Reds vs. Cardinals: Pitching preview, prediction, and more

The Reds head out West attempting to salvage a difficult week.

Following a disastrous return to Great American Ball Park, which saw the Cincinnati Reds (9-9) drop the final four games of a six-game homestand, manager David Bell is left trying to determine the true identity of this team.

It’s difficult to recall a series that shook the confidence of Reds Country more than the Arizona Diamondbacks’ visit to the Queen City. Keep in mind, this is a bad D-backs squad who will be lucky to avoid the cellar in the National League West.

Somehow Cincinnati found new and excruciating ways to lose each of the three contests against Arizona. Which defeat was the most painful? Let’s examine that question.

Cincinnati took a 4-3 lead into the 8th inning of the series opener, only to be greeted with sleet and a snowstorm, which completely disabled the Reds pitching staff from gripping the baseball. Amazingly the inept umpiring crew found no issue with the weather and allowed the game to continue under incredibly unsafe conditions.

Consequently, after Reds hurlers were done walking and hitting almost every Arizona hitter that stepped to the plate, the Redlegs suddenly found themselves facing a 5-4 deficit. Eventually, it took Cincinnati reliever Lucas Sims to toss out every ball handed to him by the home plate umpire to bring the game to a halt.

The game was finally suspended, but the damage had been done. When the game resumed the following day, the Reds could not plate a run and lost a game played under completely avoidable conditions.

The second game versus the D-backs saw Tyler Mahle toss a brilliant game enabling the Reds to take a 3-0 lead entering the 9th inning. David Bell summoned Amir Garrett to the mound to close the game out, and you know the rest.

By the time Garret was removed after facing four batters, the game was tied, and the Reds would lose by a score of 8-5 in extra innings. But wait, unfortunately, there’s one more agonizing game to revisit.

Right-hander Jeff Hoffman turned in another solid performance before handing the game off to the Reds bullpen, who treated the Arizona lineup as if they were facing the 1927 Bronx Bombers.

Despite battling back from 4-1 and 8-4 deficits, the 11 runs the Reds scored yesterday were not enough. In five innings of complete meltdown mode, the relief corps was scored upon 12 times while allowing seven walks and two home runs. Ugly doesn’t even begin to describe the scene.

As a result, the Cincinnati Reds are limping into the Gateway City to play a St. Louis Cardinals (8-10) club, who have had their fair share of underwhelming performances to start the 2021 campaign. After dropping seven of their last 10 games, the Redbirds currently occupy the basement of the National League Central.