by Chris Ball

Loveland, Ohio – When a big time athlete like Elly De La Cruz throws up on the field, you know just how hot it is. On a blazing June day in St. Louis, the Reds looked to bounce back after a series opening loss last night. And for a shining moment, it looked like they just might pull it off. But once again, Cincinnati found themselves on the wrong side of an infuriating close loss against a division rival.

After Wade Miley’s recent injury, Terry Francona opted for a bullpen day on Saturday, and Brent Suter took the mound to open things up. He went two innings and gave up a two run shot to Cardinals first baseman Alec Burleson. After that it was time for Nick Martinez.

And to his credit, the Reds’ Swiss Army Knife did everything that Francona asked of him by entering the game in a relief role after getting rocked in his last start two days ago against Minnesota. He’s shown time and again that he will do whatever is necessary to help this team win, and he did that again. Martinez tossed two perfect innings and threw just 18 pitches to get it done.

Ian Gibaut then entered in the fifth inning with the game still within a run. He issued three walks, demonstrating another frustrating lack of command. But the Reds made it out of the inning unscathed thanks to a wonderful back-pick by Tyler Stephenson and a double play on a sharply hit line drive that was caught by De La Cruz.

After mustering just one run in the first game, Cincinnati had chances aplenty in this one to break out. In the third, after the Reds got a run after Gavin Lux grounded into a double play, De La Cruz hit a monster 110 MPH shot into center field and got to third. But the speedy shortstop was cut down trying to score after the Cardinals had some trouble with the relay throw.

But Cincinnati buckled down and played some power ball to plate big runs. Matt McLain once again showed how much he’s improving with time. His ground rule double in the seventh was a part of a three hit day for the Reds second baseman. He’s now hitting .281 in his last ten games and has raised his season average to .209, after it had been down around .180 for a sizable portion of the year.

But more importantly, that double paved the way for Elly De La Cruz’s 17th long ball of the year, a 435 foot shot that went off the bat at 107 MPH. The two run stroke put the Reds up 4-2.

Lyon Richardson followed Nick Martinez’s example with two clean innings of his own. His 21 pitches were extremely efficient and well placed. He now has a 1.99 ERA on the season and is looking better and better with each outing.

Things did not go so well for Tony Santillan unfortunately. In the eighth he secured the first two outs before surrendering a bevy of singles that brought St. Louis to within one. The four singles were the most that the Reds reliever allowed in one inning. That forced closer Emilio Pagan out of the pen an inning early, but he punched out  Wilson Contreras with a bully style 97 MPH heater to close the inning and keep the Reds ahead.

But in ninth inning Pagan made a tough mistake to Nolan Arenado who launched a 383 foot home run to tie it and send the game to extra innings. Neither the Reds nor Cardinals excel. While Cincinnati managed to magnificently escape a bases loaded jam in the bottom of the tenth, only to fall in the bottom of the eleventh to a Yohel Pozo single to drop the second straight game.

The most frustrating thing is how the Reds have failed to perform in extras this year. They have now failed to score the “ghost runner” in 7 of 8 total extra innings played this year (this is their sixth extra-inning game). The same issues came into play again today. Spencer Steer advanced to third on a wild pitch with no one out in the eleventh but he was stranded there to waste yet another opportunity.

The Reds now fall to 10-15 against the National League Central. They desperately need to win games like this one to get back to relevance in the division, and today’s implosion certainly doesn’t help. For all the momentum Cincinnati has generated they must now avoid the sweep tomorrow, and with Andrew Abbott on the mound they are in a great position to get it done.

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Christopher Ball is a longtime Loveland resident and an attorney. He graduated from Loveland High School in 2003 and was a member of the football team before going on to become a coach’s assistant at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana. He has been following and rooting for the Reds and Bengals since the early 1990s and has been through the many ups and downs that fandom has wrought over the years.

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