You could summarize the Cincinnati Reds series opener against the Los Angeles Angels by simply noting that catcher P.J. Higgins pitched the ninth inning for the Reds.
Position players on the mound typically portends bad outcomes, and that was true for the Reds on April 10 in their 10-2 loss to the Angels at Great American Ball Park. The defeat marked a third consecutive Reds loss and a lack of hitting marred the team’s efforts on a night when 23-year-old starter Chase Burns struggled at times to find the strike zone.
Burns allowed five runs on seven hits and four walks against just two strikeouts, although he gritted out 5 1/3 innings.
“I thought fastball command − there were a number of balls that were hit right on the nose. Thankfully, the ball park tonight was playing a little bigger than normal,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “(Burns) wasn’t throwing his fastball where he wanted to.”
The Reds dropped to 8-6 on the young season. They’ll look to even the series April 11 (4:10 p.m. EDT). Cincinnati’s Brandon Williamson (1-1, 4.76 ERA) will start against the Angels’ George Klassen (0-0, 6.75 ERA).
Trailing, 1-0, in the third inning, Reds center fielder T.J. Friedl aided Burns by leaping to rob Mike Trout of what would have been at least an extra-base hit and might have had the distance to be a home run.
Burns would later allow two home runs. One was a two-run homer by Zach Neto and the second came in the sixth when Josh Lowe, brother of Reds bench hand Nathaniel Lowe, found the seats in right field.
“Just a combination of things. Maybe overthrowing,” Burns said.
In the eighth inning, reliever Kyle Nicolas made his debut for the Reds and allowed a grand slam to Jorge Soler, the Angels slugger who last week was directly involved in a bench-clearing fight during a game against the Atlanta Braves.
Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz hit his fourth home run of the season in the bottom of the eighth. The Reds’ scoring stopped there.
Charged with preserving the arms of the team’s actual pitchers, Higgins recorded a strikeout and a perfect ninth inning on just 10 pitches. He struck out Lowe on a 54.2 mph changeup to start the frame.
Cincinnati scarcely appeared a threat to the Angels’ lead. Their first run came on an RBI groundout by Friedl with the bases loaded in the fifth inning to make it 4-1. That was the only run the Reds managed from the situation, which occurred when Los Angeles starter Jack Kochanowicz walked the bases loaded with one out.
After going 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position in the April 9 series finale against Miami, Cincinnati went 0-for-4 April 10 in the same situations. The Reds entered the game hitting .168 with runners in scoring position − the worst mark in MLB by 32 points.
“I kind of told them today, as long as they don’t feel sorry for themselves, and they won’t,” Francona said. “We’ll figure this out together. That’s how I always feel. They’re good workers. They’re great kids. They’re great teammates. Just got to plug away, and they will and we will.
“I fully believe that guys get to their level, as long as they’re healthy, and I will enjoy watching that. I hope it starts tomorrow.”
Cincinnati showed some signs of sluggish hitting prior to leaving Great American Ball Park for the first road trip of the year after going 3-3 against the Boston Red Sox and Pittsburgh Pirates to open the campaign.
The Reds have also gone up against a seemingly-continual buzzsaw of established pitchers and exciting, younger arms. The list of opposing starters included Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray, Pittsburgh’s 23-year-old talent Bubba Chandler and reigning N.L. Cy Young Award winner Paul Skenes, Texas’ MacKenzie Gore, Kumar Rocker and Jack Leiter, and Miami’s former Cy Young winner Sandy Alcantara, plus former top-five Marlins prospects Eury Perez and Max Meyer.
Francona was complimentary of Kochanowicz afterward, saying he featured a tricky fastball in the upper-90-mph range, adding the Reds failed to execute hitting coach Chris Valaika’s game plan of getting the ball up.
Mostly on the strength of their own pitching but also just enough timely hitting, the Reds went 5-2 on their first road trip of 2026. They were outscored 15-5 in the final two games of the series, dropping both.
“We had a really good road trip, and people (outside the team) were acting like we lost every game,” Cincinnati third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes said. “We’ve just kinda got to not think about that stuff and try to have each other’s back each and every day… It’s still early. Obviously, we’d want to be hitting .300 as a team and whatever the number with runners in scoring position but, I mean, it’s a hard game. Hitting’s one of the hardest things in the world, but I feel we have a really good team. We know we have a really good lineup and it’s just a matter of time until everything clicks.”
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds bats quiet again in loss to Los Angeles Angels
Reporting by Pat Brennan, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
