The Reds streak of not getting swept in a series ended Wednesday night at 42 series when the Los Angeles Dodgers danced on their grave, 5-1, completing a three-game sweep.
The Dodgers force-fed the Reds the reason why they are defending World Series champions.
And while the Reds were losing three straight, six of their last seven, the New York Mets swept the Philadelphia Phillies and lead the Reds by 4 1/2 games in the wild card pursuit.
With only 28 games remaining, it is looking more and more as if the Reds will be playoff spectators.
So how did the Reds get swept?
How about scoring only four runs in the three games?
How about squeezing only 16 hits in the three games against LA’s pitching?
How about striking out 42 times in the three games, including 19 times Wednesday, a Dodgers franchise record for a nine-inning game?
How about going 1 for 16 in the three games with runners in scoring position, a malady that has disrupted the Reds all season?
How about leaving 21 runners on base in the three games?
How about scoring one or fewer runs in four of their last seven games?
How about scoring two or fewer runs for the 45th time this season?
Yeah, how about it all?
Reds manager Tito Francona revealed during his post-game media session what he told his downtrodden team after the game.
“I told our guys we can choose to make the next five weeks the best five baseball weeks of our life,” he told reporters after the game. “But we’re going to have to remember everything we talked about from day one.
“We have to learn from things that happened then move on because we have to get after it,” he added.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
And it started so upbeat for Reds starter Nick Lodolo, who spent 20 days on the injured list with his finger problem.
He retired the first nine Dodgers with five strikeouts, including all three in the second innings.
Then came a bizarre fourth inning. The Dodgers collected five singles and only one was hit hard and they resulted in four runs.
The Dodgers had only seven hits all night, but five were bounced in that fatal fourth.
It began with a hard-hit single to right by Shohei (Double Duty) Ohtani. The next two hitters blooped singles to right field when Noelvi Marte got a late break before a futile charge in.
That loaded the bases and Kike Hernandez rolled a seeing-eye two-run single up the middle. With two outs and runners on third and second, Francona decided to intentionally walk Miguel Rojas.
It was sound strategy because it brought up light-hitting back-up catcher Dalton Rushing, batting .184. And he is left-handed facing the left-handed Lodolo.
He totally wrecked the strategy by rolling a two-run single up the middle to complete a four-run inning.
The only other run was a sucker punch, too, an eighth-inning home run off Brent Suter by Michael Conforto. When the series began he was hitting .183. He was 7 for 18 in the series.
And then there was Shohei Ohtani, the pitcher/designated hitter.
He had never won a game as a pitcher for the Dodgers and they had lost all four games he started this season. In his previous two starts he gave up nine runs and 14 hits in 8 1/3 innings.
But he was a changed man on this night — five innings, one run, two hits, two walks and nine strikeouts with 87 pitches. It was the most innings, the most pitches and the most strikeouts he has accomplished in a game for the Dodgers.
“It is amazing,” said Francona. “It’s not just what he is doing on the field, that in itself is kind of absurd. It is everything that goes into it, the preparation to do both. It’s hard to fathom how somebody can be that dedicated and have that talent to pull it off.
“He’s good, he has everything,” he added. “When he has to reach back for a high-90s fastball or a real good breaking ball, he can do it. And he’s really tough on lefties.”
It started great for the Reds. TJ Friedl, the only Reds hitter not to strike out, poked Ohtani’s first pitch of the game for a single.
But Ohtani struck out Marte and Elly De La Cruz before Austin Hays flied to left and Friedl never budged off first base.
Ohtani’s only danger surfaced in the second. After he struck out Gavin Lux, he walked Spencer Steer and Jose Trevino, both on full counts.
Then he threw a wild pitch, moving the runners to third and second, but he struck out Ke’Bryan Hayes on a 100 miles an hour fastball.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The only other hit off Ohtani was Marte’s one-out home run in the third to give the Reds a 1-0 lead. Ohtani then struck out three straight and retired the final eight Reds he faced.
The Reds were chasing his sharp-breaking offerings like a man chasing his hat in a stiff wind. They could never catch up to them.
They put seven runners on base in the final three innings against the LA bullpen and not a single one put a foot on home plate.
The Reds loaded the bases in the seventh after Friedl walked on four pitches. But Marte swung at the first pitch and grounded out.
And in the eighth the Reds put runners on third and second with two outs. Instead of sending up a pinch-hitter for Jose Trevino, 2 for 17, Francona permitted him to bat and he struck out.
Once again the Reds put runners on third and second with two outs in the ninth and, fittingly, De La Cruz struck out to end it, the fourth time he struck out.
NEXT GAME
Who: St. Louis at Cincinnati
When: 6:40 p.m.
TV: FanDuel Sports
Radio: 1410-AM, 700-AM
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