The Cincinnati Reds opened the final stretch of their West Coast trip with a rough night at Oracle Park, getting blanked by the San Francisco Giants, 5-0, on Monday.
After Sunday’s ugly loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Reds were looking for a response in the series opener. Instead, the game tilted hard the other way almost immediately, and Cincinnati never found a way back into it.
Chase Burns, who came in with 14 wins on the season, had one of the rare outings Reds fans have not been used to seeing from him. The right-hander lasted just 3.2 innings, gave up nine hits and five earned runs, and threw 64 pitches before his night was done.
There has been plenty of conversation about whether the Reds should shut Burns down for the rest of the season, and with the club’s playoff hopes where they are, that kind of move feels like it would make sense now.
Even with San Francisco starter Carson Whisenhunt leaving after 2.2 innings because of what appeared to be an elbow injury, Cincinnati still could not get anything going. The Reds managed only five hits and never scored, while the Giants’ bullpen handled the rest.
The loss was another frustrating entry in a season that has offered very little for Reds fans to grab onto.
Cincinnati now has two more chances to get something out of the trip. The next game is set for Tuesday at 9:45 p.m. ET, with Brady Singer scheduled to start for the Reds and right-hander Adrian Houser lined up for the Giants.
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Reds Suddenly Have A Bigger Concern Than Another Pitcher Nearing Return
Graham Ashcraft took another step toward rejoining the Reds on his rehab assignment, working a scoreless inning in a minor league game as he moves back from the injured list with a UCL strain. For a pitching staff that has had to patch together innings, any progress from Ashcraft matters, especially with the rotation still dealing with the usual wear and tear of a long season.
Brady Singer, though, introduced a more immediate concern when he felt a rib injury during his start and stayed in the game before getting further evaluation. The Reds can only do so much with arms returning if the lineup keeps sputtering, and Terry Francona has already been talking about the clubs approach at the plate as Cincinnati keeps looking for answers on both sides of the ball. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Bullpen Suddenly Has Two High Leverage Arms Back
The Reds have spent enough of this season piecing together late innings to appreciate any sign of stability, and lately the relief group has started to look a lot deeper. Luis Meys call-up from Triple-A has given Cincinnati another live arm to work with after he made some adjustments to his pitching approach, while Tony Santillan is back in the mix after missing time with an oblique injury that had kept him out since June.
Emilio Pagn has handled the ninth, and Tejay Antone and Brock Burke have given the club more credible high-leverage options than it had earlier in the summer. Add Meys progress to Santillans return, and the Reds suddenly have a bullpen that looks less like a nightly scramble and more like a group with real roles taking shape, even if there is still room to see how all the pieces hold up over time. [Read more 🡒]
Reds Suddenly Have A Brady Singer Concern They Can't Ignore
Brady Singer gave the Reds a brief scare after he was hurt while sliding during the game and appeared to come away with a bruise on the right side of his rib cage. He stayed in long enough to keep pitching for a stretch, but Cincinnati eventually had to pull him after two more batters, which at least turned a routine in-game moment into something worth monitoring.
Terry Francona said Singer did not seem worried about the injury, and the plan was for him to be evaluated again the next day. For a Reds club trying to keep its rotation steady, any issue involving a starter who can keep working through contact is the kind of thing that gets checked and rechecked before everyone feels better about it. [Read more 🡒]