Reds blow multiple 3-run leads, lose Homer Bailey to injury, lose to Cubs

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Scott Feldma...no, no. He had season-ending knee surgery today.

Anthony DeSclafa...nope, not him either. Though he doesn’t have UCL damage per the second opinion on his elbow revealed today, there’s now concrete reason to believe he won’t pitch this season at all.

So, Homer Bai...nah, not Homer. He started this one, but exited after just 3 IP after trainers had come out to check on both he and his only 92ish mph fastball. Turns out he has shoulder pain, which is never freakin’ good at all.

What the everloving hell.

Eugenio Suarez smacked a 3-run homer that seemed important at the time, at least made John Lackey mad (which is good for serious JNMHSotG bonus points, always), and backed it up with a late 2-run dinger that was nearly as good. The guy is having a tremendous month, tremendous season, and is clearly making a statement that he’s someone the Reds should build around going forward.

Key Plays

• Billy Hamilton more or less created his own run in the Bottom of the 1st to get the Reds on the board. He singled into right-center on John Lackey’s initial pitch of the game, and he then promptly swiped 2B. Billy then tagged and took 3B on a deep fly out only to score a few batters later on a wild pitch that only bounced about 10 feet from home. Reds led, 1-0.
• A leadoff single by Suarez opened the Bottom of the 2nd, and he scored two batters later on Tucker Barnhart’s 19th double of the season - a liner into RF that put the Reds ahead, 2-0.
• Oh, Scootypuff. The Reds got another run in the Bottom of the 3rd when Scooter Gennett turned around a Lackey meatball for a 423 foot blast into the moon deck in RF, a solo shot that left them ahead, 3-0.
• Homer Bailey, though, was forced to exit due to injury after just 3 IP. Kevin Shackelford took over for him, and while the Top of the 4th went OK, the Top of the 5th most certainly did not. Shack walked pitcher John Lackey to begin the inning, and eventually allowed a pair of singles and two more walks before exiting with the Reds up just 3-2 and the bases loaded. Michael Lorenzen took over to clean things up, and while he allowed an RBI single into LF by Jason Heyward, Duvall’s perfect throw home nailed Ian Happ for the inning’s final out, and the game was tied, 3-3.
• Singles by Zack Cozart and Duvall had the Reds thinking big in the Bottom of the 5th, but it took a few PAs before Suarez came to the plate with 2-out. Fortunately, the red-hot Cincinnati 3B came through, clubbing another Lackey meatwad way, way into the LF seats for a 3-run homer. Reds led, 6-3.
• The Cubs got one back off Lorenzen in the Top of the 6th, however, as Javy Baez reached on an infield single, took 2B on a wild pitch, and scored after taking off to 3B on a tag-up on Tommy La Stella’s lineout to CF when Hamilton’s throw appeared to ricochet off the Chicago SS while he was sliding and went into the stands. Reds led, 6-4.
• It’s the 2017 Reds we’re talking about, though. Something something bases loaded Ben Zobrist something something, and the Cubs closed the Top of the 7th with an 8-6 lead, because of course.
• Blake Wood took the mound for the Top of the 8th, walked the first 3 batters he faced, and then allowed back to back to back RBI singles to Happ, Alex Avila, and Jason Heyward. Then he missed a spot by 4 feet with his fastball that went for a wild pitch (that scored another run). Zobrist eventually plated another run with an RBI grounder, and after the smoke cleared, the Reds trailed 13-6.
• Jesse Winker smoked a pinch-hit dinger way into the RF seats in the Bottom of the 9th, and Suarez later followed with a 2-run honkaroo of his own. Unfortunately, that was all the squad could muster, and the Reds fell, 13-9.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Yo pitching...yooooo!
• Wednesday’s contest between the Reds and Cubs will feature Mike Montgomery as Chicago’s starter and Asher Wojciechowski on the mound for Cincinnati. First pitch - per usual - is set for 7:10 PM ET.
• Tunes.