Cincinnati Reds were dominated during wet weekend at Great American

There were some games played in Cincinnati over the past three days at Great American Ballpark. I’m not sure the Cincinnati Reds’ players knew about it. The beautiful term that is “Sweep” was handed down on the Redlegs courtesy of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Where oh where to begin? Tyler Mahle had been the ace of the Cincinnati Reds during the month of June with a 3-0 record and a sterling 2.18 ERA over 6 starts spanning 33 innings.

What happened you ask? Mahle was basically on cruise control, allowing two earned runs over the first five innings against the Bucs. He had thrown 83 pitches at that point, and if you’ve been watching at all this season, you know when Mahle loses it, he loses it quick.

The sixth inning opened with a harmless single and then a walk. It was at that point Mahle was finished as far as movement and command, so there was even a visit to the pitcher’s mound. I guess they told him to groove one down the middle to Sean Rodriguez because on his 94th pitch of the night, it was right down the middle and launched for a 3-run homer.

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Insanely, Mahle was left out there but amazingly got two quick outs. The only problem was that Chris Dickerson was coming up and the second home run of the inning was deposited into the seats. Jim Riggleman figured out after 111 pitches that Mahle was done and wasted David Hernandez to get one out.

The reactionary management has been a problem most of the season between both Bryan Price and Riggleman. I’m not even sure anticipation is in their vocabulary.

Whether it be the 12 runs the Pirates put up through 9 innings or the 6 runs they put up through 6, it didn’t matter. The offense was stuck in the first half and only one run was managed off Pirate pitching.

The highlight of the opening game for the home team was Jesse Winker going 3-for-4 to sit at an even .300 batting average on the season. The Cincinnati Reds also lost Alex Blandino for the season to a torn ACL after an awkward slide by Pittsburgh’s Max Moroff at second base.

Coincidently there was another game played on Saturday night too. I’m still not sure the Reds’ players got the memo because, besides a two-run home run from their backup catcher Curt Casali, that was their only offense.

The final score of the second game of this three-game series was 6-2. A rain delay likely cost Anthony DeSclafani a chance to go deeper than 4 1/3 innings in this one. I’d probably question the management sending Disco out after a 47-minute rain delay. He had allowed only two earned runs through four innings before the delay. Interestingly enough compared to the questionable use of Mahle the night before, Disco was pulled after a home run and a strikeout just 64 pitches into the game.

One thing is for certain, Jim Riggleman is unpredictable. The rookie, Mahle, threw 111 pitches for the Reds and the veteran right-hander, DeSclafani, threw 64.

Were there any highlights you ask? Same concept as Game 1. Jesse Winker maintained his hot streak with a 2-for-4 night to raise his batting average to .304, putting him in the Top 10 of the National League.

Game 3 was scheduled for Sunday afternoon and Matt Harvey, who was carrying a 3.64 ERA took the mound! At least they could salvage this one, right?! Wrong.

Harvey’s fastball command was off and his slider wasn’t moving. Riggleman was back to his reactionary ways. After watching Harvey get knocked around for six runs over three innings Riggleman thought it might be a good idea to send Harvey out for the fourth. Immediately a home run was hit, followed by two outs, and a single to right field. It’s almost as if Riggleman had Mahle and Harvey on the same exit strategy.

Just as the offense managed two runs the night before, two runs scoring Winker and Adam Duvall off a Phil Ervin single was all they could scrape together in this one. After 54 outs, the Reds lost 9-2.

Next: Blandino's injury reveals hole at SS

Being outscored 27-5 coming out of the All-Star Break probably wasn’t how they wrote it up. Monday the St. Louis Cardinals come to town. Let’s hope the bats wake up and the Reds get back on track.

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