KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Drop Series to Texas Rangers

This series in Arlington started with another ugly performance at the plate. The Cincinnati Reds were on the receiving end of a three-hitter on Friday night as they lost 2-1. However, the bats bounced back in a major way on Saturday winning 8-4. Hunter Greene turned in his best performance of the season in that contest as the Reds took an 8-0 lead into the ninth inning. Finally, in Sunday afternoon’s rubber match, Cincinnati found themselves in a 4-0 hole after one inning and simply couldn’t dig themselves out.

With the Texas Rangers winning two out of three games it dropped the Reds record to 15-13 on the season. They will begin the new week two and a half games out of first place behind the Milwaukee Brewers. Meanwhile, the Chicago Cubs sit just a half game back of the Brew Crew.

Cincinnati will head out further west to San Diego for a three-game series with the Padres beginning Monday night. Then, an off day will finally come at the conclusion of this series. Thursday, May 2nd will be the Reds’ first off day since April 18th. Nick Lodolo is set to make the start on Monday night at 9:40 p.m. Eastern Time. Nick Martinez and Graham Ashcraft are also schedule to pitch before the Reds return to Great American Ball Park.

Lack of Offense Wastes Strong Pitching Performance

An inability to score has plagued the Cincinnati Reds early on this season. Obviously, a 14-12 (at the time) record isn’t bad, but it could be so much better with more consistent production at the plate. That issue reared its ugly head again on Friday night as the Reds got three-hit by the Texas Rangers to begin the series. Even the one run scored didn’t really come as a result of putting the ball in play.

Despite losing 2-1, the Reds did get on the board first. Elly De La Cruz drew a walk as the second batter in the top of the first inning. Spencer Steer walked as well to place runners on first and second with one away. Then, after De La Cruz moved to third base on a fly out to right field, he stole home on an overthrow into centerfield as Steer took second base. However, that early 1-0 advantage would not hold despite a great outing by Graham Ashcraft.

Ashcraft allowed a solo home run in the bottom of the second inning to Evan Carter that tied the game 1-1. That one pitch was essentially his only mistake of the game. He scattered seven hits across six and one-third innings allowing just the one run. The Texas Rangers added a second solo home run though off of Lucas Sims in the eight, this one off of the bat of Marcus Semien, that would prove to be the game-winner. Kirby Yates slammed the door shut in the top of the ninth inning as the Rangers took game one of the series by the final score of 2-1.

Hunter Greene Helps Reds Bounce Back to Even Series

On Friday night there was nothing happening at the plate for the Cincinnati Reds. That was not the case on Saturday as the offense broke out to score eight runs on 10 total as to even up the series with an 8-4 win. However, the final score isn’t indicative of how much the Reds controlled this game.

Hunter Greene has continued to struggle this season with pitch efficiency and missing opponent’s bats. On Saturday night though he turned in his best performance of the season. The 24-year old pitched seven innings of one-hit, shutout baseball to earn his first win of the season. His strong outing, which included six strikeouts to just one walk, also lowered his ERA to 3.63.

Greene was able to pitch with the lead thanks to some early production from the Reds offense. Jonathan India got it started with a RBI single in the top of the second inning. Nick Martini followed him up with a sacrifice fly to make it a 2-0 game. Then, in the fourth, India came through with another RBI single expanding Cincinnati’s advantage over the Rangers to 3-0. India capped off a 4-4 night at the plate with a two-run home run in the seventh that drove the nail in the coffin.

Cincinnati led 8-0 heading into the final inning, but the Rangers showed some life in the bottom of the ninth. Back-to-back home runs from Davis Wendzel and Corey Seager made it an 8-3 game. Josh Smith would drive in another with a RBI double. Finally, with two runners on, Alexis Diaz recorded the final two outs of the game to earn his sixth save of the season and secure an 8-4 victory for the Cincinnati Reds.

Reds Lose Series Rubber Match

The Texas Rangers jumped out to a 4-0 first inning lead thanks to a pair of home runs and never looked back from there. Adolis Garcia got the party started with a two-run home run off of Andrew Abbott. Then, Wyatt Langford came through with a two-run, inside-the-park home run to make it 4-0. That would prove to be all of the scoring the Rangers would need. However, the Cincinnati Reds did at least make it interesting in the later innings.

After the tough first inning, Abbott settled in and went five and one-third while striking out seven batters. Lucas Sims, Emilio Pagan, and Justin Wilson were all solid in relief as well. The early 4-0 deficit simply proved to be too much to overcome. All of the offense came in the sixth inning as Will Benson got the Reds on the board with a RBI single. Spencer Steer then brought two around with Benson scoring on an infield single and Elly De La Cruz coming in from second on a throwing error. A strikeout by Jake Fraley and groundout by Jonathan India ended the rally.

Cincinnati threatened again in the top of the ninth getting the game-tying run into scoring position. However, Jeimer Candelario struck out, his fourth of the night, and Luke Maile lined out to third to end the game. The 4-3 win clinched the series for the Rangers as they got over .500 to 15-14. With the loss, the Reds fell to 15-13 on the season.