NEW YORK – One of the New York writers asked Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona whether after all these years, he thinks back to those epic Yankees-Red Sox battles two decades ago when he goes to the Bronx.
Not that Francona claims to remember much of anything that happened more than about a minute ago – and he rarely indulges reminiscing about past seasons when he’s got a game today.
But he did offer this much about Yankee Stadium a few hours before the Reds opened a three-game, weekend series there:
“The one thing,” he said. “When you a game here, it feels like it means something. I like that. It’s cool.”
Whether he’ll still think it’s cool by the time he and the Reds escape New York to go home for three against National League Central-leading Milwaukee, the magnitude of this stretch of games for the Reds is hard to ignore – whether the nearest river is the Hudson or the Ohio.
The Aug. 3 trade deadline might seem like it’s a long ways away, but the top of the division is ever further when adding the Reds’ double-digit deficit to the Brewers with their last-place standing.
And when they opened this series with a 5-0 loss to the best pitcher for the best team in the American League, it sent the Reds to their 10th loss in 14 games, dumping them back to their low-water mark of four games under .500.
“We have a month and a half before the trade deadline,” Reds president Nick Krall said at the outset of the Yankees series when asked about the deadline. “Let’s just figure out who’s coming back (from the injured list), when they’re coming back and what we can do as a team.
“And then we’ll make some decisions.”
Setup reliever Pierce Johnson (elbow), shortstop Elly De La Cruz (hamstring) and closer Emilio Pagán (hamstring) all are on track for possible returns from the IL within days of each other over the next week or so.
All-Star ace Hunter Greene (elbow) could be right behind them before.
“We don’t have to think about the deadline. It’s not part of our job,” said veteran Eugenio Suárez, who was traded by the Diamondbacks to the Mariners last year at the trade deadline. “We’ve got to come here and play baseball. Let the front office and GMs and them do their job, and we don’t have to think about that. Because when you start thinking about it that, it’s tougher.”
Whether it gets too late too fast for any of that to matter will have a lot to do with how many more games between now and then look like any better than this one.
Yankees right-hander Cam Schlittler (8-3), the second-year power pitcher making an early case for Cy Young frontrunner in the AL, recorded a career-high 13 of his 18 outs via strikeouts in a dominating six innings. He didn’t walk a batter, allowed only four hits and lowered his AL-best ERA to 1.71.
“He came as advertised,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “It’s pretty impressive.”
Said Suárez of the two different movements on upper-90s fastballs from Schlittler: “It’s nasty.”
Reds rookie Rhett Lowder (3-4) pitched into the sixth and held the Yankees at bay in all but one of those innings.
But the one hurt.
After giving up a leadoff home run to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the second, Lowder walked the next two batters.
Two outs later, Yankees leadoff man Ben Rice crushed a 1-1 pitch for his 21st homer of the season and a quick 4-0 lead.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Clock ticking on Reds, as Yankees hand them 10th loss in 14 games
Reporting by Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Gordon Wittenmyer, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
