Reds lose to Nationals, get swept as Scott Feldman exits early

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Asher Wojciechowski threw 5 solid innings for the Cincinnati Reds on Monday. Unfortunately, he wasn’t the game’s starter - and the game didn’t go into extra innings - which meant those 5 innings were of the unfortunately unexpected variety.

After Scott Feldman exited the game after a lone inning in which his velocity was noticeably down, Wojciechowski admirably picked up the pieces with the Reds already down 5-0. He allowed a lone earned run on just 2 hits, walking 3 against 4 strikeouts on 70 total pitches, which was all the Reds could hope for a guy tasked with emergency mop-up duty.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Eugenio Suarez, who homered; Adam Duvall, who picked up his league-leading 8th OF assist of the year; and the bullpen trio of Wandy Peralta, Michael Lorenzen, and Raisel Iglesias, who each fired scoreless innings of relief.

Key Plays

• Blergh.
• Well, the Reds got off to a rocky start in this one, with Scott Feldman throwing requisite meatballs right off the bat to the Nats in the Top of the 1st. Brian Goodwin doubled, Stephen Drew singled, and Bryce Harper...well, Bryce Harper mauled a 3-run dinger. Then, Ryan Zimmerman launched a dinger, too, and the Reds were down 4-0 before some fans had even received notice that the game had started. The damage wasn’t over, however, as Daniel Murphy walked, moved to 2B on a bloop single by Anthony Rendon, and Murphy then scored all the way from 2B on a sac-fly off the bat of Matt Wieters, as Scooter Gennett was forced to lay out to make a great catch in deep enough RF to allow Murphy to scoot home. Reds trailed in a blink, 5-0.
• Feldman, it turns out, was barely topping 80 mph with his cutter by the end of the inning, and left the game after the Top of the 1st with trainers in tow.
• Blergh.
• Suarez got the Reds on the board in the Bottom of the 2nd, however, when he turned around a Stephen Strasburg heater for a solo homer into the RF seats. Reds trailed, 5-1.
• After Feldman’s exit, Wojciechowski pitched admirably for a number of innings, but Goodwin finally got to him for a solo homer of his own in the Top of the 6th. Reds trailed, 6-1.
• Nats pitching continued to breeze through Cincinnati hitting from that point on, and that’s how the score - and the series - wrapped. Reds lost, 6-1.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• The Reds are mercifully done with the Nationals, but on Tuesday they’ll welcome the dangerous Arizona Diamondbacks to town for a three game set. Sal Romano is scheduled to start for Cincinnati, and he’ll be opposed by the electric arm of Robbie Ray. First pitch is set for 7:10 PM ET.
• Speaking of Romano, he’s not yet back on the active roster, so someone’s going to have to get booted or optioned to open a spot for him prior to tomorrow’s game.
• In other roster news, it appears Devin Mesoraco will begin a quick rehab stint with AAA Louisville tonight. No word yet on whether or not he can pitch.
• The non-waiver trade deadline is two weeks from today. I vaguely remember when that meant the Reds would be buyers. Vaguely.
• Tunes.