Reds bullpen implodes, Cardinals win 9-2 to avoid sweep

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

The Cincinnati Reds mustered only 4 hits and a pair of runs, committed 3 errors in the field, and watched the St. Louis Cardinals bash them for 9 runs and 13 hits on Sunday afternoon.  That would sound much, much more painful if a) the Reds hadn't already won the first 3 games of the series, or b) if wins and losses actually mattered at all at this point in the awful Cincinnati season.

So with those qualifiers in place, let's celebrate Todd Frazier maybe finding his swing and give him another trophy.  Frazier launched a solo dinger off Michael Wacha and scored both Reds runs on Sunday, which was pleasant to observe.

Honorable Mentions are due to:  Raisel Iglesias, who allowed just 2 ER in his outing but needed nearly 90 pitches to finish his 5 IP; Brandon Finnegan, who retired a pair of batters from the bullpen to keep his Reds' ERA at a tidy 0.00; and Jason Bourgeois, who singled and walked.

Key Plays

• Frazier's dinger opened the scoring, his leadoff blast in the Bottom of the 2nd to CF putting the Reds ahead, 1-0.
• Tandem walks and a HBP loaded the bases in front of Tucker Barnhart in the Bottom of the 4th, and the Reds catcher chipped in with a sac fly to put the Reds ahead, 2-0.
• Iglesias had cruised through the first 4 innings of the game, but he ran into trouble in the Top of the 5th.  A double, wild pitch, infield single, balk, and single to RF later, and the game was tied up 2-2 and Iglesias' day was done.
• After that, the bullpen combined to yield 7 runs in the game's final 4 innings, as Sam LeCure, Carlos Contreras, and Josh Smith each got whacked around.  Reds lost, 9-2.

Tony Graphanino that vaguely resembles a Stegosaurus

<iframe src="http://www.fangraphs.com/graphframe.aspx?config=0&static=0&type=livewins&num=0&h=450&w=450&date=2015-09-13&team=Reds&dh=0" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" height="450" width = "450" style="border:1px solid black;"></iframe><br /><span style="font-size:9pt;">Source: <a href="http://www.fangraphs.com/livewins.aspx?date=2015-09-13&team=Reds&dh=0&season=2015">FanGraphs</a></span>

Other Notes

• Eugenio Suarez was charged with his 15th error of the season on Sunday despite having played in fewer than 80 games.  His bat is fantastic, but if Zack Cozart is healthy the offense/defense dependability of both will make for quite the battle in Spring Training for the Opening Day SS spot.
• The Reds packed up after the game to head west to San Francisco, where they'll take on the Giants on Monday in the first of a 3 game series against the reigning World Series Champs.  It's the beginning of a 9 game, 10 day road trip that I'm sure most all of you will want to stay up late to watch.  Keyvius Sampson is set to take on Tim Hudson on Monday, with first pitch set for 10:15 PM ET.
• Tunes.