With a mammoth meltdown by Reds relief pitcher Tony Santillan and the Reds bullpen, the Padres scored a 7-5 victory Thursday afternoon in Great American Ball Park.
That made it six-for-six this season for the Padres over the Reds. And thankfully for the Reds they won’t face the Padres again in 2022.
It was Cincinnati’s 14th loss in their last 15 games and 12th loss to the Padres in 13 games the past two seasons.
The Reds took a 2-1 lead Thursday into the sixth inning and the Padres scored four runs on one hit.
Starter Tyler Mahle gave up a leadoff double to Manny Machado and with one out he walked Eric Hosmer on four pitches.
Manager David Bell trudged to the mound to take the ball away from Mahle to hand it to Santillan.
And it was a category five mistake.
Santillan hit Mat Beaty with a pitch and Jorge Alfaro hit a sacrifice fly to tie it, 2-2. But there were two outs. Didn’t matter.
Santillan hit C.J. Abrams with a pitch to fill the bases. Ha-Seop Kim lined one to left and Tommy Pham attempted a diving catch. The ball skidded past him to the wall and all three runs scored.
The inning: Four runs, one hit, two walks, two hit batsman.
The bullpen ugliness continued in the seventh and this time Hunter Strickland was the culprit.
Machado singled and Hosmer singled with one out. Strickland walked Beaty to fill the bases and walked Jorge Alfaro on a full count to force in the sixth run.
Because Santillan gave up the three-run double, the loss was pinned on Mahle (1-3), who had held San Diego to one run and five hits through five innings.
The Reds beleaguered bullpen of Santillan, Strickland, Dauri Moreta, Art Warren and Buck Farmer pitched 3 2/3 innings and gave up two runs, five hits, three walks and two hit batters.
The Padres scored their run off Mahle in the first when he walked Jake Cronenworth, gave up a single Machado and a run-scoring two-out single to Hosmer.
The Reds grabbed their 2-1 lead in the fifth against Padres starter Nick Martinez.
Brandon Drury doubled and scored on a single by Mike Moustakas, who had two hits and a walk in his first game after coming off the injured list.
Third-string catcher Mark Kolozsvary doubled to left field, his first major league hit and first major league RBI.
However, the Reds offense all day was hampered by double plays. They hit into three.
The Reds put two on with no outs in the seventh against relief pitcher Tim Hill and both runs scored.
Neither Jonathan India nor Nick Senzel started the game, but India came out of the dugout to pinch-hit and blooped a run-scoring single over the shortstop’s head. The second run scored on Tyler Naquin’s fielder’s choice ground ball, cutting San Diego’s lead to 6-4.
Moreta started the eighth and gave up a leadoff double to Kim. He retired the next two, then Bell decided to bring in Warren to face Machado, who already had three hits.
Bad decision. Make it four hits for Machado. He blooped one down the right field line for a run-producing single and a 7-4 San Diego lead.
The Padres did all they could to give this one to the Reds by making three errors. Rookie shortstop C.J. Abrams made two errors, hit into two double plays and relief pitcher Luis Garcia threw three wild pitches.
Two of Garcia’s wild pitches came in the eighth, permitting Kyle Farmer to go from first to third and score on Brandon Drury’s ground ball.
San Diego closer Taylor Rogers arrived in the ninth and gave up a one-out single to pinch-hitter Aramis Garcia, bringing the potential tying run to the plate.
Aristides Aquino grounded into a fielder’s choice and is 2 for 41 this season with 23 strikeouts and is 0 for his last 25.
Senzel pinch-hit and flied to the center field wall, Rogers’ seventh save in seven opportunities.
The bottom line: The Reds are 3-16, by far the worst record in the majors as they headed to Denver for a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies, starting Friday night in Coors Field with Hunter Greene on the mound.
About the Author