MILWAUKEE — The Cincinnati Reds’ re-creation of the dead-ball period has them doing one thing that hadn’t occurred within the main leagues in 65 years.
Cincinnati has misplaced 1-0 in every of its final three video games. In response to Sportradar, no workforce had misplaced by that rating three straight occasions because the Philadelphia Phillies did it in Might 1960.
It’s solely occurred six occasions in MLB historical past, and 4 of these situations had been over a century in the past. No one has ever misplaced 1-0 in 4 straight video games.
The opposite groups to lose 1-0 in three consecutive video games had been the Brooklyn Superbas in 1908, the St. Louis Browns and Washington Senators in 1909 and the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1917.
“No one’s proud of what’s occurred the final three video games,” Reds supervisor Terry Francona mentioned Thursday after the string of 1-0 losses continued within the opener of a four-game sequence at Milwaukee. “We’ll determine It out collectively. I really feel strongly about that.”
Cincinnati’s lineup showcased its potential Monday in a 14-3 victory over the Texas Rangers, however the Reds haven’t scored since.
Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi outdueled Carson Spiers on Tuesday. Jack Leiter and 4 Texas relievers mixed for 10 strikeouts Wednesday because the Reds wasted a superb efficiency from Hunter Greene.
Cincinnati’s Nick Lodolo gave up 4 hits and one unearned run in 6 2/3 innings Thursday, however he took the loss as a result of the Reds mustered simply two hits.
“It’s a part of the sport, you understand?” Lodolo mentioned. “I’ll be trustworthy with you. Clearly I need us to attain, however I’m not likely enthusiastic about it. I’ve acquired to do my job on the finish of the day, regardless. We’ll flip it round. I assure that.”
That’s the perspective Francona desires to see from his pitchers as Cincinnati’s hitters attempt to get away of their droop.
“We’re not going to have a scenario the place it’s ‘us’ after we win and it’s ‘they’ after we lose,” Francona mentioned. “We’ll do that collectively.”
Francona mentioned there’s no widespread thread between the video games that explains his lineup’s struggles. The Reds have confronted totally different kinds of pitchers every time.
Eovaldi is a veteran right-hander who went the space whereas permitting 4 hits and no walks. Leiter’s a hard-throwing rookie right-hander. Cortes, a veteran left-hander, doesn’t have the speed of Eovaldi or Leiter however successfully blended his cutter and changeup along with his fastball.
Cincinnati’s struggles Thursday could have been significantly irritating as a result of Cortes seemed so terrible in his final begin, a 20-9 loss to the New York Yankees. Cortes allowed homers on every of his first three pitches that day and ended up yielding eight hits and 5 walks in two innings of a recreation that drew consideration to the Yankees’ use of “torpedo bats.”
The Reds made Cortes seem like a wholly totally different pitcher.
“It was embarrassing, what occurred to me final time,” Cortes mentioned. “I feel, as a starter, you’ve acquired 30 or 32 of those. There’s going to be lots of unhealthy ones all through the way in which. You’ve simply acquired to learn to brush them off and go to the following one. That’s what I did.”
The Reds’ lone hit off Cortes got here from Jose Trevino, who delivered a one-out double within the third off his former Yankees teammate. Cincinnati’s solely different hit Thursday was a single by Jeimer Candelario off Elvis Peguero within the seventh.
Cincinnati has a mixed 9 hits, three walks and 27 strikeouts in the course of the skid.
“To be completely trustworthy, you see this on a regular basis all through a baseball season,” Trevino mentioned. “Pitchers will decide up the hitters and the hitters will decide up the pitchers. It would all swap sooner or later. We’re going to wish them. They’re going to wish us. And sooner or later, we’re all going to be collectively. That’s simply how the baseball season goes.
“Proper now, our pitchers are doing rather well and our hitters, we’re grinding. It’s not like we’re on the market making an attempt to present outs away. We’re on the market placing some good at-bats collectively. We’re going to show this factor round. I’ve full confidence on this workforce.”
