The tension built steadily over a two and a half day window. That’s how long we had to wait to see the Cincinnati Reds blow a game on Friday night in a way so uniquely their own after the last time they blew a game in a way so uniquely their own.
There’s blowing a late 2-run lead only to then serve up a walk-off homer to a guy who forgot to hit homers all year. There’s doing that with a newly-promoted starting pitcher on in a relief role in the Bottom of the 9th inning, doing so in the most packed-house road stadium he’ll ever see.
Then, there’s simply dropping the ball. That’s what happened on Friday night in Great American Ball Park, and it happened to the guy who’s perhaps the best defender the Reds have on the field most nights.
Blake Dunn’s 9th inning foible got most all of the headlines from last night’s 5-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, because that’s the easy way to do it. It was the oh no play in a big spot, and that’s when the 2-2 score on the scoreboard changed.
But the way the Cincinnati Reds lost on Friday night cannot at all be simply defined by that drop.
They walked 9 times on the night and scored just twice. Nine times.
They forced the opposing starter to throw 40 pitches in a single inning…and still managed to not score a single run that inning. Meanwhile, the guy on their roster who’d faced that starter more than anyone else (and was 5 for 10 with a walk and a double against him) didn’t even get put in the starting lineup to face him.
As a team, they own the 12th most PA on the season with runners in scoring position. Their collective 81 wRC+ in those situations is the worst among all MLB clubs. Their .295 wOBA in those positions is the worst among the 30 teams, too.
Today, they’re going to willingly roll out a starting pitcher whose last three outings have seen him throw just 7.1 IP combined. In that time he has walked 13 batters and allowed 11 earned runs.
The bullpen blew the game in San Diego when Fernando Tatis, Jr.’s bat woke up. Lack of any sort of timely hitting and a horror show bit of defense at the worst of times last them last night’s game. So often with this bruised and broken starting rotation, it’s been the starting pitching that’s put this team in a hole from the very beginning of games.
That’s just about every facet of the game right there. Add in keeping Nate Lowe on the bench last night despite his history against Eduardo Rodriguez, and you get to add managing to the list, too.
The Cincinnati Reds are simply running out of ways they can lose games this year. That they’re in last place again cannot come as any surprise.
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