Reds lose 5-1, extending skid to 6
PITTSBURGH — With the possibility of another pitcher coming up to make his Major League debut on Sunday, the Reds could have used a long outing from Alfredo Simon, the guy they acquired to take those innings from young pitchers.
Simon managed just four innings — his second-longest outing in four starts this season — as the Reds lost 5-1 to the Pirates on Saturday.
Sunday’s scheduled starter, Raisel Iglesias, won’t pitch because of inflammation in his right shoulder, Reds manager Bryan Price said after Saturday’s loss. Instead, right-hander Tim Adleman will likely take the mound in his big-league debut in the series finale against the Pirates.
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Adleman will be asked to not only halt a six-game losing streak in his first big-league appearance, but also pitch long enough to keep the ball out of the hands of an overworked and underperforming Reds bullpen.
Saturday, Simon pitched into the fifth inning, but didn’t retire a batter in that final frame, forcing three Reds relievers to finish off the game, pitching the final four innings. Although Caleb Cotham gave up a two-run home run — stretching the Reds bullpen’s streak to 18 consecutive games having allowed at least one run — the bullpen still outperformed Simon in their half of the innings. Simon allowed three runs on six hits with four walks and four strikeouts, while JC Ramirez, Tony Cingrani and Cotham combined to give up two runs on four hits, one walk and three strikeouts over their four innings.
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Reds relievers have now pitched 87 innings to the starters’ 119 innings in 24 games this season.
And the thing is — it looked like Simon’s outing was going to be even shorter when he gave up a leadoff homer to John Jaso on his first pitch of the game and then needed 33 more pitches to get out of the first inning. In all, he threw 91 pitches before Price went to the mound to get him in the fifth.
“(Simon) battled his way through multiple innings and really wanted to get him through that fifth inning so we can shorten the game for the bullpen,” Price said. “We also need him to turn the corner as a starter. This is a guy we know is capable of being that guy that for a young staff is an innings workhorse and he’s got to be able to do those types of things.”
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The Reds have had to use at least two relievers in all 24 games this season, with no starter going longer than seven innings in a start. Only rookie Robert Stephenson, who has been called up twice and sent down twice, has pitched seven innings in a start. In 17 of the team’s 24 games, the starter hasn’t pitched six or more innings.
That’s put a lot of pressure on the bullpen, pressure it hasn’t been able to withstand. Reds relievers have a combined ERA of 6.21 and have allowed 20 total home runs, 18 in the last 18 games. Not only has the bullpen allowed a run in each of the last 18 games, it has allowed multiple runs in 15 of those and 60 runs total in that stretch.
But it’s not just the pitchers that are to blame for the current six-game losing streak. Since beating the Cubs 13-5 on April 23, Reds batters have managed just 40 hits and 10 runs in six games. In those six games, the Reds are hitting just .206 (40 for 194).
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The Reds actually tied Saturday’s game when Billy Hamilton scored from first on a double by Zack Cozart in the fifth. Hamilton scored despite the fact the ball was hit to one of the game’s best defensive left fielders and the Pirates executed a nearly flawless relay — only Hamilton’s speed and head-first slide allowed him to get in front of the tag of catcher Francisco Cervelli.
But Simon, who had 91 pitches through four innings, gave up a single, a walk and a single to the Pirates to start the fifth, giving Pittsburgh a lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips, who made another in a long list of highlight plays, described the team’s play as “sloppy.”
“Some days we’re hitting and one day we’re not pitching. We’ve just got to put everything together,” Phillips said. Once we get together, that’s a beautiful thing and we can show people we can really play and keep up with the Central. But losing six games in a row, it’s just real sloppy. I feel like we’re better than that.”