The Cincinnati Reds had the kind of night that can fool you into thinking everything is lining up.
Brady Singer gave them a steady start, Sal Stewart kept driving in runs, and even Matt McLain - hitting .190 when the game began - looked like he might be the story after a three-hit night. Then the eighth inning arrived, and the whole thing fell apart.
Three Reds relievers allowed five runs over the final two innings, turning a lead after seven into an 8-4 loss to the Miami Marlins on Saturday, Aug. 15.
It wiped out the feel-good buzz from Cincinnati’s 16-10 run since the All-Star break and kept the Reds from clinching a series win against a middling opponent. With 40 games left and a losing record, the margin for error is thin, and this one hurt in the most familiar way possible.
Singer’s outing offered one of the more encouraging signs for Cincinnati’s future. After a rocky start to the season while dealing with a blister and a bruised foot, he now has a 3.69 ERA over his last 12 starts, with eight quality starts in that stretch.
All three of his August outings have qualified as quality starts. He had only two quality starts in his first 12 appearances this season.
That matters because the Reds chose to hold onto him at the Aug. 3 trade deadline, even with the Hunter Greene injury drama hanging over the team. Singer is one of five pending free agents who stayed put, and team president Nick Krall called him a valued “veteran leader” after the deadline passed. He’s also the only pitcher on the staff who has not landed on the injured list in his two seasons with the club.
Stewart kept making his case as one of the season’s bright spots, too. The rookie first baseman came through with another two-out hit with men in scoring position in the third inning, driving in his 90th and 91st RBIs to help Cincinnati move ahead 2-1.
The Reds couldn’t hold that edge for long. Miami answered with a solo homer in the fourth and a run-scoring single in the fifth, then Cincinnati punched back with an odd little burst of power that briefly flipped the game again.
Ke’Bryan Hayes led off the bottom of the fifth with a no-doubt homer to left, and McLain followed with another drive to left for a 4-3 lead. For a moment, it looked like the Reds had found enough offense to carry the night.
McLain did more than swing the bat. He added a sharp defensive play in the fourth, diving to his left and popping up to throw out Owen Caissie by a half-step to start the inning. That kind of night fits the standard he set with a franchise-record stretch of 108 consecutive errorless games at second base, dating back to Aug. 11 last season and breaking Brandon Phillips’ 2014 mark.
McLain said he takes “a lot” of pride in his fielding.
“I take pride in every side of my game,” he said. “Just keep playing hard.”
For the Reds, that’s the part that lingers: the individual signs of something more, even as the game slipped away late. Singer’s stability.
Stewart’s production. McLain’s bat and glove.
Enough to make you look ahead, if only for a night, before the bullpen brought everyone back to the same old place.
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