News
Reds' second-half struggles continue
Victimized by botched double play, Cueto yields six runs
By Mark Sheldon / MLB.com
07/30/09 3:31 PM ET
CINCINNATI -- The past couple of weeks since the All-Star break have seen the Reds drifting out to sea -- with seemingly no rescue boat, life preserver or a piece of driftwood to grab on to. A 7-4 defeat to the Padres on Thursday was the ninth loss in the past 10 games for the Reds and gave them a 3-11 second-half record. The overall record for the fifth-place team is 45-56, which is a season-high 11 games below .500. After Cincinnati took the first game, San Diego took the final three to claim the series. Even though the Padres came to town with a 4-19 record in July, the Reds are glad to see them go. They ended the season series 1-6 against San Diego, which has the second-worst record in the National League. "It was a very rough series," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. The game wasn't really as close as the score indicated. It was a 7-1 deficit until pinch-hitter Adam Rosales slugged a three-run home run to left-center field with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. "It's definitely a grind," Rosales said of the Reds' current fortunes. "You have to be able to show up every day still. The key here is staying together as a team. We were doing our best to pick each other up in the beginning of the season -- pitchers were picking up hitters and hitters were picking up the pitchers. That's how a team works. In order for us to be successful, that has to happen." When nothing is going right for a team, it doesn't take much for a game to get away. In Thursday's loss, a botched inning-ending double play proved to be the undoing. San Diego had a 2-1 lead before scoring four in the fifth. With one out and a runner on first against Johnny Cueto, Kevin Kouzmanoff grounded to third base. Edwin Encarnacion made a bad throw to second base and left Brandon Phillips with no shot at making a throw to first base to complete the double play. "Brandon did all he could do just to catch the ball and step on second base," Baker said. "That led to four runs. That's why defense is very, very important. You play for that. We just didn't turn it. That was the difference in the game." With new life in the inning, next batter Chase Headley hit a double through the gap in right-center field and Kyle Blanks was hit by a pitch. A 2-1 Cueto pitch was driven by Will Venable for a three-run homer to left field and 6-1 San Diego lead. Venable led the day with four RBIs. Cueto was tagged for six earned runs and nine hits over five innings with two walks, a hit batter and three strikeouts. Over his past five starts, the right-hander is 0-4 with a 10.55 ERA. Overall, he is 8-8 with a 4.06 ERA. "Johnny threw the ball pretty good," Baker said. "It was just a matter of them finding some holes. They found every hole on the field. We didn't find any until the end." One game after being one-hit by three Padres pitchers, including rookie Mat Latos, the Reds didn't have much going against starter Tim Stauffer, who matched a career high with seven innings while he allowed just one run. The deficit was 2-0 when Joey Votto led off Cincinnati's fourth against Stauffer (1-2) with a double to left and scored when next batter Phillips hit a RBI double to right-center. After a Jonny Gomes walk, the rally stalled when Encarnacion grounded into a double play at second base and Laynce Nix grounded out.Mark Sheldon is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
