And the cost was not steep. The Reds sent outfielder/infielder Josh VanMeter and minor league outfielder Stuart Fairchild to Arizona and minor league pitcher Packy Naughton and a player-to-be-named to Anaheim.
Then they played a game Monday night against the St. Louis Cardinals and it was a fruitless effort.
The Cardinals tore into Reds starter Anthony DeSclafani in the first four innings for seven runs en route to a 7-5 victory.
Neither Bradley nor Goodwin were on the premises to participate.
In 3 2/3 innngs the Cardinals put 12 runners on base and seven scored against DeSclafani.
They scored one in the first, one in the second, one in the third and four in the fourth on Paul DeJong’s grand slam home run.
DeSclafani had the bases loaded with two outs and a 3-and-2 count on DeJong. Catcher Tucker Barnhart twice called for a slider and DeSclafani shook him off. He threw a fastball right down the Alaska pipeline and DeJong deposited it on the lawn behind the center field wall, a grand slam that made it 7-1 and ended DeSclafani’s less-than memorable night.
Cardinals starter Dakota Hudson, gave up a run in the first, then retired 19 of the next 21. He gave a seven-inning performnce of two runs, four hits, no walks and seven strikeouts.
The Reds sometimes insufferable offense plodded through another hit-starved night for eight innings, just four hits. Then they staged a late-too-late rally in the ninth on singles by Joey Votto and Jesse Winker and a three-run home run by Eugenio Suarez to make it 7-5 with one out.
Giovanny Gallegos came out of the Cardinals bullpen to strike out Mike Moustakas and Aristides Aquino (on three pitches) to end it.
Back-to-back doubles by Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmit led to a first-inning run by the Cardinals.
Matt Carpenter walked with one out in the second, Dexter Fowler singled and Kolten Wong punch a two-out single for the second run.
DeSclafani hit Goldschmidt with a pitch to start the third and DeJong singled. DeSclafani ignored the runners and they pulled off a double steal, putting Goldschmidt on third and enabling him to score the third St. Louis run on Yadier Molina’s sacrifice fly.
Ite totally imploded in the fourth, beginning with Wong’s one-out single. DeSclafani had two outs, but walked the next two to fill the bases.
DeJong unloaded them.
Durilng the second inning, Reds general manager Nick Krall appeared on the Fox Sports Ohio broadcast to talk about the trade.
“We have obviously underperformed so far, but we’re only a game-and-a-half out (from the eighth playoff spot),” said Krall. “These guys give us more resources to fight for our playoff push.”
Of Bradley, Krall said, “He just lengthens our bullpen and gives us more depth out there — good, quality depth. He can come in and be a stopper for us, help us get to where we need to get to.”
Apparently, you don’t have to participate in a brawl to get suspended. A shouting match with umpires will do.
Manager David Bell and outfielder Jesse Winker were suspended one game each and fined. The suspensions came for “excessive arguing with the umpires” in Saturday’s game against the Cubs. And Joey Votto was fined.
There was considerable jawing between the two teams and both converged on the field, but there was not so much as a push or a shove.
Bell served his suspension Monday and coach Freddie Benavides served as interim manager. Winker appealed the suspension and was in the lineup.
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