Reds waste 6-run inning vs. Cueto in 9-6 loss to Giants
This time, at least the Reds' bullpen blew a save in Johnny Cueto’s favor.
In his eight seasons with the Reds, Cueto was the victim of a blown save a total of 15 times, but he was saved by a bad Reds bullpen on Monday as a member of the San Francisco Giants. The Giants scored five runs off of JC Ramirez and Drew Hayes in the seventh inning to erase a three-run Reds lead en route to a 9-6 Giants victory.
With the runs, the Reds’ bullpen has now allowed at least one run in 20 consecutive games, tying a modern Major League record set by the 2013 Colorado Rockies.
Making matters worse, opponents have scored multiple runs off of Reds relievers in 17 of 20 of those games, including six in Monday’s game. Reds relievers have also surrendered a total of 20 home runs during the streak, including a three-run homer by Brandon Crawford off of Hayes that put the Giants on top.
Well before the game got to the bullpens, Reds left-hander Brandon Finnegan — one of three left-handers the Reds received in the deal with the Royals last July — bested Cueto.
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And he did it on one leg. Finnegan pitched the final three of his six innings with a sore hamstring in his left leg.
“It was barking a little bit. I couldn’t really push off tonight. It helped me out,” Finnegan said afterward, noting he should be fine to pitch again when his spot in the rotation comes back up. “I stayed low in the zone all night, so it helped me out a little bit.”
Finnegan allowed three runs on six hits with six walks and four strikeouts — and holding a 6-3 lead.
And then came the bullpen.
Ramirez struck out Matt Duffy to start the seventh inning for the Reds — and then gave up four straight hits — a single to Buster Posey, a double to Hunter Pence, a single to Brandon Belt (to score one run) and then a single to Gregor Blanco (to score another). With two on and the Reds clinging to a one-run lead, Bryan Price brought in Hayes.
That didn’t work either. Crawford hit Hayes’ 2-1 offering into the seats in center field for an 8-6 Giants lead.
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That erased a 6-3 lead that the Reds were able to build in the third inning against their former teammate.
Cueto cruised through the first two innings, allowing just one hit, before Tucker Barnhart started the third with a single against his former batterymate. Following a sac bunt, Cueto wouldn’t record another out until he struck out Barnhart nine batters later. By that time, the Reds had scored six off of their former teammate on a total of six hits in the inning. Reds batters hit for the cycle in the inning with three singles (Barnhart, Scott Schebler and Brandon Phillips), a double (Billy Hamilton), a triple (Jay Bruce) and the big blow, a three-run homer by Joey Votto.
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Recently Votto had said he was looking forward to the challenge of facing Cueto. In the first, Cueto struck out the Reds' first baseman. But Votto got revenge in the second, when he worked the count full and crushed a ball to straight-away center field, giving the Reds a 4-3 lead.
“I want to get them out, they want to hit home runs off of me, but this is just a baseball game,” Cueto said, according to translator Erwin Higueros.
Cueto said he was appreciative of the ovation Reds fans gave him when he started the bottom of the first and again in the top of the second when he came to the plate. He also shrugged off the derisive chants of “Cue-to, Cue-to,” as he labored through the 48-pitch third.
What was tougher to shake was Hamilton, who diverted Cueto’s attention after his double.
“Ever since I’ve been here, he’s always told me he could pick me off from first. I didn’t get a chance to do it at first. I was at second, so I didn’t get a chance to see his pick-off move,” Hamilton said. “He said that every day when I’d get on base and everything. ‘I’d pick you off easy. I got you.’ He does have one of the best moves I’ve seen. I was talking to Joey, and he’s very accurate. He puts it on the money every time. It was just fun being out there.”
Hamilton didn’t get to steal a base off of Cueto, but did trot home on Votto’s homer.
While Cueto struggled in the third, he pitched like the Cueto of old in his other four innings. So far this season, Cueto’s allowed just 17 earned runs, 11 coming in two innings. Take away the 11-batter, six-run, six-hit, two-walk third, and Cueto allowed just one baserunner over four innings.
He also knocked in a pair of runs with an RBI single in the second, part of a three-run frame against Finnegan.
“I was trying to hit a fly ball, but it was grounder,” Cueto said, according to Higueros. “It’s part of the game.”