Cincinnati Reds manager David Bell called them odd plays.
On Monday at Great American Ball Park, the San Francisco Giants scored two runs because the Reds middle infield bobbled a ground ball. The Giants scored a third as a runner scored from third on a pickoff throw to first. Add in two line drives that deflected off starting pitcher Sonny Gray and first baseman Kyle Farmer, respectively.
Those plays were the difference between winning and losing as San Francisco beat Cincinnati, 6-3.
“These guys are working all the time,” Bell said. “Obviously there’s always work to be done because that’s all we do. They work every day and continue to do that. Tonight was some odd plays.”
Gray allowed four runs in five innings, but a lot of his final line was impacted by the Reds defense.
In the first inning, second baseman Jonathan India bobbled a ground ball that could have led to an inning-ending double play. Then in the fourth, shortstop Eugenio Suárez dropped a routine ground ball to shortstop and didn’t get the out at first.
“After I (caught) it, (the ball) came out of my hands,” Suárez said. “I don’t know how, I don’t know. I don’t know how that came out of my hands.”
Both errors led to an additional run, but the Reds biggest defensive mistake came in the top of the eighth.
With the Reds trailing by four runs, relief pitcher Cionel Pérez made a pick-off throw to first. As the Reds tried to complete the rundown, Giants first baseman Darin Ruf jogged home as Farmer didn’t make the throw.
“I just kind of messed up there,” Farmer said. “No excuses. I should’ve thrown it home. I just kind of went blank and that shouldn’t happen in a big-league ballgame.”
Giants starter Logan Webb, who entered the game with a 4.74 ERA, pitched six scoreless innings in Cincinnati. He continued a troubling trend for the Reds early in games.
Over the Reds' last seven games, opposing starting pitchers have a 1.97 ERA in 41 1/3 innings against Cincinnati’s offense. During that same stretch of games, Reds starters have allowed 31 runs in 31 2/3 innings.
“A pitcher's job is to continue to try to make pitches, make pitches, make competitive pitches and continue to try to force soft contact,” Gray said. “There were some plays that maybe could have been made that weren't… It was just sloppy. Like I said, it started with me.”
Left fielder Jesse Winker finished with two hits, including an RBI single. The Reds didn’t break the shutout until the seventh inning. Center fielder Tyler Naquin and Suárez hit back-to-back homers in the eighth, but the Reds never got the tying run up to the plate.
In Sunday’s 7-6 win over the Colorado Rockies, the Reds won their first game since 2018 after trailing by five-or-more runs. Cincinnati couldn’t repeat the same late-game magic against the Giants.
“It’s hard to come back every time,” Suárez said. “We always try to score first. And if it doesn’t happen, just try to score whenever we get the chance, man. That’s how we play this year.”
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