A sold-out crowd at Great American Ball Park on Wednesday night saw the Cincinnati Reds continue to struggle to score more runs than their opponent during a 4-2 loss to the Chicago White Sox. It was the White Sox’ first road series win of 2025 and just their sixth road win in 43 games. Meanwhile, the Reds have now lost 11 of their last 15 games. In eight of those 11 losses, the Reds have scored just one run or less.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chicago White Sox (14-29) | 4 | 10 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (20-24) | 2 | 9 | 0 |
| W: Davis Martin (2-4) L: Nick Lodolo (3-4) SV: Mike Vasil (1) | |||
| Box Score | Game Thread | Statcast | |||
The White Sox jumped on the scoreboard first in the second inning when Andrew Vaughn doubled down the left field line to score Luis Robert Jr., after Robert Jr. had reached base on a leadoff single and then promptly stole second earlier in the inning.
It wasn’t Nick Lodolo’s best start of the season, but he kept it close for much of the game. He had a runner on base every inning except the first inning, working his way in and out of trouble all night, including a bases-loaded jam in the third. The White Sox added on to their lead in the fifth when Robert Jr. singled in Chase Meidroth, who had been walked by Lodolo to lead off the inning. Lenyn Sosa homered in the sixth to make it a 3-0 game. Sosa would be Lodolo’s last batter of the game, who left in the sixth having given up three runs on seven hits with two walks and four strikeouts across 5.1 innings. Michael A. Taylor added his second home run of the season in the seventh inning off Scott Barlow to make the score 4-0 at the time.
Meanwhile, the Reds’ offensive woes continued. They had chances to score in the second when Spencer Steer had a one-out double, but he was left stranded there. Matt McLain led off the bottom of the third with a single; however, Rece Hinds, Gavin Lux and Santiago Espinal went quietly in order after that. In the sixth, Gavin Lux led off with a hustle double on a line drive hit sharply to deep right field. However, Espinal, Elly De La Cruz, and Austin Hays went quietly in 1-2-3 order after that. De La Cruz and Hays combined to see just five pitches between the two of them in those at-bats.
Spencer Steer kept the Reds from being shut out with a home run to left field in the seventh. They added another run in the eighth on an Austin Hays double that brought De La Cruz home from second base.
Key Moment of the Game
Lenyn Sosa homered off Nick Lodolo during an eight-pitch at-bat with two outs in the fifth inning to extend the White Sox lead to 3-0. Sosa would end up being Lodolo’s last batter he faced.
Notes Worth Noting
TJ Friedl pinch ran for Jose Trevino in the seventh. This is good news because it means Friedl is indeed available off the bench; however, he did not stay in the game as a defensive replacement. Take that for what it’s worth, which is probably nothing.
Will Benson played some excellent defense in center field, robbing Miguel Vargas twice, once via an over the shoulder catch in front of the Reds bullpen and another on a sliding catch.
The Reds were 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position tonight. Until Hay’s double in the eighth inning, a runner in scoring position had not scored for the Reds since Saturday’s win in Houston.
According to John Sadak on the FanDuel Sports Network broadcast, Sox starter Davis Martin had never recorded an out in the seventh inning in his career. He left the game with two outs in the seventh, the longest outing of his career. Martin threw only 60 pitches through five innings, which really helped his cause.
Up Next
Chicago White Sox vs. Cincinnati Reds
Thursday, May 15th, 12:40 PM EDT
Bryse Wilson (0-1, 4.88 ERA) vs. Nick Martinez (1-4, 4.23 ERA)
I didn’t listen to all the questions and comments the former players made during the game but one question that could have been asked is what you think is wrong with this team or more politely what do you really think they need . Absolutely no edge , no fire even with standing room only and honoring Pete.
Could have just left that first sentence as”…struggle to score…”
They can’t hardly score a run, let alone score more than their oppontent.
Not complaining about the write-up, just complaining about this brutally impotent offense. Reminds me of the 2022 team’s offense, except they were expected to be bad.
Benson had a really great night in the field. I am happy for him.
He did not get a hit but drew a walk and did not strike out.
I thought he got a double …
Yes, you are correct, I was thinking he got a hit but my eyes were telling me the box score said not.
New glasses, looking cross eyed, and getting older, probably a combination of all three 😉
Yes. He and Hinds only struckout once between them and played pretty good defense. Hinds was within a hair of a HR to straightaway CF which would have been a two run homer. Hopefully they’ll both be in the lineup tomorrow (unless we’re facing a lefty which Benson can’t handle).
The EV on the Hinds near miss was 105.8MPH. The launch (30 degrees) was just a touch too high, I think. Still, the estimated distance recorded as 415′ (longest ball of the night per Statcast), which would have been over the wall if not for the leaping catch. Regardless, the Sox got away with one there and were very careful with him the rest of the night.
Despite going 0/4 with a K on the night, Hinds did not have a single chase on a pitch worse than borderline to the zone (2). That’s big positive news. Also, one of his groundouts at 97mph was rated as hard hit.
His biggest mistake of the night was probably taking a ~97mph thigh high fastball on the outer half of the plate for strike 2 during the PA that ended as a K. He then swung through a similar speed pitch belt high center zone for strike 3.
Evidently he didn’t do enough because he’s not in the lineup today.
Bryse Wilson is on the mound for WSox tomorrow, he’s pitched well against the Reds in his career…So the hopes are low…
The problem of losing against this kind of team like White Sox is the other teams who can be contenders to fight for a 3rd wild card spot probably will win their games against White Sox, Marlins and Nats but the Reds haven’t done the job so it’s a notable disadvantage through the season if they want to fight for a play-off berth…And at this moment Reds don’t seem to be able for winning against Dodgers, Mets, Yankees, Padres and so on…
Exactly on giving up wins vs teams contenders will mostly dominate.
On the other hand some recent Reds teams have shown a propensity to play up to the level of better competition which just makes their versus the likes of lesser team more frustrating.
Turns out David Bell had little to do with this mediocre product they put out there. I didn’t expect a 90 degree turn, but I didn’t expect this either. They’re terrible. Wait til we’re done with the Marlins, Nats, Pirates, O’s, White Sox, etc.
They’ve lost 9 of the last 11. How many wins was Francona supposed to be worth?
I saw people saying he would be worth 10 wins on his own. Turns out he doesn’t hit much.
He can’ t bunt either.
Well, Bell started off 3-21, so I’d say Francona’s worth about 17 wins or so, so far. 😉
People expecting instant results in 6 weeks after 6 years of failure ingrained throughout the entire organization is just as comical as losing to the White Sox.
The same people said the same thing about Council last year with the Cubs.
I wish we had the Cubs money. 🙁
I would agree VaRedsFan. That and the still pertinent injuries to players we were expecting (hoping) to be better this year and contribute. I’ve said it before Reds were only built to win if they stayed healthy and players at least performed to their median range or even better. None of that has happened yet. If we can get a needle mover for the outfield and get everyone healthy and playing decently we have a chance. But that’s a lot of if’s.
The Cardinals’ ownership allowed their club an extra $27M to the budget than CIN. That’s the difference. If our ownership was not so cheap, we could have addressed last year’s offensive problems.
Add Pete Alonso to the Reds and bat him behind Elly. That’s what needed to happen. It did not.
I agree. We spent money this winter toward improving …..Martinez, Roger’s, Singer, Hays, Lux, Trevino. Whether the money was well spent is the key question. Personally, I wished they would have closed the deal on Tucker ($25M) who I believe is a difference maker while the others are merely nice players. But that would have additionally required 3 top 10 prospects. Thus, again not so much the money, but the combination of over valuing prospects and/or the fear of making the bold move. The move the Cubs made and the Reds didn’t. Mid terms will come soon enough to evaluate who gets the best grade.
I believe this team is better than the 2024 version. Lots of depth, proven manager, and better pitching being foremost. The weak OF defense and the lack of the big bat being unaddressed concerns.
I wonder how many of today’s players even know or give a rats butt about yesteryears players? It feels to me like the players from the 80’s and 90’s were students of the players from the 50’s and 60’s. Granted, Votto was really into Ted Williams but I don’t feel like that’s the norm at all these days.
Is that fair to say?
These clowns are done. Move on everybody.
If you can’t beat the White Sox, that’s bad. But they’ve been 2 outfielders down all season, so it’s obvious ownership sees thuis team not as a contender but as a work in progress.
Reds front office and current mindset of the construction of the Reds roster Needs to change. Reds can’t win at home with current roster construction and if you can’t win at home you are non contenders. To win in Great American Ballpark. You have to score runs and you have to have power. Easy to see that but Reds would rather put resources in number five type starting pitchers and draft college pitchers.. if this season doesn’t turn around hopefully the Castellini family will look hard at current Reds leadership and see a change has to be made. Nick Krall just doesn’t seem to know you HAVE TO WIN at HOME to contend .
Diaz blew another one at AAA. At least this organization has figured out that Connor Phillips is not a starter.
Shows what the over valuing prospects gets you. Recall the 2023 trade deadline when the Mets wanted Phillips for a 1+ year of Scherzer. And Scherzer went 5-0 in September while we were rolling out Stroud, Kennedy, Spires and other greats. Think it was the Dbacks who made up 9 games on us and finished a game ahead of us for the playoffs. Then took off in the playoffs. Ultimately, wewould have been too banged up to advance very far in the playoffs but that is not the point. The point is not pulling the trigger on the needed piece when the playoff opportunity was staring us in the face. Imo, we just can not let the window of opportunity slip by in 2025. What will it be? 3+ years since the Castillo, Gray, and Mahle dumps and arrival of Greene, Lodolo, Stevenson, McLain, Elly, Marte, and others? The pinnacle of the rebuild has arrived here while other Divisional foes (Cards) are reloading for 2026/2027. 2025 has to be our conquering year doesn’t it?
“2045 has to be our conquering year doesn’t it?” There I fixed it for ya.
Our record is now 20-24. The EXACT same record when Jim Bowden panicked and fired Tony Perez. I know Krall is not going to fire Terry Francona but the point is panic should not be in the air either. There is no way, NO WAY this team is this bad. There has to be a hitting break through at some point. What Krall should be doing is working as hard as he can, using his imagination, to see if he can upgrade this team as much as possible ASAP. Starting pitching like we’ve been getting doesn’t come along too often (at least for the Reds). Add that with the fact that EDLC and Greene probably have a limited time here makes it a high priority to do everything we can to win now.
We saw the Reds break out against Houston with a 10 run first inning not long ago, but then it was back to not hitting. If the Reds could turn it on, I’m sure they would, and there’s no way to do a reset when you’re in the middle of a season. It just keeps on coming. Hays did provide a spark, but there seems to be a delicate balance between success and failure, and right now we’re on the downside. And it’s serious. The players need to have a meeting. A team is only a team if they are all pulling together. There’s a lot of baseball left this year, and I know they don’t want any more embarrassment.
All it took was facing McCullers who is toast, they can hit bottom of barrel pitching is all I take from that night.
That’s what he should be doing. But is he? Krall should be acting like his job is on the line and pulling every string possible to improve the roster. Virtually no minor league prospect should be off limits in a trade discussion. He should be thinking that either this team makes the postseason, or his job is gone. David Bell was the scapegoat last year. He doesn’t have that excuse anymore.
I agree with you Melvin. They are not this bad. But we’ve been very fortunate with pitching health compared to many teams. Time to start cashing in on this.
I think the offense will improve, but it’s not good enough to make the playoffs.
McLain needs to get going, young outfielders need to step up, Elly will get hit, and we need CES to get healthy and contribute.
Pray for health.
Pray for health indeed. Now it’s possible that Friedl ends up on the IL. No way this teams wins with injuries and a bunch of AAAA guys filling in. I am only going to complain about the team if we are still playing this way when (if) we ever get healthy and get our starters back.
No, they’re not this bad yet here we are struggling to not only score a run(s) but even get a hit. Especially, with RISP. Abysmal. Worst part? Team is boring. Best part? Only mid-May so plenty of time to turn it around. We hope. Read this book way too many times though.
I keep thinking this team is not that bad but the results are telling me something different. They are struggling at home against the easy part of the schedule and look completely lifeless. Steer, Stephenson and particularly McClain have had a terrible start to the season. I have faith in Tito but no faith in Krall and this disgustingly cheap ownership group. Every offseason they’ve had the opportunity to sign bonafide major leaguers and we’re stuck with Candy and the hope that the youngsters catch fire. Always some bright spots but never close to being enough to remotely compete.
I am totally with you. I don’t think they are a <500 team either. But that said, I don’t think they are as good as the Cubs or an 88 win team. They are fundamentally poor, weak defensively (in the OF especially), and have some kind of contagious hitting disease. There is depth on this team but we are missing 3-4 starters (Candy, CES, Marte, and Fraley). We have a bunch of DHs (Candy, CES, Lux, and Steer) but no real competent 3B, 1B, or RF. The signings of Lux, Trevino, and even Hays seem like a lot of square pegs in round holes. Where are they are going to play with Stevenson, CES, Steer, McLain, and Candy already on the roster? Our speed also seems grossly overstated. I even might guess that opposing teams have as many steals as we do. That would make us no better than average team speed. Just an awkwardly constructed roster. If I were in charge, I think I would be looking around to package 1-2 of our square pegs with a top 5-10 prospect and get me a real bat in here. Preferably a CF/RF but a 1B would work. As I have said before, I am not looking to the future or to win a trade. We have done that way way too long. I am talking a 900 OPS guy. Give up what it takes to get him and package a big salary guy or two in the deal. This rebuild window has reached its pinnacle and it is time to cash in some of our chips….before it is too late.
Well this team stinks. Really becoming non-competitive.
Whether it’s just lack of talent, injuries, inexperience or poor team makeup-or some or all of that and more—I’m finally losing interest.
I’m starting to watch the A’s as they are coming to a sweet new stadium that is finally breaking ground here in Vegas.
The Reds have just worn me down over the last 50+ years. Especially the last 20 u dear the Castellini regime.
At this point, I would not blame you for switching teams. At least you could go to some home games.
Reds honor Pete Rose by demonstrating how challenging it is to get hits in MLB.
Their commitment to the Rose celebration is commendable.
I saw a lot of hittable pitches last night, most of which they didn’t even swing at. I know there are coaches prepping them for what to expect from the opposition pitchers and they even have a new hitting machine that mimics real pitchers. So, I can’t understand why they are not ready to swing at the hittable pitches.
It seems possible that what looks hittable on the TV screen or from the stands looks very different from the batters’ box.
Im actually encouraged a bit by this game. 6 extra base hits – been a long time since I’ve seen that. Only 6!strikeouts – likewise.
Soencer steer barreling 2 balls. Good defense and no bonehead baserunning plays.
Kept the bullpen from getting blown up and got useful innings from the lower leverage guys.
Lodolo needs to get deeper into games. 5.1 innings is unacceptable at this point in his career. He almost never gets it to the 7th inning.
1 for 9 with runners in scoring position tells the story once again. I need to look up where we rank with RISP vs the league. Hope tj Friedl is ok.
I think you forgot the fact that they got 6 extra base hits and only struck out 6 times versus the 2nd worse team in baseball. The only “good” team they’ve won a series against this season is the third place Giants.
The fact of the matter is that the Reds lineup is made up of a bunch of replacement level players and young guys who got promoted from AAA too soon. Their offense is both half-baked and washed up. The roster is poorly constructed. There’s no other way to look at it.
Maybe the Law of Averages will be merciful and an upswing will occur. I’m hoping and praying that that happens. But being a Reds fans for over 20 years at this point, I’m not holding my breath after having watched this subpar product for the last 10 – 12 years.
As long as fans keep filling seats, the Castellinis have no incentive to change the way they run the team. And even if they *did* have an incentive, they probably wouldn’t have the know how.
I’ve said it before and will say it again: I suspect ownership doesn’t intend to field an actual, competitive MLB team. Profitable mediocrity is the goal.
The Reds are an exhibition team, a sort of “living history” museum in which the players “re-enact” baseball to remind the fans of the team’s past glories. Families bring their young children to the park for the spectacle of a game. As long as the kids get their cotton candy and bobble heads, everyone goes home happy.
No one expects a gaggle of World War II re-enactors to best a group of *actual soldiers* in combat. Likewise, no one should expect the Reds to beat a team built from the ground up *to compete*.
And if that analogy doesn’t work for you, how about this: the Reds are the Washington Generals, and they’ve just made the lowly White Sox look like the Harlem Globetrotters
That’s just not true the only reason we filled the seats was for Pete Rose,and a team with Hunter Greene and Elly de la Cruz is not a exhibition team.
Elly is a great athlete but he isn’t a great baseball player yet. Greene looks like a very good pitcher that misses starts to injury every year. Ownership is too diluted. They need a single owner that will spend and not groups of families making a living off of the Reds income. There should be league rules against that type of ownership. There majority owner doesnt have majority power here. That’s the problem.
I’m afraid your comments about ownership make a lot more sense than I want it to make. We can only hope it’s not true or that it changes.
Well Melvin her comments about ownership is spot on. It’s not like we have a small sample size. Now I understand a business needs to earn a profit. However we have so many owners and they all want to see their investments pay dividends. It’s hard to spend money like it would be if there was only one owner who’s sole concern was winning a championship or at least competing for one. There are other teams with worse ownerships in this league! Reds need to spend at least league average which is about 160M. Bottom line is we need new ownership or this will just continue like this. Here is hoping the new CBA can help.
Right now league average of 160M would be awesome.
Nicole – your assessment of the Reds and no incentive is spot on, however, this is a MLB issue, not just a Reds issue. Pirates, Rockies, Marlins, As, Rays, Nationals – get their share of luxury tax to not do anything. Teams could and should spend that money on payroll, but they don’t. When the Ohtanis and Sotos and Judges get their enormous contracts, they teams that should be screaming unfair are silent because they make money when those contracts are with other teams. Whether they win 92 or 72 games, the money comes in so what is the incentive to change?
Are life-long fans going to switch team alliances?
Stop going to games? Stop watching on TV? No – that’s because we are fans.
A long strike is needed to fix this and the fans are the ones that need to go on strike, but never will. “The Game” is too alluring, too seductive, too addictive.
No matter how many times we are bullied and lied to and misled, we always come back.
Owners know this and bank on this.
You’re right about the allure of the game, but the allure of the Reds may be a different matter. As others have pointed out, they’re boring, they seem dispirited, and they seem to be headed to yet another season of irrelevance, useful only to the actual contenders who can improve their records when they play them. Would any good free agent want to sign on to this? I will, of course, start paying attention again if they start winning, but for now my interest largely stops at checking the score each morning, laughing ruefully and checking RLN to commiserate with the other sufferers.
Lifelong fans begin to watch less and care less. They go to games less and it becomes less of a family affair.
Baseball takes fans for granted probably more so than any other sport because it was engrained with traditional. That has faded and the answer was the hypocrisy of partnering with gambling
Kids just don’t play wiffle ball and weekend ball the way we used to. Baseball definitely isn’t a national pastime anymore. The stewards of the game have failed.
Espinal only has two hits in his last seven games. It may be time to give him a little break to let him refocus. Steer could move to 3B for a short time and Joe could hold down 1B.
Between Lark and Eric Davis asking why the players don’t hit to the opposite field among others things while Sadak repeats the sickening statistics, its getting hard to watch but with no fault due to these announcers. I’ve already give up on getting a time sync on the WLW feed so I can listen to Cowboy…why does the other team’s radio feeds seem to all work but not the Reds? How could a team get on the what 35th straight losing series after blah, blah, blah against this team? Well, entering this series the horrific 12-29 Sox were playing .293 ball while the Reds in the last 13 bested them slightly at .307. Of course that switches now and the Reds are playing odds up with them at this point of the season. There is something really wrong with this team that is hard to explain and perhaps so many things that it is nearly impossible to tackle at once. How did the Cardinals get off the mat? Yes, it can be turned around but some real soul searching is needed by many. Great big crowd but a lot of muted but noticeable booing at various points of the game. Perhaps the crowd was reflecting on number 14 and how no one even remotely in this bunch seems to embody the kind of discipline, competitiveness, and effort that he brought to the game. Thanks, Pete. You became my favorite player when I reached Pony League and remain so regardless of the others things that later happened. One final note both funny and thought provoking:
Sadak: Eric, you and Elly have such similar attributes that he choose to wear #44 so you both are wearing the same number.
Eric Davis: No, that’s not totally correct. In fact, Elly is wearing my number!
Where you gonna go?
Exactly
Another difficult evening as a Reds fan. What happens today happens … I’ll have the game on the laptop without sound for the most part today. Traveling this weekend, so not sure how often I’ll tune in. Perhaps some radio on Sunday afternoon.
Reds’ hitters — such as they are — make it incredibly easy for opposing pitchers on a consistent basis.
It wasn’t expected to be this way in the middle of May but here we are with too many runners dying in scoring position. The Reds are on the right road with good overall pitching, but you can’t win with pitching alone. If this situation is going to be changed, ownership has to take the lead and spend some money to change it, or the Reds are headed for last place in the NLC.
Starting May 23 the Reds play the following for a 39 game stretch. I’m predicting 14-25 and that might be generous
Cubs 6
KC 3
Milw 3
Arizona 3
Clev 3
Detroit 3
Minn 3
St Louis 3
NYY 3
SD 3
Boston 3
Philly 3
You might be surprised. The Reds have shown a tendency to play better against stronger teams than the mediocre. Maybe this is the change they need. As for Francona and the 10 games? Who do you think would be doing better right now than he is? Bell? The team would probably be in last place. My only complaint at this point, and it’s really on Krall more than Tito, is the reliance on Pagan to close. He’s had a good stretch, but his metrics suggest that it’s not sustainable – a FB pitcher prone to the HR is not a closer in the long run.
Some have mentioned the Reds are thinking too much at the plate while others are pointing to injuries which can’t be covered by a lack of depth and some pointing to players trying to play there way back from injuries or playing through injuries.Its all true but most of all I think its the change in hitting style from the grip it and rip it style to going the other way and putting the ball in play.All of these things will take time to work out and they will but games must be played and right now as a whole on most nights this team can’t hit a beach ball.Just way way too many issues to deal with individually and as a team.Nobody has answers right now and may not have them all year.I see players not even swinging in this at bat and not stop swinging the next at bat.My hope is simply the Reds cut down on the dumb stuff and play cleaner games.I do believe Marte and CES when healthy along with Benson and Hinds need a good long look this year.These 4 players are still young enough and all have power.Players holding down these spots right now(Lux,Espy,Friedl,Fraley and Steer) don’t have their kind of power and have reached their ceiling IMO.I know I am the leader of saying put the ball in play but we need to put the ball out of play and by that i mean out of the park.
Well put Roger. I have to believe they will hit and this strategy will pay off. I still think Francona is right manager for Reds. I just gotta stay patient.
Many on here don’t want to give Tito any blame, I disagree and I give two concerning examples, who he picked to close the season opener. However more glaringly today’s lineup = Espinal still in the 2 hole even though he has been awful there and starting Joe over Hinds is just silly. Hinds will never get hot playing once or twice a week. I think Tito will not be here next year.
He’ll be here through 2027.
1-19 the last two nights. Depressing. That’s how you end up with 3 runs in 20 innings. Remember in the 24 run game they were 15-25 with RISP. They’ve been consistently under performing with RISP and runners on 3rd with less than two outs. If that doesn’t change it’s going to be a looong season. Friedl, McLain, Elly, Hays, Marte, and Stephenson should all be productive major league hitters, and Benson, Hinds and CES may be capable of the same. Even Steer, Espinal and Trevino could contribute. But for the most part they are all MIA right now. Is it the hitting coaching / philosophy? Just coincidence? Or over valuing from familiarity? Whatever it is, something needs to change, obviously. How about starting tonight?
Despite how bad the Reds were last season, I would argue they played over their heads winning 77 games. It will be interesting to see if this team can finish that close to .500.
I don’t think the Reds should abandon hope of making the playoffs this year, but I do think they should give Benson and Hinds an extended look as everyday players, neither has anything to prove at AAA. They may both be AAAA players, but they need a chance, if either even improves marginally they’ll be a huge improvement over Fraley, Dunn, etc.