Cincinnati Reds: Sonny Gray victimized by lack of run support again

The offense is making it harder and harder for a Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher to get a win. Sonny Gray was the latest victim during last night’s loss to the Seattle Mariners.

The Cincinnati Reds fell to the Seattle Mariners last night 5-3. Sonny Gray took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and surrendered a three-run home run before being pulled in favor of Kevin Gausman. This was the 10th time this season that the Reds failed to score at least three runs when Gray was on the mound.

Kyle Lewis took the first pitch he saw from Gray in the bottom of the seventh inning and deposited it over the wall in right-center field. With Austin Nola getting aboard after being hit by a pitch and Kyle Seager drawing a six-pitch walk, Lewis’ homer made the score 3-2. That’s right, for the second night in a row, the Reds failed to put a major dent in the scoreboard against the M’s.

Seattle is 60-86 on the season and in full-blown rebuild mode. The Reds, while missing a few of their key offensive pieces (Jesse Winker and Nick Senzel), should still be able to manage more than just five hits off Seattle’s starter Marco Gonzales.

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Sadly, this is nothing new for Sonny Gray. When the right-hander toes the rubber, the offense struggles to score runs. Of the 29 games that Gray has started this season, the Reds offense has failed to score more than two runs on 10 different occasions. Gray is now 1-7 in those contests.

It’s tough to hang any of those losses on Gray. During those 10 games, he’s allowed just 16 earned runs while striking out 65 batters and walking just 20. His 2.56 ERA when his offense scores two or fewer runs should be more than enough. When the Reds score at least three runs, Gray is 9-0 with a 2.94 ERA.

The Cincinnati Reds starting pitchers have had to be nearly flawless all season in order to get a win. Manager David Bell has also had to sweat through way too many games where his offense failed to give the starter any semblance of run support. There may be no greater evidence of this than the number of one-run games the Reds have played this season.

The average Major League team has played in 38 one-run affairs this season. The Reds have played in 52. The Reds 31 losses in one-run games is more than any team in baseball by a wide margin. In fact, last night’s opponent, the Seattle Mariners, are the closest with 24 one-run losses. The Reds inept offense is the biggest reason for the club’s 21-31 record in one-run games.

By almost every single metric that exists, the Cincinnati Reds should be hovering around .500 this season. However, late inning collapses and poor offensive production have sabotaged this season. Last night’s loss in the Emerald City was the latest performance in which the Reds just didn’t show up and, once again, it costed Sonny Gray a victory.

Hopefully Dick Williams and Nick Krall makes some tweaks to the roster this offseason that brings some run support. While Gray hasn’t been the only starter victimized by the lack of offense this season, the Reds inability to put runs on the board has taken several victories away from the right-hander this season.