Eugenio Suárez stepped into the batter’s box with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning Sunday.
If there was ever a good time to break out of his season-long slump, that was the moment. The Cincinnati Reds were trailing by three runs to the Milwaukee Brewers and need offensive production behind Jesse Winker and Nick Castellanos.
Suárez struck out in four pitches. He dropped his helmet to the dirt, then kicked it toward the dugout.
The inning-ending strikeout spoiled a big opportunity for the Reds in their 9-4 loss at Great American Ball Park and sunk Suárez deeper into his slump. The Reds finished their seven-game homestand with a 1-6 record.
"It sucks, man," Castellanos said of the homestand. "It’s embarrassing, honestly. No other way to put it than that."
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The Reds dropped a season-worst five games under .500 and will begin a six-game road trip after an off-day Monday.
Suárez, who whiffed on an elevated fastball, is hitting .148 this season. He’s 1-for-21 in his last six games. He struck out in the second inning when there were two runners on base and no outs and softly lined out to begin the fourth inning.
"I’ve been where he’s at before," Castellanos said of Suárez. "The game just feels a little bit impossible. It’s hard. Everybody is susceptible to struggling. The only thing that we can do is just continue to show him we believe in him.
"When he comes up with the bases loaded, I was telling (J.R.) House at third base, this is a good chance for a homer right here. Just because he’s able to do that. He has that in him. It’s just a matter of time."
With three regular starters out of the lineup because of injuries – Joey Votto, Mike Moustakas and Nick Senzel – the Reds need the version of Suárez that highlighted their offense in 2018 and 2019.
"I’m sure that Geno, for a lot of reasons, is trying to do too much," Reds manager David Bell said. "He’s human. Trying to make up for a slow start. Trying to do his part to maybe make up for some of the guys we’re missing."
Then there’s Luis Castillo, who had another rough start Sunday. He surrendered five runs on five hits and four walks in five innings.
The Reds were hopeful that Castillo’s last start represented a big step in the right direction. He still gave up three runs in five innings against the San Francisco Giants, but he struck out 11. The swing-and-miss part of his attack, which had been missing for much of the season, was finally back.
If his last start was a few steps forward, then Sunday was a few steps back. Castillo had more trouble in the first inning, struggling with many of the things that have plagued him all year.
"We need Luis Castillo," Bell said. "He knows that. A lot of great players have been through these tough times. The great thing about it is Luis Castillo is still young. He’s had success in the league; a lot of it. We know he’s going to get better going through this. That’s really our approach to it."
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The Reds have been bit by the injury bug and they can't afford to wait for some of their top players to turn their seasons around. Suárez might have the highest offensive ceiling of any hitter on the roster, homering more than any MLB player except Mike Trout since the start of the 2018 season.
Castillo was the Reds' Opening Day starter. If the Reds want to reach their goal of making the postseason, they need him to pitch like an ace and anchor their starting rotation.
"Obviously, it’s two totally different situations, but they’ve done it before," Bell said. "They know they’re going to come out of it. We know they’re going to come out of it. We need them. Thankfully, they have people here, a lot of people, that care about them, believe in them and are doing everything we can to help support them through it."
Castillo allowed three runs in a 32-pitch first inning Sunday. He gave up a pair of singles to put runners on the corners, issued a walk to Daniel Vogelbach to load the bases and he walked Travis Shaw to allow a run to score.
After the bases-loaded walk, shortstop Willy Adames, traded to the Brewers on Friday, hit a two-run single to center. In 11 starts this season, Castillo has yielded an MLB-high 18 earned runs in the first inning.
"It was just another bad day," Castillo said, according to team interpreter Jorge Merlos. "We've had plenty of these this year. On the walks, they led to runs. Like I said, it was just another bad day. What more can I say?"
An issue for Castillo is that when he makes a bad pitch, he’s missing over the heart of the plate. He was fortunate in the first inning when Christian Yelich smacked a changeup over the heart of the plate with 115 mph exit velocity and it turned into a lineout to Castellanos on a leaping grab in right field.
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In the third inning, Brewers outfielder Avisaíl García hammered a fastball over the heart of the plate in a 2-0 count for an opposite-field, two-run blast.
Castillo owns a 7.61 ERA through 47 1/3 innings.
"We're trying to get back to where I was beforehand," Castillo said. "Sometimes it is hard to turn night-and-day and turn back into what you originally were. We're still continuing to work on that process. It'll get there."
Winker and Castellanos combined for five of the team’s seven hits Sunday. Winker hammered a solo homer to the Power Stacks that sit beyond the seats in right-center in the third inning. Statcast estimated it traveled 456 feet.
It was Winker’s fifth home run of the weekend against the Brewers. He became the first Reds batter with five homers in a series since Willie Greene accomplished the feat from Sept. 24-26, 1996 versus the Cubs. José Abreu was the last MLB player to do it with five homers against the Cubs on Aug. 21-23, 2020.
Castellanos hit a two-run homer in the ninth, had two doubles and one walk, raising his batting average to a league-best .356. Winker is just behind him at .355.
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