Only baseball’s worst team, the Pittsburgh Pirates (7-18), separated the Reds (11-17) from last place in the National League Central Division and the league’s worst record.
“This is absolutely a tough loss,” manager David Bell said Tuesday. “It seems like nothing has been going right. We’re not winning games. It’s really difficult to go through that, but our players continue to compete and support one another and do everything in their power to turn this around. I have no doubt that will happen tomorrow. As tough as this loss is, we will come out and play hard and compete. One of these games, there’s no doubt something is going to click and get it going in the other direction.”
Until then, here are four reasons the Reds have lost four in a row:
1. Slumping offense: The Reds have not scored more than two runs in the four games. They were shut out 3-0 by the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday and have scored two runs in each of the last three games.
Until the Reds recorded two hits in the fourth inning Tuesday, they had not collected multiple hits in the same inning in their last 45 innings. It was the longest such streak in baseball since the Washington Nationals went 48 straight innings without multiple hits in 2010.
2. Missed opportunity: The Reds had the bases loaded with no outs in the fifth inning Tuesday and failed to score. After a strikeout by Joey Votto, Nick Castellanos singled, but Freddy Galvis waited to see if the ball would be caught in right field. When it wasn’t caught, Galvis raced for home but was forced out at the plate.
Jesse Winker then popped out to second to end the inning.
3. Untimely error: The Reds have committed 13 errors, the sixth fewest in baseball. However, a throwing error by Votto led to the first run Tuesday. He hit Brewers runner Keston Hiura in the back with a throw to second as Christian Yelich scored. Two batters later, the Brewers tied the game at 2-2 on an RBI double by Ben Gamel.
4. Starting performances: Although the starting pitching continues to be strong overall, it has not been at its best this week.
Wade Miley gave up three earned runs in five innings Saturday. Tyler Mahle gave up three earned runs in three innings Sunday.
Even Trevor Bauer, who was untouchable in his first four starts, gave up four earned runs in 6 1/3 innings Monday.
Luis Castillo became the fourth straight starter to take a loss Tuesday.
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