Snake-bitten Reds lose third straight walk-off heartbreaker

CHICAGO -- Just when it didn't seem possible for any more road trip pain to be inflicted upon the Reds, another cruel blow came on Wednesday.

A third straight walk-off loss, the fourth straight by one run and the sixth in a row on the trip, happened as the Reds dropped a 7-6 game to the Cubs in 10 innings. The last time Cincinnati was handed three consecutive walk-off defeats was July 8-10, 2010, at Philadelphia.

“The best way I know how is to learn from everything that just happened and move on," manager Terry Francona said. "It’s not fun. I know you can sit back and look at the big picture and I know at some point a month from now, we’ll look back and go, ‘God, that was a [crappy] week,’ and we’re OK. When you’re going through it, it’s hard.”

Cincinnati trailed, 4-2, in the top of the ninth inning when Spencer Steer led off with a home run to left field against reliever Corbin Martin, followed by back-to-back singles. Matt McLain laid down a bunt to new reliever Hoby Milner, but the lefty double-clutched before throwing to third base, and everybody was safe to load the bases with no outs.

With one out, JJ Bleday drove in the tying run with an RBI single. Elly De La Cruz followed with a sacrifice fly to the warning track in right field that scored Tyler Stephenson. Seiya Suzuki fell down as he caught the ball, which enabled McLain to score the inning's fourth run.

“You know you’ve got to finish the game but it still felt good to take that two-run lead," Francona said. "Elly hits the ball to the wall and McLain with some really good baserunning. He scored right when he left second base and gave himself a chance. You hope that’ll hold up, [but] it didn’t.”

With closer Emilio Pagán just placed on the injured list with a left hamstring strain, Graham Ashcraft was given the save opportunity. A 3-2 cutter to Carson Kelly was hit for a single before another full-count pitch, a low slider, to Pete Crow-Armstrong was lifted to left-center field for a game-tying two-run homer.

"You see, letting good hitters see that many pitches, they get more dangerous," Francona said.

In the 10th inning with the bases loaded, lefty reliever Brock Burke walked Michael Busch to force home the game-ending run.

Over the Reds' last eight games, including seven losses, their relievers have combined for an MLB-worst 9.19 ERA.

Offensively, the late spurt of scoring was encouraging for the Reds. McLain snapped a 0-for-19 and 3-for-33 skid with two hits that included his fifth-inning solo homer off Cubs starter Colin Rea.

But contributions are sorely lacking from the Reds' best two producers -- De La Cruz and Sal Stewart.

De La Cruz is 5-for-29 (.172) with 10 strikeouts in his last eight games. Stewart is 4-for-40 (.100) over his last 10 games.

Normally a superb base runner, Stewart made a terribly-timed mental mistake on the bases during a sixth-inning scoring chance as the Reds trailed, 4-2. On third base as his team had runners on the corners and no outs, Stewart had a short lead and froze when Steer grounded near the line to third baseman Alex Bregman.

Only when Bregman fielded the ball and came his way, Stewart tried to run.

“It was just a tough play, you know? Going right to third base, I thought he could have tagged me. It was just a weird play, right down the line," Stewart said.

Too late. Bregman easily tagged him out. That rally died without a run scored. Francona talked to Stewart about the mistake.

"It was kind of a learning moment. It hurt," Francona said. "He didn’t think he could get back, so he didn’t know what to do.”

The 20-17 Reds trail the first-place Cubs by five games in the National League Central standings.

Following those three walk-offs in a row to the Phillies in 2010 under then-manager Dusty Baker, the Reds went on to win the division.

Stewart, who was a young kid back then, wasn't lacking confidence despite his club's rough road trip that will conclude Thursday afternoon.

“We just get up and keep playing," Stewart said. "So many people are in a panic right now. They just got to chill. We’re good, you know? Things like this happen all the time, especially to good teams. We’re in a good spot and we’re going to keep on going. Everyone in this clubhouse knows that we’ve got it taken care of and we’re going to come out and keep playing hard.”