The Reds took their first lead of the week in the first inning when Tommy Pham finally scored his first extra base hit as the Red. The faithful brothers decided to boo the .039 hitter for some reason, and Pham returned the favor with a 424-foot blast into left field seats.
Unfortunately for the Reds, who had little stamina in the early games of the season, that lead only lasted a few minutes. Second batter of the game for the Padres, Manny Machado, beat Nick Lodolo home with two runs to quickly put the Reds 2-1 behind.
Lodolo settled down and put on five strong innings total – a very strong rebound from his disastrous first start at the Great American Ballpark. The Reds offense had plenty of good chances early in the game but couldn’t find a way to get any more runners over Padre’s starting pitcher Sean Manaea’s plate. The Reds lost their seventh straight game, falling to 2-9 overall.
Red’s worst start in 11 games since 1955 (how bad it got before win #3 of the season):
2022: 2-9
2018: 2-9 (2-13)
1993: 2-9 (2-9)
1955: 2-9 (2-11)
Biggest move of the game
Source: FanGraphs
According to Fangraph’s WPA stats (win percentage added up), was the biggest game of the game Nick Lodolo allowed Manny Machado a 2-run home run with 0 out in the 1st inning, giving the Padres a 2-1 lead. This game reduced the Reds’ odds of winning by 18.2% (from 52.8% to 34.6%).
positive
Tommy Pham made his return to Petco Park a triumph and was much-needed for Reds fans. Pham started the night at .038/.194/.038 with no additional base hits. He finished the night behind the cycle in three.
Nick Lodolo Had a difficult start but settled down to give the Reds a really good start in the second major division. His finishing line certainly wasn’t spectacular (5.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K), but he got a lot of bad swings and weak contact after the first inning. Lodolo only allowed 2 hard-hit balls, according to Statcast, and finished with a .243 xBA against.
Alejo Lopez got a hit on his first start in 2021. Later in the game he also hit a rocket to make a tough play.
negatives
Joey Votto is really struggling. He is now 1 for 28 with 14 strikeouts in his last 8 games. The Reds face their first RHP since Friday tomorrow so I doubt he’ll get a day off then, but if he doesn’t get rolling tomorrow you have to wonder if he’ll get a day off against an LHP on Wednesday -Day on Thursday for a nice two day breather.
Brandon Drury‘s hot start was chilled tonight. He went 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts – batting runner-up for the Cincinnati Reds.
Not so random thoughts……….
It’s not much fun right now, but it’s getting better for the Reds. Maybe there were people like me who thought this team could do near their preseason near the .500 PECOTA projection – time will tell. The reds aren’t that bad. Until this team gets going we just have to be happy about starts like Nick Lodolo’s tonight. Brighter days will come.
Next:
Reds at Padres
Tuesday at 9:40 p.m
TV: Bally Sports Ohio
Reiver Sanmartin versus Joe Musgrove