The Short Version: Nice pitching can’t be overcome by complete lack of offense. Where have we heard that one before?
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cincinnati Reds (5-12) | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Los Angeles Dodgers (12-8) | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| W: Buehler (2-0) L: Gray (0-3) S: Jansen (5) | |||
| FanGraphs Win Probability | Box Score | |||
The Good
–Overall, the pitching was good. Sonny Gray got the start, and he only gave up three runs on two hits; Gray struck out nine and walked just two. Those two walks haunted him, though. After walking the leadoff hitter, Austin Barnes, Gray struck out the next two Dodger hitters. By that time, Barnes had moved to second on his first stolen base of the season. With first base open, the Reds chose to intentionally walk Cody Bellinger.
That particular bit of strategy worked out about as well as everything else has worked out for the Redlegs this season: AJ Pollock hit a three-run homer and that’s all the Dodgers needed today.
–David Hernandez and Amir Garrett pitched scoreless innings.
The Bad
–The Reds collected three lonely hits. Three.
The Recap
–The Reds were just swept by the Dodgers, scoring six runs in the three-game series. That’s four losses in a row, and that four-game winning streak from last week was just erased by another stretch of anemic offense. It’s not fun to watch.
Oh yeah, and they’re firmly in last place, six games out at the time I write this.
–The good guys are now 0-7 on the road this season. Awesome.
–Manager David Bell was ejected for the second time this season. Today’s toss came in the fifth inning, apparently as a result of arguing balls and strikes from the dugout.
–Cincinnati scored a run — against all odds — in the top of the seventh. Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp singled, then Puig scored on a groundout from pinch-hitter Eugenio Suarez.
The final run of the day was a gift from Los Angeles in the top of the ninth. Puig popped one up on the infield, but reached on an embarrassing error from Dodger second baseman Enrique Hernandez. Puig stole second, then advanced to third on another error when catcher Barnes threw the ball into center field. Kemp lifted a sacrifice fly and the Reds were finished scoring for the day. But a good time was had by all.
–Crazy note from the ESPN recap: Joey Votto popped out to Bellinger in foul territory in the eighth inning. Incredibly, that’s the first time Votto has popped out to the first baseman in his entire 1,592-game career, which began in 2007.
–It’s difficult to overstate how awful the Reds offense has been outside of three games against Miami. I guess Suarez and the catchers are kinda holding their weight, but everyone else has pretty much been a disaster at the plate. Puig, Jesse Winker, Kemp, Scott Schebler, Votto: uniformly awful.
These guys didn’t become terrible hitters all at once, overnight. They’re going to hit this season, and the team is going to win a lot of games the rest of the way. But watching them continue to flail for three consecutive weeks now is not fun.
I expected this team to be a blast, win or lose, but they’re brutal right now. I can barely stand to watch them.
–Reds head to San Diego next, if you’re still interested in watching this team.
Today’s Tweets
The Reds .205 team batting average is their lowest through 16 games since at least 1908. Their .276 OBP is their lowest since 1966.
— Joel Luckhaupt (@jluckhaupt) April 17, 2019
David Bell had enough and was ejected from today's @Reds game. pic.twitter.com/1bxyUu5JGx
— FOX Sports Ohio (@FOXSportsOH) April 17, 2019
Does it feel like every single thing that could go wrong for the Reds this season, has? Because it feels that way to us.
— Redleg Nation (@redlegnation) April 17, 2019
Sonny Gray has a 2.79 ERA with 6 walks and 22 strikeouts through 4 starts and 19.1 innings pitched. Things didn't go perfectly for him today, but we'll take this moving forward and feel pretty good about it.
— Redleg Nation (@redlegnation) April 17, 2019
It's okay, Reds. pic.twitter.com/pHgKI2fAnJ
— Redleg Nation Radio (@redlegradio) April 17, 2019