Indians 5, Reds 2 - Cincinnati's losing streak reaches 8 games

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

On a day when the usually stellar Cincinnati Reds defense fell apart, the bullpen struggled again to do anything positive, and nary a single Reds hitter reached base more than once, the one memorable thing event witnessed Sunday against the Cleveland Indians was the sound of the solo homer off the bat of Marlon Byrd.  Byrd's 9th dinger of the season was absolutely crushed off Trevor Bauer, who otherwise held the Reds offense in complete check for 7.2 IP, and the blast was enough to get the everyday LF's average a tick back over the Mendoza line at .204.

When small victories are the only victories, treat them as victories.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Ryan Mattheus, who pitched a pair of scoreless innings despite some shaky defense behind him and a jam or two that needed dodging; Jay Bruce, who made a splendid diving catch to end the 8th and leave the bases loaded; Burke Badenhop, who got an out to lower his season ERA under 8; Bryan Price, who neither got ejected nor dropped a soundbite for the ages; and JJ Hoover, who was somehow dinged with zero earned runs allowed despite an awful outing and a gift from the Cleveland official scorer.

Key Plays

• Raisel Iglesias labored through the 1st and 2nd, yet he managed to escape without yielding a run in either thanks to his ability to strand runners.  That - and his defense - stopped working in the Bottom of the 3rd, however.  Carlos Santana doubled to the corner in RF to lead off the inning, and after Brandon Moss took a walk two batters later, David Murphy smacked a sharp single to Joey Votto's right that, if fielded, would've been a solid chance at an inning-ending double play.  Instead, the ball kicked off Votto's glove when during his patented fall-back attempt at fielding, and Santana motored around to score the game's first run while Moss moved to 3B.  Nick Swisher followed with a grounder right at Brandon Phillips at 2B that again looked like a chance at an inning-ending DP, but Phillips booted it, the Reds got no outs, and Moss scored.  Fortunately, Iglesias got out of the inning without further damage, but he sat a 84 pitches after just 3 IP, and his day was done.  Reds trailed, 2-0.
• The Bottom of the 6th was a half-inning as indicative of the 2015 Reds as any I've watched all season.  JJ Hoover took the hill, and he promptly let the leadoff hitter reach when Yan Gomes' comebacker clanked off his own glove.  Chinnie Losenhall then smacked a grounder right at Phillips, and for the third time in the game a would-be double play ball was booted, but at least Phillips managed to scramble to get the out at 1B.  Hoover then walked the next two batters to load the bases, served up a meatball that Santana hit nearly 400 ft (but just a foot or two foul from a grand slam), got Santana to pop-out, and then got Michael Brantley to hit a grounder to Votto that should have ended the inning.  Instead, Votto's diving stop went for naught, as Hoover hustled over to cover 1B and simply airballed a completely reasonable throw from Votto that allowed a pair of Indians to score.  Reds trailed, 4-0.
• Oh, hey!  Offense!  Kinda.  Marlon Byrd blasted a solo homer off Trevor Bauer in the Top of the 7th in an otherwise 20 second offensive inning, but it was decidedly better than everything else the Reds' bats had provided to that point.  Reds trailed, 4-1.
• AROLDIS CHAPMAN SIGHTING! Chapman took the mound for the Bottom of the 8th, and he looked rusty.  Jason Kipnis doubled off him to the wall in CF, and he scored a batter later on a single up the middle from Santana.  Two walks, a deep fly out, and a great catch from Bruce later, only a single run scored, though.  Reds trailed, 5-1.
• Indians closer Cody Allen got the nod for the Top of the 9th, and while he got Todd Frazier to strike out to begin the inning, a walk to Bruce and a double to the wall from Pena followed, the latter of which drove in the Reds RF from 1B.  That, unfortunately, was all the Reds could muster, and they lost to the Indians, 5-2.