The new week brought a sliver of hope to a topsy-turvy Cincinnati Reds season. The club was coming off back-to-back series wins, including a successful trip to the Bronx where they took two of three against the New York Yankees. Plus, the Reds were given good news on the injury side of things with several players on the verge of coming back.
Then, the Milwaukee Brewers came to town.
The Reds entered the series 2-13 against NL Central opponents and 35-26 against the rest of baseball. Through two games, the Brewers have mowed down the Reds’ lineup with both starting pitchers taking no-hitters into the sixth inning.
On Tuesday, June 23, it was right-hander Brandon Sproat who shut out the Reds over six frames to lead the Brewers to a 2-0 victory at Great American Ball Park in front of 28,302 fans (including a vocal bleacher section without tarps).
The Reds got their first hit when Jose Trevino led off the sixth inning with a single. He was swapped on the basepaths by Edwin Arroyo one batter later via a fielder’s choice. Arroyo would then get thrown out trying to steal second base.
Through two games in this series, the Reds are a combined 4-for-59 at the plate with no walks and 27 strikeouts.
“It’s different some nights. Different arsenals. They’re getting their fastballs by us,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “Seems like when we start to try to cheat their fastball, there comes a breaking ball and we’re not hitting either one.”
Making his return after three weeks on the IL, Elly De La Cruz was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts. JJ Bleday was the lone Reds’ starter not to strikeout and the only Red to reach second base when he was hit by a pitch in the fourth inning and advanced on a wild pitch.
To add injury to some insulting numbers at the plate, the Reds rotation suffered a setback when left-hander Nick Lodolo left Tuesday’s contest after four shutout innings due to a left wrist contusion. The injury occurred in the fourth inning, when Lodolo was hit by a grounder off the bat of Milwaukee outfielder Jackson Chourio, just minutes after Hunter Greene completed a successful rehab assignment 98 miles away in Louisville.
“My hand just went totally numb,” Lodolo said. “I was thinking about going to pick up the ball and I couldn’t feel my hand. Yeah, I’ve never been hit like that in the wrist.”
Lodolo had struggled in June (7.80 ERA in three starts) but faced the minimum in his first trip through the Milwaukee lineup. He stayed in the game and stranded the bases loaded but did not return for the fifth inning. Brady Singer and Lodolo have combined to toss 11 shutout innings in the series but have a pair of no-decisions to show for it.
The Reds got good news on Lodolo, who wanted to stay in the game, but Francona opted to play it safe.
“”Yeah, he did. He’s OK,” Francona said when asked if Lodolo got X-rays. “As long as they can keep the swelling out of there and it doesn’t show up tomorrow in worse shape, he should be OK for his next start. We’ll certainly keep our eyes on it.”
Julian Garcia came on for his MLB debut and showcased a breaking ball with stellar movement that fooled multiple Milwaukee hitters. He struck out three and walked two over 1 ⅔ innings but got a loss in his big-league premiere after issuing a two-out free pass to Andrew Vaughn in the sixth. Vaughn would score one batter later when Jake Bauers tripled off of Cincinnati reliever Caleb Ferguson.
“Everything I’ve imagined,” Garcia said about his long-awaited MLB debut. “I can’t even put words to it. It was one of the coolest things I’ve ever done in my life. I’ve worked hard to get to this point, and it was not the result I wanted to lose the game, but it was awesome to just be out there and do what I did.”
Vaughn’s sacrifice fly off of Chase Petty in the eighth inning provided an insurance run for the Brewers that made it 2-0. Reds pitchers have combined to allow just three earned runs on five hits with 25 strikeouts in back-to-back losses.
Cincinnati Reds look to avoid sweep against Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday, June 24
Before jetting off to Pittsburgh for a three-game weekend series against the Pirates at PNC Park (where they’ll likely face Cy Young Award Winner Paul Skenes), the Reds will look to avoid a sweep at the hands of the Brewers on Wednesday, June 24.
Cincinnati, now 2-15 in divisional contests, will turn to right-hander Rhett Lowder (3-4, 4.82 ERA) against Milwaukee southpaw Shane Drohan (3-2, 3.40 ERA).
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds add injury to insult in series loss to Brewers
Reporting by Shelby Dermer, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
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By Shelby Dermer, Cincinnati Enquirer | USA TODAY Network
