The Reds lost, again.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Sal Romano was excellent through 5 innings, allowing nary a run in the process. Unfortunately, he was touched up for a pair of runs in the Bottom of the 6th that helped foil his overall line, as he exited before retiring a single batter that inning.

His final line - 5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K on 79 pitches - didn’t exactly tell the entire story of how well he pitched prior to the 6th, similar to how Luis Castillo’s line last night didn’t show how well he threw, either. Still, Romano looked much, much better, and for that we’re all thankful.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Jesse Winker, who walked twice in his return to the starting lineup; Tucker Barnhart, who doubled twice; Joey Votto, who singled and walked; Cody Reed, who tossed a scoreless inning of relief (with a K); and Amir Garrett, who fired yet another scoreless inning as a notastarter.

Key Plays

• Romano took a shutout into the Bottom of the 6th, but several things went awry at that point. For one, Devin Mesoraco exited the game (after being hit by a pitch earlier), and the change to catcher Tucker Barnhart immediately couldn’t have been seamless. Then, Romano walked Lorenzo Cain to leadoff, which is always a problem. Romano then greeted Eric Thames with a first pitch meatball, and the Milwaukee 1B greeted the high fastball with a thwack that reached the second deck of the RF seats, and the Reds trailed, 2-0.
• That was it, as the Cincinnati bats fell silent once again. Reds lost, 2-0.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Cliff Pennington and Phil Gosselin hit back to back with a runner on 2B, down 2, in the Top of the 7th. A) that’s the dumbest damn thing I can possibly think of for the 2018 Reds, the 2019 Reds, and the Reds of beyond, and B) Alex Blandino never got a sniff. That’s the dumbest damn thing I can fathom since the last dumbest damn thing the Reds did that I could fathom.
• They both made outs, and the run didn’t score, for the record.
• Speaking of things I’ll never understand, the Reds sent Ariel Hernandez to the Dodgers (after he’d been DFA’d) for two guys you’ll never want to see as Reds. I...I’ve never been less on-board with what’s going on than right this moment.
• Mesoraco’s exit came as a bit of a surprise, since he stayed in the game initially after being hit. It’s reportedly a bruised wrist, which I’m sure will prompt the Reds to make zero DL decision and play even more short-handed in the coming days.
• Tyler Mahle will get Wednesday’s start against the Brewers in the series finale, and he’ll be opposed by Zach Davies. First pitch is set for 1:40 PM ET.
• Tunes.