Titanic Struggle Recap: Reds blow 4-0 lead. Let’s just blame Marlon Byrd, okay?

The Good
–The Redlegs were up 4-0 after two innings. Unfortunately, some moron back in the 1800s decreed that games were supposed to last nine innings, instead of two. I hate that guy.

–Eugenio Suarez was 3-4 tonight with an RBI. The kid just keeps hitting. His season slash line is now .305/.342/.488. Me likey.

–Jason Bourgeois was 2-4 with a triple, an RBI, and two runs scored. A good bounce-back performance after last night’s disaster.

–JJ Hoover pitched a perfect ninth (though no more; see below). Ryan Mattheus didn’t allow a run in an inning and two-thirds.

The Bad
–Reds lead 4-0, lose 5-4. If you are a new fan of the Cincinnati Reds National League Baseball Club, get used to this.

–I’ll repeat what I said a couple of nights ago: I really don’t think Bryan Price is as bad a manager as everyone seems to think, but his handling of the bullpen drives me right up the wall.

Here’s an example of what I was talking about. Tonight, the Reds held a 4-3 lead going into the 8th inning. Price brings in Burke Badenhop. That’s fine. I like Badenhop. He’s a good reliever.

Well, Bade Burkenhop proceeded to load the bases. So, here’s the situation: bases loaded, one run game, two outs, eighth inning, a struggling pitcher on the mound. Perfect spot for Aroldis Chapman, right?

Ummm, no. Chapman wasn’t warming up. No one was warming up! At least, not until Badenhop loaded the bases. So, predictably, the D’backs scored two runs and took a 5-4 lead.

Now, perhaps Chapman wasn’t available for some reason (and that’s looking increasingly likely). That’s the ONLY excuse for him not being in the game. There is absolutely no justification, however, for someone — JJ Hoover? — not warming up in the bullpen as Badenhop began to blow this game. And that’s all on Bryan Price.

–Badenhop hadn’t allowed a run in a month and a half, folks. He pitched poorly tonight, but he’s good. He just didn’t have it tonight.

–In the bottom of the eighth, down one run after Price’s bullpen shenanigans, the Reds got two runners on with no outs. Todd Frazier: lazy fly ball. Jay Bruce: strikeout. Ivan DeJesus, Jr.: groundout.

–Bruce is 6-58 since August 5. Ugly. And his strikeout that I mentioned above? He chased a bunch of balls out of the zone. Funny how Frazier and Bruce get mired in slumps when they swing at bad pitches, but when Votto refused to swing at pitches outside the strike zone, he’s hurting the team. I’m confused.

–Joey Votto only got on base twice, with a double and a walk. Not an elite performance.

Not-So-Random Thoughts
–Six straight losses and nine of their last eleven. Can someone explain why I am still watching this mess every single night?

Because I love this franchise. And I probably need mental health treatment.

–I’m going to put John Lamb down here, instead of under “The Good” or “The Bad” above. Lamb started really well, mixing up his pitches, keeping hitters off balance. Then he struggled a bit. In the end, he pitched into the sixth inning, 5.1 innings, three runs allowed on nine hits. But Lamb struck out 8 and walked none.

He’s a rookie. But I really love what I’ve seen from this kid so far.

–If you aren’t completely and utterly in love with Eugenio Suarez, we can’t be friends.

–Marlon Byrd was traded before the game. You can’t blame him for tonight’s loss. Sorry.

—Alert: Sentimentality ahead. This makes three straight Recaps for me. I like it. Feels like the first 7-8 years that Redleg Nation existed, when I pretty much wrote ALL the recaps. More than 95% anyway.

Goodness, I love this dumb little site. Thank you guys for making this so much fun over the years.