votto set to step to the plate. Hernandez won both battles, making a nice catch on a ball hit up the middle in the third and getting Votto to ground out to end the fifth. Those would be the only real chances Cincinnati would get. Hernandez would allow only four runs and three walks through six innings, while the Mariners bullpen didn’t allow a baserunner.

Long ball dooms Lamb

For a second straight start, John Lamb was not at his best. The southpaw did give the Reds six innings — a rarity for starting pitchers this season — but allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks, while striking out just three. All of his runs came on home runs, giving up a solo shot to Leonys Martin in the second before the crushing blow came in the fourth. Nelson Cruz singled on a line drive off of Lamb’s arm to begin the inning and another error by third baseman Eugenio Suarez (already his 10th of the year) allowed Dae-Ho Lee to reach. Two batters later, Franklin Gutierrez obliterated a three-run home run that traveled 473 feet, the second longest in the majors this season.

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A rare occurrence

It wasn’t exactly pretty, but the Reds bullpen did not allow a run, another rare occurrence. Ross Ohlendorf was the only reliever to throw a perfect inning, his second consecutive spotless appearance and third straight without allowing a run. Jumbo Diaz and Steve Delabar also had a scoreless inning apiece, though the former walked two batters and the latter walked one.

Along with Keyvius Sampson, Diaz was demoted to Triple-A Louisville after the game, while Delabar was designated for assignment. No corresponding roster moves have been announced, but Daniel Wright and Dayan Diaz could be two potential options for the Reds to promote.

Notes:

• Billy Hamilton is starting to come around at the plate. He had half of the Reds four hits, stretching his hitting streak to a modest four games. Over the last two weeks, he’s 10-for-31 (.323).
• Could a day off be good for Suarez? Over his last 10 games, he has struck out 20 times, including thrice on Saturday.
• Jay Bruce was a late scratch from the lineup due to a sore left knee, which he suffered after running into the right-field wall on Friday.