The Cincinnati Reds lost to Milwaukee by doing almost everything poorly

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Luis Castillo allowed just 2 ER in 6.0 IP for the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday, with a third unearned run also crossing the plate. He fanned 9, walked 4, and yielded 5 hits - no homers - as part of his 113 pitch day, and all told pitched plenty well enough for the Reds to have won a game.

Unfortunately, this offense is stuck in one of the single crappiest funks I have ever witnessed, and it wasn’t enough. Add-in that their game-play has been abysmal beyond that, and we’re staring blankly at a baseball club that’s going nowhere in a hurry.

Key Plays

• While Brandon Woodruff completely breezed through the Cincinnati lineup the first time he faced them, the Reds bats finally cobbled together some offense against him in the Top of the 4th. Nick Castellanos reached via plunk, and he moved to 3B on a single by Suarez, who later swiped 2B. That put a pair of runners in scoring position for Moose with 2-out, and the former Brewer responded with a 2-run single into RF through the shift. Reds led, 2-0.
• Milwaukee got to work in the Bottom of the 4th, however. Christian Yelich legged out an infield single, and he moved up a bag on an Keston Hiura single. Justin Smoak then grounded to Joey Votto at 1B, who wheeled and threw to 2B to try to get a force out, but the ball hit Hiura and bounced into CF allowing Yelich to score. Ben Gamel later spanked an RBI double to the wall in RF, and Orlando Arcia later poked a single into RF to score another - though Castellanos managed to nail Gamel trying to score to end the inning. Reds trailed, 3-2.
• The Top of the 5th saw the Reds load the bases with nobody out, and saw Nick Castellanos then single into RF. For some reason, however, Freddy Galvis held up despite literally everything on the plant suggesting it was going to be a hit that fell in, and Gamel threw Galvis out at home plate on a force play. The RF forced out a Reds runner at home on a single, which then made it into not-a-single, as it went in the scorebook as a fielder’s choice. They scored no runs then, they scored no runs later, and they lost another game they simply could not afford to piss away, this time 3-2.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Moose’s 2-run single in the 3rd inning ended a 45 inning streak of the Reds failing to get more than one hit in an inning. If my memory of the FS-Ohio graphic is correct, that was the second longest streak of its kind in all of baseball since 1974, so yes, your frustration with the offense you’ve watched for the last week was warranted.
• Joey Votto entered play today having somehow managed to hit just 3 for 42 - with a .283 OPS - in road games so far this season. He then went 0 for 4 with 4 Ks and an error before being ejected. David Bell followed suit.
• The Cincinnati Reds are 6 games under .500 in games played this year without Nick Senzel. The Cincinnati Reds are 6 games under .500 this year.
• Tyler Thornburg was excellent again in another scoreless inning. I’m not sure if that makes me excited about him for rescuing the Reds bullpen, or excited that they might be able to trade him for something. This fucking year, man.
• Sonny Gray and Adrian Houser are the scheduled starters for Wednesday’s contest between these two clubs, though if the Reds keep losing their asses off in embarrassing fashion with the trade deadline just over 5 days away, who the hell knows at this juncture. First pitch is set for 8:10 PM ET once again.
• Tunes.