Reds bullpen predictably gives up lead, offense can’t recover and lose to Brewers, 5-4

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

In some ways, we’re living in the future.

We haven’t been graced this September to see all of the exciting top youngsters we’ve longed to see. Cody Reed had been here, been bad, and is now hurt. Ditto for John Lamb. Dilson Herrera is nursing a sore shoulder and it’s not like BP would give way to him, anyway. And Jesse Winker is... I don’t know. In witness protection?

But one guy has gotten a chance to play everyday in the waning month of the season, even if it had more to do with ailing veterans and less to do with expanded rosters. But it doesn’t matter, Jose Peraza has dazzled, regardless of being asked to play both center field and shortstop on any given day of the week.

Jose Peraza collected two hits in this one, including a golfed dinger, his third of the year. Don’t expect that particularly often, but even if his results have been fueled by an outrageous BABIP (.365), Peraza’s been better than anyone could have reasonably expected since getting regular time in the lineup. Tonight included that dinger and those two hits, three RBI, and one run scored. So, have a trophy, youngblood. And keep on keepin on. If you keep doing things like this, the future is a lot closer than we realized.

Honorable mention to Brandon Phillips for two hits, Eugenio Suarez for two hits and a run scored, and Jumbo Diaz for striking out the side in a flawless eigth inning.

Key Plays

• The Brewers opened the scoring in the bottom of the second when Milwaukee 1B Chris Carter walloped a letters-high 92mph DeSclafani offering over the fence in left field. Brewers take the lead, 1-0.
• The Reds climbed on top of the Brewers in the first part of the fifth frame. Steve Selsky was too... uh he hit a single. Tucker Barnhart hit a single before Anthony DeSclafani moved them over on a sac bunt. No need, really, because Jose Peraza scooped a dinger to left center field. Scott Schebler and Joey Votto followed with back to back outs. Reds take the lead, 3-1.
• Ryan Braun opened the bottom of the sixth with a single and then stole second base, and then moved to third base on a DeSclafani wild pitch. Carter grounded out to Eugenio Suarez but scored Braun. Domingo Santana flied out before Hernan Perez reached on a fielding error by BP. Perez stole second base during Orlando Arcia’s at bat, but Arcia struck out swinging to end the inning. Reds still lead, 3-2.
• Andrew Susac doubled to begin the bottom of the seventh. Disco promptly walked Josmil Pinto and Villar to load the bases and end his night. Tony Cingrani was brought in to face the left handed hitting Scooter Gennett. The handedness didn’t matter much, as Cingrani walked him on four pitches, forcing home Susac and tying the game. That ended the night for Cingrani and gave way to Blake Wood to face Braun. Yeah. That ended predictably, as Braun singled off of Wood to score two more. Carter lined into a double play to end the frame but. Damnit. Brewers, 5-3.
• The Reds tried to crawl back in the top of the 9th. Suarez led off the inning with a double. Selsky moved him to third on a fly out, and Barnhart scored him on a ground out. Hernan Iribarren pinched hit for Jumbo Diaz, but he struck out swinging to end the game. Brewers win, 5-4.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• It didn’t take long for the Reds to get 2016’d in this one: with nobody out in the top of the 1st inning and runners on first and second, Joey Votto smacked a screaming liner to the first base side with the runners going. It was caught, and Brewers tagged first and second to complete the triple play. Reds baseball! Catch the excitement (of unexplainable bad things happening to your favorite team)!
• I touched on this a little bit earlier today, but our buddy C. Trent has some notes on the instructional league (among other gems) for the Enquirer this evening.
• Another friend, Reds.com’s Mark Sheldon, had Brandon Phillips share his thoughts on his future. Brandon doesn’t say a lot here other than some pretty typical athlete speak, but it’s interesting hear him say that he’s “happy” being a Red and being where he is, while saying the entire goal for all players is to win a championship. That, obviously, isn’t going to happen for Brandon in Cincinnati barring a contract extension. So we’re stuck playing the same old waiting game on BP deciding what he wants to do.
• I’m not a birther or nothing, but you won’t convince me that Zach Davies isn’t, at the oldest, 18 years old.
• During the game, Adam Duvall fouled a ball off his leg and fell to the ground in visible pain. He’s fine, as far as we know, but of interest is this: as he went to the ground, you could clearly see a rectangular bulge in his back pocket. Chris Welsh joked that it looked like he was carrying his phone around with him on the field. According to a Twitter user named Lisa, whom I just blindly trust based upon the power of a tweet, Duvall keeps his insulin pump in his back pocket during games. Duvall, as you’ll remember, is a Type 1 diabetic.
• The Reds’ll do it again tomorrow with the Brewers in Milwaukee, but at 7:10 PM EDT this time. Dan Straily will face off against Taylor Jungmann.
• Tunes.