Singer, Reds' bats stumble to close out tough set against Nationals

WASHINGTON -- It was a weekend where all the Reds' momentum -- especially offensively -- grounded to a halt much like a congressional filibuster can do for a bill on its way to becoming a law.

On Sunday afternoon, Reds hitters were faced with a Nationals bullpen day from an opponent whose relievers have collectively struggled lately. Only four hits were collected in a 7-1 loss as Washington completed a three-game series sweep at Nationals Park.

Reds hitters batted a collective .172 (16-for-93) in the series, with six runs and limited chances to come up big while going 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and leaving 14 runners on base.

It was a particularly hard weekend for the top three hitters of Cincinnati’s lineup -- Elly De La Cruz (1-for-10), Sal Stewart (2-for-12) and JJ Bleday (1-for-11). As a team, the Reds are 30th in batting average (.229) for the season.

“That’s a tough ask, because they’re not going to hit every game. It’s just the way it is," manager Terry Francona said. "But when they don’t, it gets a little more glaring. They had a bullpen day today and I thought we kind of started chasing, trying to hit everything. They go fast, slow, fast, slow. And [we] started getting into that rocking chair where instead of being stubborn enough to sit on something, we tried to hit everything and kind of played into their hand.”

The only rally the Reds put together came in the second inning, when Tyler Stephenson led off with a single to center field before Eugenio Suárez was hit by a pitch. Their run scored when Stephenson came home from third base on a one-out sacrifice fly to right field by Dane Myers, but it gave Cincinnati a brief 1-0 lead.

For a 56-61 Reds club with only faint playoff chances left to cling to, the series had the worst possible outcome. The road trip resumes on Tuesday against a first-place White Sox club in the American League Central.

“You’re going to go through stretches. You’re going to have series like this," starting pitcher Brady Singer said. "We’ll just keep pushing, take the off day [Monday], enjoy it and get back after it against the White Sox.”

Singer has another quality start

Singer delivered a quality start of six innings while allowing three runs, eight hits and one walk while striking out three. Three singles in the bottom of the second inning led to two runs.

"His velocity looked down a couple of ticks early," Francona said. "But kind of like Brady, you look up after six and he battled and fought and scratched and gave up three and gave us a chance. I’m saying that as a compliment, because I didn’t think he had his best stuff today.”

Opening the third inning, a 3-2 sweeper from Singer was on the outer edge of the strike zone, but lefty hitter Abimelec Ortiz reached out for an opposite-field homer to left-center field for a 3-1 Nationals lead.

“I went back and looked at it. I thought it was down and away, and it was away. It’s kind of crazy he hit that out," Singer said.

Singer gave up four more singles the rest of the afternoon and finished the sixth inning with 103 pitches.

“Definitely a battle," he said. "Quite a few hits, I couldn’t really get the slider underneath to get the swing-and-miss that I wanted. I just tried to battle and try to give us a chance there at the end. But I’m just happy to get to the sixth. Just a grind.”

It won't usually be flashy or electric, but Singer has been available for every start for the Reds in each of the last two seasons. After a rough beginning to his season -- and a 6.18 ERA through the first 11 starts -- the right-hander has a 3.54 ERA over his last 12 starts, including quality starts in five of his last six.

The Reds didn't move Singer and his expiring contract at the Trade Deadline, and they are open to bringing him back with a free-agent qualifying offer after the season.

“Some guys, you just know they’re going to figure it out. That’s just who he is," Francona said. "He was a little beat-up for a while, but he takes an immense amount of pride in posting and being accountable. Those are good adjectives.”

Suárez gets X-rays

Suárez was hit on the right hand by a Brad Lord 95.5 mph sinker in the second inning and looked uncomfortable while being checked out. Suárez, who finished the game, went for X-rays afterwards.

“He wasn’t having any of it during the game. He wanted to play," Francona said. "But I think out of just doing due diligence, [we need to] make sure he’s OK.”