In a recurring theme, the Cincinnati Reds bullpen failed to deliver Monday night at Great American Ball Park, with the result a 5-1 loss to Colorado.
The Reds’ relievers gave up 4 runs in the eighth inning, a solo homer off Ross Ohlendorf by red-hot Rockies rookie Trevor Story, and a 3-run clout by Ben Paulsen off Jumbo Diaz, who took over for Ohlendorf.
Tonight, Cincinnati (6-7) will start right hander Robert Stephenson, who was called up from Triple-A affiliate Louisville today. Alfredo Simon was scheduled to start but was scratched due to tendinitis in his right biceps, according to the Reds.
The Rockies (8-5) will start left hander Jorge De La Rosa in the second game of a three-game series.
Like Simon (0-1, 12.15 ERA), De La Rosa has struggled so far. In three starts he’s pitched through five innings just one time. De La Rosa is 1-1 with an 8.80 ERA.
Reds manager Bryan Price and Rockies skipper Walt Weiss would like nothing more than seeing their starting hurlers find a groove and pitch into the late innings.
Which is understandable since Colorado’s bullpen has the worst ERA in MLB (6.86) with Cincinnati not much better at 5.66. The Reds bullpen ERA in the last seven games is 8.33.
“We believe we’ve got guys who can get the job done. We just haven’t found the right mix, but we will,” Price said.
Third baseman Eugenio Suarez, who sat out Monday’s game, leads the Reds hitters with a .319 batting average, 4 home runs and 10 RBI. Rightfielder Jay Bruce is batting .300 with 3 homers and 12 RBI.
Story has been a bright spot for the Rockies. The first-year shortstop leads MLB with 8 home runs — the most homers in any player’s first 13 games in major league history since 1900. He has 14 RBI and is batting .309.
Read a preview of tonight’s Reds-Rockies game by Thomas Harding of MLB.com.
The game begins at 7:10 p.m. and can be seen on Fox Sports Ohio, and heard on Kmix 106.9 fm and WLW 700 radio.
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