
The streak is dead. Kyle Farmer hit a 2-run during the Cincinnati Reds’ lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates yesterday. What can we takeaway from that stretch of games?
Kyle Farmer, the forgotten piece of the trade that sent Homer Bailey out of town, ended the Cincinnati Reds 30-inning scoreless drought. While it felt like this nightmare was never going to end, Reds Country can rest easy knowing that the team finally scored some runs.
It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, however, as the Cincinnati Reds fell to the Pittsburgh in extra innings 6-5. Raisel Iglesias, after back-to-back innings, went out for the 10th and surrendered the game winning run.
The Cincinnati Reds have lost seven straight games and haven’t won since a crowd of 44,000-plus at Great American Ball Park watched Luis Castillo dominate these very same Pittsburgh Pirates and Derek Dietrich become a hero overnight. Since that evening, it’s been all downhill for a team that a lot of fans and experts picked to make a surprise run at a playoff spot this season.
Now, don’t fret Reds fans. Though is seems like a long shot, the season is early and the Reds are not out of it yet. In 1995, the Davey Johnson-led Cincinnati Reds overcame a 1-8 start to finish with 85 wins and won the National League Central Division.
Just as we suspected, the NL Central has beaten up on one another. The Milwaukee Brewers lead the division with a 7-2 record. The Chicago Cubs hung 14 runs on the Brew Crew last night and got only their second win of the young season.
The Pittsburgh Pirates occupy the second spot in the standing and are sitting at just one game over .500, while the St. Louis Cardinals are 3-5 having dropped two straight to the San Diego Padres. Paul Goldschmidt is hitting only .219 to begin the 2019 season, so it’s not just the big bats in the Reds lineup that a quiet in the early going.
My point is, it’s the first week of April and a 5.5 game deficit in the standing at this point is not insurmountable. That being said, it’s time for the Cincinnati Reds to put this losing streak behind them and I think they will. Let’s look at what three things we can takeaway from the 30 straight innings in which the Reds did not score a run.