The Reds lost.

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Eugenio Suarez has yet to miss a beat since returning to the Cincinnati Reds from the DL, and the resident 3B had another solid night on Tuesday.

Geno belted a 2-run dinger, which proved to be the single biggest swing for the Reds on the night, and he later added both a walk and a sac-fly. That leaves him with a team-best 17 ribbies so far on the season despite missing dang near half the season with a busted thumb, which is telling in its own right.

Congrats, Geno, and here’s to it keeping up healthily for the next, I dunno, six-seven years, or so.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Alex Blandino, who clubbed his first career dinger; Rosell Herrera, who got his first career big league start (and picked up his first career big league hit - a single); Joey Votto, who singled in a run, walked, and scored; and Dylan Floro, who fired another scoreless inning of relief (with 3 Ks, to boot).

Key Plays

• After Christian Yelich singled into RF in the Top of the 1st, Homer Bailey went to a full-count against Travis Shaw having thrown nothing but fastballs. He tried to sneak an 86 mph change-up past Shaw, and that resulted in a mammoth 2-run dinger. Cripes. Jesus Aguilar then followed with a solo dinger into the LF seats, and the Reds trailed immediately, 3-0.
• Never fear - the Reds’ offense had early opportunities against Chase Anderson, too. Peraza led off with a single and a steal of 2B, which allowed him to score on Votto’s RBI single into LF. Two batters later, Suarez clubbed a ball over the wall in left-center to score both he and Votto, and the game was tied, 3-3.
• That score held until the Top of the 5th, when the Brewers touched up Bailey as they faced him for a third time on the night. Orlando Arcia began things with an infield single, and he moved up a bag when Homer walked Christian Yelich. Both runners then scored when Ryan Braun poked a double the other way that went all the way to the RF wall, and the Reds trailed, 5-3.
• The Brewers scored again in the Top of the 6th off David Hernandez, as Jonathan Villar’s triple to the RF wall plated Manny Pina - who had walked in front of him. Reds trailed, 6-3.
• The Reds scraped across a run in the Bottom of the 6th, and it came after Tucker Barnhart coaxed a leadoff walk. Tuck ended up on 2B after a productively dinky groundout by Scooter Gennett (as a PH), which put him in position to motor home on Billy Hamilton’s RBI single into CF. Reds trailed, 6-4.
• Hernan Perez got that run back immediately when he led off with a solo dinger juuuust over the RF wall in the Top of the 7th, which came off Amir Garrett. Reds trailed, 7-4.
• Cincinnati got a run back in the Bottom of the 7th, as Peraza eventually scored on a sac fly by Suarez after he led off with a single, Votto’s walk moved him up, and an Orlando Arcia error allowed the bags to get loaded. Reds trailed, 7-5.
• Blandino entered the game on a double-switch in the Top of the 8th, and got his first PA in the Bottom of the 8th. He proceeded to club his first career big league dinger in said PA, which left the Reds behind, 7-6.
• That, though, was all she wrote. Reds lost yet again, 7-6.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Homer Bailey’s final line was incredibly ho-hum: 5 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, BB, K on 86 pitches. That’s just simply not going to get the job done.
• As for Bailey’s job security, well, Robert Stephenson sure isn’t going to take his spot anytime soon. Bob Steve got lit up for 7 R (6 ER) in just 2.1 IP, and I’m pretty much completely done with expecting him to ever contribute much to the big league Reds anytime soon.
• Wednesday’s series finale won’t be a matinee, as it’ll be in the normal 5:10 PM ET time slot. Wade Miley will get the start for Milwaukee, while Luis Castillo will attempt to finally log some ace-esque results for the Reds.
• Tunes.