Cincinnati Reds fall to Washington Nationals 5-3 after rainpocalypse

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Jesse Winker banged out 4 more hits, because that’s just apparently what he’s going to for the rest of time now. It’s been a true marvel atop the Cincinnati Reds order on a daily basis, but even after sliding down a notch he’s kept right on raking.

He’s hitting .360, y’all.

Said bump down the order was to slot Eugenio Suarez into the leadoff spot to hopefully get his bat going, and after dingering off Max Scherzer in the series opener against the Washington Nationals, Suarez bonked another pair of singles today, too. Perhaps most importantly, that dinger off Scherzer and one of his singles today both went to the opposite field, hopefully an indication that his lengthy slump is being busted.

That’ll do for today.

Key Plays

• I was still busy lamenting the Reds leaving a pair of runners on base in the Top of the 1st when the boots began walking in the Bottom of the 1st. Jeff Hoffman walked a trio of Nats in the frame, and that paired with singles from both Josh Bell and Starlin Castro left the Reds behind early, 2-0.
• Hoffman walked another pair of Nationals in the Bottom of the 2nd, and motioned to the dugout/trainers to come get him after the 5th and final walk of his outing. Fortunately, Brad Brach came on to get out of the jam with no further runs having scored, and the Reds were still down just 2-0.
• Brach didn’t fare quite so well in the Bottom of the 3rd, however. A single and steal of 2B was allowed to Josh Harrison, and he later scored on an RBI-single by Joe Ross. Joe Ross, you’ll recall, was the Nationals pitcher at that point of the game. Reds trailed, 3-0, and shortly after that the game was delayed until Thursday due to some serious storms.
• When play resumed on Thursday afternoon, it was again the Nationals doing the scoring. The Bottom of the 6th saw Luis Garcia smack a triple off Ryan Hendrix, and Garcia later scored on a Trea Turner single. Turner later scored with Ashton Goudeau on the bump, and the Reds trailed 5-0.
• Old friend Tanner Rainey was on the mound for Washington in the Top of the 8th, and that’s naturally when the Reds began to do a little work atop the order. Consecutive singles from Suarez, Winker, and Nick Castellanos pushed across a run and chased Rainey before he could record a single out. That brought in Daniel Hudson, who yielded a bloop single to Tyler Naquin that loaded the bags with none out, and an out later Barnhart popped a ribbie-single into RF, too. A Kyle Farmer sac-fly eventually scored Castellanos to make it 5-3, but that’s where the rally ended. The Reds lost.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• This morning, Jeff Hoffman was placed on the 10-day IL with a right shoulder injury, the severity of which has not yet been determined. Cionel Perez was called up to take his roster spot, and despite this game having begun yesterday with Hoffman in it, Perez was available for its finish today. He actually was on the mound for the Bottom of the 4th when play resumed (and retired the side).
• Today’s series finale will feature quite the pitching matchup, and fortunately will be another 7:05 PM ET start for us all to watch, as well. Sonny Gray will toe the rubber for Cincinnati, while Stephen Strasburg will go for the Nats.
• Tunes.