“It’s been tough, but we’ll stick together,” center fielder TJ Friedl said. “There are ebbs and flows to this game. As long as we stay together in the clubhouse like we are and compete for each other, we’ll get through it. All you can really ask is to come in every day, prepare the best you can, be yourself, be authentic and the rest of it takes care of itself.”
The Reds dropped another series vs. the Milwaukee Brewers last week, and Cincinnati’s record fell to 30-33. On top of that, two of the Reds’ best players in Austin Hays and Hunter Greene are on the injured list.
Several Reds players said a week ago that it felt like the team was starting to gel and create some momentum, but consecutive frustrating series losses vs. the Chicago Cubs and the Brewers represented a setback.
“There are going to be times where you don’t play like yourself,” starting pitcher Nick Martinez said. “That’s a natural part of the season. We’ve played more like ourselves than we haven’t. That’s not a guaranteed win. Over the course of the season, if we play more like who we are and play to that identity, we’ll come out on top and have a pretty good season.”
Three concerning trends continued on Wednesday with a 9-1 loss to the Brewers.
Milwaukee continues to have Cincinnati’s number. The Reds have still only won one rubber match all season. And Reds still don’t have a late comeback win this season.
Francona has been asked about the Reds’ late game struggles on a few occasions this season.
“We talk about stuff like that,” Francona said. “If I had an answer, we wouldn’t be like that. It’s not like everybody just shuts it down. I’d like to figure that out better.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
The Brewers won their twelfth consecutive series vs. the Reds, winning every single one since 2022. Milwaukee’s brand of baseball — clean defense, heads up plays, situational hitting and a dominant bullpen — has been a great formula to beat the Reds.
“They’re tough,” starting pitcher Andrew Abbott said. “They play very clean baseball all the way around. They do the little things right to win the games. Sitting and watching them play the way they play against us is a good way to learn.”
The factors that Abbott pointed to have been the overarching theme of recent series against the Brewers, but the series finale this week came down to Abbott’s worst start of the season. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball in May, but he allowed five runs in six innings on Wednesday.
“He just made two mistakes, and it was four runs,” Francona said. “You’re just not going to be perfect.”
Abbott has been one of the Reds’ best players this year and was an unlikely source for such a key loss. But, as they say, momentum is the next day’s starting pitcher. The Reds had their best moment of the season with TJ Friedl’s game-ending robbed homer in Game 2 of the Brewers series.
The Reds were hopeful that the play would create some momentum, but it didn’t carry over to Wednesday.
The Reds have had several meetings about what they need to do to turn the ship around while there’s still time in 2025.
“It’s always good to play with an edge,” outfielder Gavin Lux said. “It’s contagious. If we’ve got a lot of hits, the energy is there and it’s contagious. We’ve got to have that no matter if we’re hitting or not hitting. Just treat every game like it’s a street fight.”
There’s a clear understanding of the brand of baseball that the Reds are aiming to play.
“Tito said it early in spring training, what the expectations are,” Lux said. “We want to play hard. Play fast. Play smart. We’ve got a lot of new guys that haven’t been here. It’s gelling together now. I think we’re going to go on a pretty good run here pretty soon, if it’s not now. It feels like everything is meshing together, especially on offense.”
So far this season, the results haven’t been there. And the Reds’ recent series against the Cubs and Brewers underscored the gap between Cincinnati and the top teams in their division.
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