It was a long night for the Reds. Tonight’s game was delayed by 2.5 hours because of yet another rain delay in the Queen City. Once the game got underway, it was evident early that the Reds were well on their way to their tenth consecutive loss.
The Cubs wasted no time jumping all over Reds rookie starter Josh Smith, and his defense behind him. The Cubs took a 4-0 lead in the first inning. The inning was punctuated by a two-run double by Javier Baez, which Jay Bruce made two errors on.
The Reds offense was absolutely dominated by a Cubs starter who entered today with an ERA above five in his tenure with the Cubs. Dan Haren pitched 7.1 scoreless innings, allowing just three hits, without walking a batter, and striking out six. Even the great Joey Votto was kept off the bases in his three trips to the plate against Haren, which put his 45-game on-base streak in jeopardy.
Jason Bourgeois tripled on a terrible misplay by Austin Jackson to begin the bottom of the ninth. Ivan De Jesus Jr. drove him in on a ground out. That brought Joey Votto to the plate with his streak in jeopardy. Cubs rookie Carl Edwards Jr. walked Votto on four pitches to extend his on-base streak to 46 games. Votto is now just two games shy of the Reds record. Skip Schumaker (who entered the game earlier as an injury replacement for Todd Frazier) grounded into a double play to end the game. The Reds lost 4-1 to the Cubs for their tenth consecutive loss.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (63-94) | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| Chicago Cubs (92-65) | 4 | 8 | 2 |
| W: Haren (10-9) L: Smith (0-3) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
Biggest Play of the Game
According to Fangraphs WPA statistic (winning percentage added), the most important play of the game was Josh Smith giving up a 2-run double to Miguel Montero in the 1st inning, giving the Cubs 3-0 lead. That play decreased the Reds chances of winning by 17.4% (from 38.5% to 21.1%).
Player of the Game
Dan Haren: 7.1 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K, 1.51 FIP
This very well could have been the last start of Dan Haren’s career. It was so nice of the Reds offense to give him such a wonderful sendoff.
Positives
Draft pick. Draft pick. Draft pick.
The Reds bullpen was really good. Jumbo Diaz pitched a scoreless innings, and Carlos Contreras pitched two scoreless innings while striking out three. The Reds also had some hard-throwing guy named Aroldis Chapman pitch in the ninth inning. He pitched a scoreless ninth.
Negatives
Todd Frazier got hurt, and had to come out of the game in the 4th inning. It looked like he hurt himself trying to make a sliding catch. It was officially called a “slight strain in the right Achilles.”
Joey Votto might have also got hurt in the game. Reds broadcaster Jeff Brantley had this to say about it: “Votto may have tweaked back or spasm. It’s just a very uncomfortable swing right now. Something is going on with Votto that’s not normal.” Let’s certainly hope not.
Josh Smith was not good. He walked the pitcher. He was just not good.
Jay Bruce had two errors on one play. Jason Bouregois misplayed another ball. The wet field was certainly a factor, but the Reds defense left some to be desired.
The Reds offense has 6 hits in the last 2 games. Yikes.
Tonight was loss number 94 for the Reds. That is 10th most in Reds history, and the 3rd most since 1940 (101 losses in 1982, 96 losses in 2001).
#Reds' 10-game losing skid is their longest since June 14-24 of 1998, when they lost 11 straight.
— Enquirer Sports (@ENQSports) September 30, 2015
Not so random thoughts………….
You guys should really check out that AL West and AL Wild Card race. It is going to be a pretty fun final week.
Up Next:
Cubs at Reds
Wednesday, 7:10 PM
TV: FSN-Ohio
Anthony DeSclafani (30 GS, 3.91 ERA, 3.68 FIP) vs Jon Lester (31 GS, 3.43 ERA, 3.01 FIP)