Cincinnati Reds News: Tyler Mahle can’t escape the second inning

What’s up Reds Country? Tyler Mahle’s tailspin continued on Thursday night, Jose Peraza finally snapped out of a drought and Eugenio Suarez went deep again, but the Cincinnati Reds still lost.

The Cincinnati Reds dropped the opener of a four-game series with the Washington Nationals on Thursday night. The Nats used a six-run outburst in the second inning to put the Reds on their heels and finished Cincinnati off in the eighth. Washington scored three runs in the eighth, capped off by a Bryce Harper bomb to right-center field.

Mahle can’t escape the 2nd inning. Things are getting bad for Cincinnati starter Tyler Mahle, and with the current six-man rotation, Reds fans have got to be wondering how much longer the rookie might stick around. Mahle went 1.2 innings, allowed 6 runs on 4 hits with 3 walks and only 1 strikeout. That will not get it done.

Mahle hasn’t got past the third inning in three of his last four starts. The one bright spot in Thursday’s game is that he didn’t allow a home run. Over his last four starts, Mahle has gone 10.2 innings and allowed 22 runs on 24 hits.

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After a brilliant month of June saw Mahle’s ERA drop as low as 3.66, Thursday’s outing ballooned his ERA to 4.95. Mahle’s recent stretch of rough starts has to make you wonder if he’s hitting that “rookie wall”. There’s no doubt, with the bullpen being a stretched as it has been since Homer Bailey‘s return, Jim Riggleman can’t afford to keep pulling starters this early in games while continuing to run out six starters to the mound.

Peraza finally breaks his cold streak. Jose Peraza had been mired in a bit of a slump. Peraza was only 3 for 23 in his last 28 plate appearances before the 2 RBI-double that scored Brandon Dixon and Billy Hamilton in the top of the ninth inning on Thursday night.

Peraza had been riding a hot streak into the All-Star break. From June 9th through July 15th (31 games), Peraza was hitting .352 with a .420 on-base percentage. While not known as a power hitter, Peraza had 3 round-trippers during that stretch and his OPS was sitting on .928.

Since the All-Star break, Peraza, much like most of the Reds’ offense, has been pretty quiet. He’s only hitting .208 with a .255 OBP and a .567 OPS. Hopefully, that late inning double will bring some life back to Peraza’s bat. He’s been in the leadoff spot since Scott Schebler went to the DL.

Suarez at it again. Before the series began, we discussed how Eugenio Suarez may be the most dangerous hitter in the Reds’ lineup for the Nationals’ pitching staff. He proved it last night with a 2-run shot to left field off Nats’ ace Max Scherzer.

The home run by Eugenio Suarez was his 25th on the season. He also notched his 82nd and 83rd RBI with that blast. Suarez trails the Nationals’ Bryce Harper for sixth in the National League the home run department, but he’s tied for first with the Cubs’ Javier Baez for runs batted in.