Reds pitching gets torn up again as team falls to Rangers, 11-5

Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Does that score make you think someone's deserving of a trophy? The Reds have surrendered 27 runs on 35 hits in the last two games. I swear to god they only played nine innings in each one, though you wouldn't be off base for wondering otherwise.

Just, damn. Let's hand this one to Zack Weiss. Many pitchers were bad today, but Weiss actually looked alright. He tossed two innings and allowed nary a run to score - a monumental accomplishment this week - and struck out one while walking one. Odds are Zack won't be on the 25-man roster for Opening Day, so let's go ahead and give him a trophy before the Reds take back his big-boy pants.

Honorable mentions for Tyler Holt, who went 2-for-3 with a double, Blake Trahan and Bryson Smith, who each doubled home a pair in the ninth, and Phil Ervin and Joe Hudson, who each doubled as well.

Key Plays

• Three out of the first four Rangers hitters of the second inning hit the ball to Adam Duvall in left. The first one he caught, the second fell in front of him, and the third he catastrophically misplayed and allowed a run to score. Texas on the board 1-0.
• Texas added another run against starter Tim Melville in the third, but it had nothing to do with fielding and everything to do with Mitch Moreland crushing the ball over the right field fence. Rangers led 2-0.
  
• Blake Wood pitched a scoreless fourth, but that good fortune didn't follow him into his second inning of work. The Rangers' shiniest new addition, Ian Desmond, launched a pitch to left field for his first dinger in his new uniform. Rangers led 3-0.
• Ryan Mattheus pitched the sixth inning, which was a disaster from the get-go. A four pitch walk to Joey Gallo followed by back-to-back singles plated a run before Mattheus had even retired a batter. A second run scored on a fielder's choice off the bat of Hanser Alberto. Texas led 5-0.
• Mattheus was trotted back out for the seventh inning, for some reason. It went appropriately terrible, as he gave up another hit to the first batter he faced, followed by a 2-run homer by Drew Stubbs. Drew Stubbs once had me convinced (albeit through basically no fault of his own) that he could be The Truth, never became The Truth, got himself let go of by Cincinnati, and now puts on a new uniform seemingly every three months and dingers against the Reds. Drew Stubbs and I are not friends. I digress. 7-0 Rangers.
  
• After Zack Weiss held down the fort for a couple innings, Caleb Cotham entered the game for the ninth inning and gave up four doubles that led to four runs. Ugh. 11-0.
  
• The Reds briefly looked not that sad in the bottom of the ninth, stringing together five runs on the backs of doubles by Hudson, Trahan, Smith (in his first AB of spring) and Ervin. It was a fun end to a largely unfun afternoon. Reds lose 11-5.

Ken Gif-y Jr.

What'd you think of the Reds pitching staff the last 24 hours, Griff?

Same.

Other notes

• Michael Lorenzen was supposed to get the start today, but was scratched with elbow soreness. Told Mark Sheldon he "wanted to catch it and not struggle with something during the season." Medical evaluation yielded no sign of a major injury, though.
• Skip Schumaker will not be joining the list of ex-Reds to homer off the team this season, as he informed the Padres earlier today of his retirement. Actually, he told his team that "retirement" was a term better reserved for the Peyton Manning's of the world, so he simply said his "journey had ended." Good luck with your new life, Skip.
• Devin Mesoraco has resumed fielding and hitting drills after briefly having to take time off. Zack Cozart also appears to be closing in on a spring debut. This is slowly starting to look like a real team again.
• Johnny Damon just became the second ex-Yankee in as many days to publicly endorse Donald Trump. The list of sports figures to speak out on Trump's behalf is getting to be a rather odd one.
• The Reds will try to put a halt to their skid when they take on the Rockies Thursday at 1:00p.m. EST.
• Tunes.