The Reds' offense keeps slumping as they fall to the Cubs
At Great American Ball Park on Friday, Chicago Cubs starter Jordan Wicks followed the same game plan against the Cincinnati Reds that seven other starters have had success with over the last two weeks. Pitchers keep throwing the Reds off-speed pitches, and the Reds still aren’t hitting those changeups and splitters.
Last week, Alex Cobb nearly pitched a no-hitter for the San Francisco Giants by leaning on his splitter. Logan Webb, Zach Davies, Merrill Kelly, Tyler Anderson, Lucas Giolito and Hyun Jin Ryu had similar game plans with their changeups in games against the Reds during the second half of August.
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On Friday, Wicks threw his changeup more than any other pitch, going with it 40% of the time. He allowed just one run in five innings, leading the Cubs to a 6-2 win over the Reds in the opener of a doubleheader and the first game of the four-game series.
There aren’t many must-win games in a 162-game season, but the Reds are in the middle of their biggest series of the season. The Reds trail the Cubs by three games in the Wild Card race, and this is their final chance to make up that ground in a head-to-head matchup against a team in that race.Reds starting pitcher Graham Ashcraft has been the team’s most consistent starting pitcher over the last two months. Wicks was making his second start in the big leagues. It was a pitching matchup that strongly favored the Reds, but Wicks stopped the Reds’ offense with his changeup.
After the Reds claimed outfielders Hunter Renfroe and Harrison Bader on Thursday, general manager Nick Krall acknowledged the inconsistency of the Reds’ offense throughout August. The pitching staff was solid over the last month, but the Reds struck out too often, struggled against left-handed pitchers and couldn’t square up off-speed pitches.
That concerning trend continued on Friday as the Reds dropped the series opener.
The loss guaranteed that the Reds would still be trailing the Cubs in the standings at the end of this series. It continued a disappointing stretch where the Reds have lost six of their last eight games, with every matchup coming against a team that’s in the hunt.
Heading into Friday's game, the Reds had a chance to reset. They had just added two impact players in Renfroe and Bader, and they just got Jake Fraley off the IL. They were just 1.5 games back in the Wild Card race and had a chance to make a statement with their series against the Cubs.
The Reds had reasons to feel encouraged heading into the first game of the series, but that momentum slipped away with all of their weak contact against Wicks.
Three takeaways from Reds vs. Cubs
1. For five innings on Friday, Ashcraft looked like he was on track to give the Reds one of their most important starting pitching performances of the season. His slider was as good as it has been all year, and he was as efficient as he has been all year. Ashcraft only allowed one run through the first five innings, but he allowed two hits to start the sixth inning. With Cubs star first baseman Cody Bellinger at the plate, Bell pulled Ashcraft at just 72 pitches.
2. Bell had a few choices when Bellinger stepped up to the plate. He could intentionally walk the Cubs’ best hitter and have a ground ball pitcher, Ashcraft, go for a double play against Cubs shortstop Dansby Swanson, who hits ground balls more often than the league average. Bell could put left-handed reliever Sam Moll into the game for a left-on-left matchup against Bellinger. Or he could turn to reliever Lucas Sims, the Reds best strikeout reliever behind closer Alexis Díaz, and have Sims go for strikeouts. Sims ended up striking out two batters, but he also allowed the two-run single to Bellinger on the first pitch he threw as the Cubs took a 3-1 lead.
3. Rosters expanded to 28 players on Friday, and Bell was aggressive using his bench to try to create some offense. When the Cubs brought in a right-handed reliever, Bell brought in Nick Martini, TJ Friedl and Will Benson to pinch-hit. Bell prioritized offense over defense with several of the substitutions, and the Reds ended up giving up the designated hitter. Friedl led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a hit by pitch to reach base, and the Reds got the go-ahead run to the plate. But Elly De La Cruz ended that inning with a groundout double play, and the Cubs pulled ahead against the Reds’ bullpen.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds' offense keeps slumping as they fall to Chicago Cubs
