| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
|  Cincinnati Reds  (22-27) |
3 | 5 | 2 |
|  Los Angeles Dodgers  (28-24) |
4 | 5 | 0 |
|  W:  Ryu (5-2)    L: Cueto (4-4) | |||
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Relentlessness: Two innings only
Positives
Johnny Cueto gave up three unearned runs. One occurred when Todd Frazier, who was playing out of position because the Reds don’t have another first baseman on the roster who isn’t a left-handed hitter or Cueto’s personal catcher, booted a ground ball. The second and third run scored as a result of an error by Zack Cozart. Cueto pitched six plus innings, giving up four hits and two walks. An absurd 16-pitch at bat in the seventh by future Hall of Famer Justin Turner that ended in a walk seemed to take its toll on Cueto and set the stage for the Dodgers’ three-run seventh.
The Reds offense came to life in the eighth inning when they batted around the order. Todd Frazier led off with a double. Ryan Ludwick followed with a single. Chris Heisey hit a sacrifice fly to deep right field, scoring Frazier. Brayan Peña singled. After Devin Mesoraco struck out, Skip Schumaker drew a tough walk. Billy Hamilton then doubled, scoring Ludwick and Peña. Zack Cozart walked to load the bases. DatDude struck out.
Another clean inning for Jonathan Broxton.
Negatives
The Reds are dead last in the National League in runs scored over the last 30 days, and it’s not close. They are five games below .500 for the first time since April 12 when they were 3-8.
The Reds offense slept through the first seven innings. They didn’t manage a line drive after Ryan Ludwick’s line out to center field in the second inning until Todd Frazier’s double leading off the eighth.
Three unearned runs. See above. The Dodgers will take extra bases on outfield base hits. Chris Heisey (lackadaisical) and Billy Hamilton (sloppy) gave extra bases to Dee Gordon and Andre Ethier.
Manny Parra gave up a double to left-handed hitting Carl Crawford that plated the third and fourth runs for the Dodgers.
Not so random thoughts
Bryan Price used Devin Mesoraco as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning. Mesoraco struck out, but that was the aggressive (one might say, relentless) move by Price. The mess that is the Reds offense is not Bryan Price’s fault.
Billy Hamilton had a big hit in the eighth inning. It was the first ball he’d hit out of the infield since Wednesday. If you’re going be a contending team, you really need your lead-off hitter to do better than that.
The Dodgers’ pitching gets better tomorrow night and still better on Wednesday.