WASHINGTON, D.C. – When the Cincinnati Reds returned to Nationals Park to complete their suspended game Thursday, the crowd had dwindled from thousands to hundreds.
It was a quiet atmosphere. The video board prompts for the fans to yell louder didn’t really have much of an effect.
"It’s not the first time it’s happened to any of us, obviously," Reds catcher Tucker Barnhart said.
It was a unique way to begin a stretch where the Reds were to play 2 ½ games in 24 hours, but it didn’t take away from the late-game tension in the Reds’ 5-3 loss.
Trailing by five runs in the eighth inning, the Reds tried to mount a comeback against the back of the Nationals’ bullpen. The top of the lineup produced four straight hits, which included an RBI single by Nick Castellanos that extended his hitting streak to 13 games.
The Nationals were forced to use top reliever Daniel Hudson, who had permitted only three batters to reach base in nine innings this month. Tucker Barnhart battled Hudson in an eight-pitch at-bat, fouling everything from 98-mph fastballs to an 87-mph slider, before thumping an RBI single to right field.
