In the top of the first inning and in the top of the second inning on Thursday against the San Diego Padres, Cincinnati Reds left fielder Tommy Pham saved a run with a sliding catch down the left field line.
Both innings ended with a highlight play from Pham. There was a runner in scoring position on both plays, but Pham’s defense got the Reds out of the jam.
Then with two outs and the bases loaded in a tie game in the sixth inning, Padres third baseman Ha-Seong Kim hit a line drive into the gap in left field. Pham got a good jump on the ball and attempted to make the diving play.
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The ball snuck just under Pham’s glove. Instead of the third out of the inning, it was a three-run double, which led to San Diego’s 7-5 win over the Reds in front of a crowd of 10,449 at Great American Ball Park.
"(We need) to take risks, trust yourself and make plays," Reds Manager David Bell said. "Having that mentality in the outfield is really important. The easy thing to do is lay back. We're going to win more games having that mindset."
Since his first game at Great American Ball Park, Pham has been an aggressive defender. In his home debut, Pham sprinted to attempt a diving catch but just missed the ball in a loss to the Cleveland Guardians. On April 20, Pham timed his slide perfectly on a fly ball just over the head of shortstop Kyle Farmer, and he made one of the best defensive plays of the Reds season.
Pham added two more highlight catches to his season on Thursday against the Padres at the start of the game. But in the top of the sixth inning, Pham just missed on another spectacular play. The Padres turned a tie game into a 5-2 game on the double against Reds reliever Tony Santillan.
The Reds have tried to be aggressive to break out of this free fall. On Thursday, Pham attempted his diving catch, and Bell brought Jonathan India off the bench to pinch-hit to try to start a rally. On Wednesday, Bell used his entire bench in the sixth inning to try to spark a comeback.
Colin Moran has been turned into a third baseman as the Reds try to get a better hitter in the order. Last weekend, the Reds attempted two double steals in one game to try to help the offense. Moustakas was activated on Thursday even though he’s currently not able to throw well enough to play third base due to a biceps injury. He had two hits and a walk in his first game in over a week.
None of the moves so far have led to a turning point, and the Reds fell further back into last place in the division with the loss to the Padres.
Mahle made one of the best starts of the season for the Reds, striking out five batters and stranding 10 runners on base. While Mahle allowed six hits, he bounced back to get the timely out when he needed it through the first five innings.
"I had a few games games (earlier in the season), and it was good to get some innings in," Mahle said. "But it wasn't necessarily a good start."
To start the sixth inning, Mahle allowed a double and a walk, and Bell brought Santillan out of the bullpen. Santillan’s signature breaking ball has made him the Reds top reliever to start the season, but Santillan didn’t command the pitch well against the Padres.
Instead of creating the swings and misses that it usually does, Santillan’s slider mostly tailed away toward the left side of the plate. After falling behind against Kim, Santillan left a fastball over the middle of the plate, and Kim’s double gave the Padres the lead.
Even though the Reds are starting to get healthy and have India, Tyler Naquin, Nick Senzel and Moustakas back, the offense is still struggling. While the Reds had the better starting pitcher in Thursday’s matchup, Padres starter Nick Martinez, who played professionally in Japan for the last four seasons, had a better final line than Mahle.
Martinez allowed two runs in five innings, and Mahle allowed three runs in 5 ⅓. The Reds bullpen had been one of the strengths of the team, but the bullpen allowed four runs on Thursday.
With the loss, the Reds’ record fell to 3-16 and they got swept for the third time in their last four series. The Reds entered the year optimistic about the potential of the rotation and the depth of the starting lineup, but neither has lived up to expectations so far this season.
"This is awful to experience each and every day," Reds first baseman Joey Votto said. "We're competitors and professionally we're competitors. Our job is to win. To go out and get smacked around every day is anti everything we're about. For me, it's an awful and embarrassing experience."
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