The Cincinnati Reds held back Hunter Greene during the final week of the regular season, instead gambling that the rest of their starting rotation could get the job done well enough to save him for a Game 1 start of a Wild Card series (if they got there).
Well, they got there, but when they did their ace simply wasn’t himself at all.
Greene watched Shohei Ohtani blast a 117 mph homer off him before he could record an out and eventually surrendered a trio of dingers (and 5 ER total) while lasting just
3.0 IP in his start in Game 1, and the Los Angeles Dodgers shaky bullpen eventually backed Blake Snell in a 10-5 win over the Reds on Tuesday night.
The Dodgers held leads of both 8-0 and 10-2 before the tail-end of their bullpen couldn’t find the plate in the Top of the 8th, when Cincinnati walked twice with the bases loaded as part of a 3-run rally that actually brought a batter to the plate who could’ve made it a 1-run game with a grand slam (as if that was going to happen).
On the whole, it was yet another bright lights, big city underwhelming performance by the Reds. I’d say they’ve made a habit of that, but since it only seems to happen once a generation perhaps it’s less of a ‘habit’ and more of a ‘curse.’ It wasn’t quite as bad as being no-hit by Roy Halladay in Philadelphia fifteen years ago, but the start of it against two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell sure had a very similar feel.
A loss is a loss is a loss, and this one puts the Reds on the brink. Another loss tomorrow will end their season, which makes it interesting to see if Terry Francona will really trust Zack Littell and his dinger-prone ways to start tomorrow while the likes of Andrew Abbott, Nick Lodolo, and Nick Martinez are available in some capacity. Did I mention the Dodgers blasted 5 homers tonight?
Game 2 will be a similar just after 9 PM ET start like tonight, and I’d wager we’ll see a bit of panic in the Reds – at least I hope. After watching Ke’Bryan Hayes get perhaps the two biggest PA of the night on Monday (while Sal Stewart didn’t start), I can only hope there’s some semblance of urgency on their part after three decades of failing to advance so much as past the first round of the superexpanded megaplayoffs.
Was it good to see the Reds on the big stage again? It was, for a minute. Then they once again reminded us that they’re the Cincinnati Reds, and that wasn’t enjoyable at all. Maybe, just maybe, they’ll begin to shuck that shell on Wednesday in Chavez Ravine.
