SPORTS

Lack of runs Reds' most alarming issue

John Fay
jfay@enquirer.com
Brayan Pena stops in his tracks before being tagged out by Red Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski in Wednesday’s 4-3 loss. The Reds are 5-11 in one-run games this year.

BOSTON – The Reds' two-steps-forward, one-step-back season continues.

After taking a three-game series from Milwaukee at home, the Reds were swept in a brief two-game series in Boston. The Reds lost two winnable games late. The bullpen lost both games, but the offense continues to sputter.

The Reds open a three-game series Friday at Great American Ball Park against the Colorado Rockies. The Rockies are the hottest hitting team in baseball. The Rockies are hitting .310 as a team.

They have four players with 25 RBI or more. Todd Frazier leads the Reds with 19.

Troy Tulowitzki is hitting .414 with nine home runs and 31 RBI.

But the Reds haven't had a problem shutting down offenses. The problem has been scoring.

The Reds are 5-11 in the one-run games.

Wednesday's game turned when the Reds were only able to score one run after loading the bases with no outs in the seventh inning.

"We've won some one-run games, but when we create separation, the onus is on the other team to really go out there and battle and find ways to score," Reds manager Bryan Price said. "We play a lot of low-scoring, one-run games. We need to create more separation."

The Reds are beat up physically. Jay Bruce had knee surgery Monday and became the 11th different player to go on the disabled list. Catcher Devin Mesoraco, the Reds' hottest hitter, is on the DL, along with closer Aroldis Chapman and No. 2 starter Mat Latos.

Billy Hamilton, the leadoff man and the team's spark, hasn't started a game since jamming his middle finger a week ago.

The Reds' most reliable hitter, Joey Votto, is in a major slump. He is 6-for-his-last-37 with no RBI since April 25, dropping his average from .309 to. 263.

"We're battling and we'll be whole soon, but until then," Price said, "we've got to be able to find ways to create some distance between ourselves and our opponent or it's going to be like this.

"It will come down to making every single play over the course of those last three innings in order to win a game, and that's not how a baseball season is supposed to be."