| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Seattle Mariners (24-17) | 8 | 10 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (15-27) | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| W: Iwakuma (2-4) L: Wood (3-1) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | |||
The Good
–You wanna hear some good news? I finished this recap just before my laptop’s battery was drained completely. Success!
–Six strong innings from Dan Straily. Sure, he was helped by a beautiful defensive play from Billy Hamilton in the sixth, but still: 6 IP, one run allowed on hour hits.
My opinion may be colored by the awful pitching we’ve seen so far this year, but I have to believe that Straily is probably the greatest pitcher in the history of the universe.
–Zack Cozart had a long homer. Tucker Barnhart had three hits, and Adam Duvall had a couple.
–The Reds had a lead going into the seventh inning…
(You all know how that story ends.)
The Bad
–With a 3-1 lead, Bryan Price was forced against his will to turn the game over to the bullpen, namely Blake Wood. Wood allowed two singles and two walks to the four batters he faced. With the lead cut to 3-2, Tony Cingrani entered. On his first pitch, he plunked Robinson Cano to tie the game. By the time the dust settled, the Mariners were leading 5-3.
–The bullpen has blown 10 of 14 save chances. It’s the 11th time this season that the Reds have surrendered a lead in the seventh inning or later and went on to lose the game.
–In the ninth inning, Jumbo Diaz gave up a homer to Nelson Cruz that probably traveled 700 miles. The second home run that Diaz surrendered in the ninth was just a garden variety homer, however.
Not-So-Random Thoughts
–That’s five losses in a row for the ol’ Redlegs, eight of their last nine, and ten of their last twelve. This season ain’t goin’ so well.
–Can I just say this, because I hear criticism all the time? This is not Bryan Price’s fault, in any way. He’s likely to get fired after this season, but he does not deserve one ounce of blame for this Cincinnati Reds debacle we’ve been watching over the last two years.
–I’ve really never seen anything like this bullpen. I mean, every bullpen struggles occasionally, but this collection of jokers blows the game every single night. It’s complete insanity…
…but it’s kinda hilarious. I’m still watching this team every night, and it’s kinda fun to see what new ways the bullpen is going to find to kill our hopes. We already knew the 2016 Reds were going to stink. Why not see some historic ineptitute along the way?
–No jokes, Straily was a great buy-low acquisition by the Reds, as we said here at RN at the time.
–Steve Selsky struck out in his first major league at-bat. Let’s hope there are better times ahead.
–Love the fact that the Reds are celebrating Ken Griffey Jr. with the Mariners in town this weekend. Who’s gonna pick up a bobblehead for me tomorrow?
–Also, isn’t it appropriate that the Reds are honoring Junior, since the last time Cincinnati had such a horrid pitching staff was back when Griffey was playing here.
–I don’t talk about the announcers very often, because so much of that is subjective. But I do have a comment on Jim Day, who was performing play-by-play duties on tonight’s television broadcast. He was genuinely good. And I usually don’t care for him as the between-innings goofy guy.
But I enjoyed him tonight. He did the play-by-play and got out of the way. I liked it. Wish Chris Welsh had been paired with him.
–Good night, Nation.