After early homer, Reds go quietly in finale

When the Reds return to action on Tuesday, they will have 19 games left in this sprint of a 2020 season. They can ill-afford any more games like Sunday’s 3-2 walk-off defeat to the Pirates, which ended on a sacrifice fly in the two-run bottom of the ninth inning vs. Cincinnati closer Raisel Iglesias.

“Obviously, we're not fine with it. A loss is a loss. We're never going to be fine when we lose,” Iglesias said via translator Jorge Merlos. “For me and the rest of the team, we just went back to our lockers, sat down, and then it's something that we're going to get over.”

It can only be described as a badly missed opportunity for the 18-23 Reds. They split a four-game series with a Pirates team (13-26) that owns baseball’s worst record, as Cincinnati’s lineup could not notch a hit after the fourth inning. Nick Castellanos connected for a two-run home run in the third for a 2-0 lead.

• Box score

Not doing more was asking for trouble.

“When you’re not able to add on extra runs, a lot of times it comes back to get you,” Reds manager David Bell said.

Rookie Tejay Antone started for the Reds and was effective over his five innings with one earned run, five hits, two walks and six strikeouts. The bullpen, which came in with nine consecutive scoreless innings over the previous four games, initially did its job well again.

Amir Garrett pitched a perfect sixth inning, and Nate Jones did likewise in the seventh. Then Michael Lorenzen gave up a hit and a walk in the eighth, leading Bell to call on Iglesias for a five-out save attempt.

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Iglesias, who did not allow an earned run over his previous six appearances, got the Reds out of Lorenzen’s jam. Then Iglesias started the ninth in shaky fashion with three straight singles.

Josh Bell led off with a base hit to center field, and Ke’Bryan Hayes followed with his own. Cole Tucker initially went up looking to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but he had to protect the plate with two strikes. Tucker was able to hit a 2-2 pitch into right field, scoring Bell with the tying run. New acquisition Archie Bradley was warming up in the bullpen for the Reds, but they stuck with Iglesias.

“In the end, we felt like Iggy was throwing strikes and was our best opportunity to get a strikeout, which is a big way to get an out in that situation,” David Bell said. “If we would have got out of it there, [Bradley] was pitching the 10th."

The next strategic move was whether or not to load the bases for a force play, as Cincinnati brought Castellanos in from right field to be the fifth infielder. Bell opted not to intentionally walk the next batter, John Ryan Murphy.

“We wanted to face the three hitters before they got to [Bryan] Reynolds,” Bell said. “Not taking anything away from the hitters we ended up facing, but that was the main factor in the decision -- who we want to face and who we have the best chance to get out here. You’re up against the wall there anyway, and we’re playing in all the way. You do get a forceout at the plate. That’s the one advantage of walking him there. For me, the factor of the matchups, giving us the best chance to potentially get a strikeout -- that’s the most important thing.”

Iglesias got Murphy to ground a ball back to the mound for a fielder’s-choice play at the plate. But Erik González lifted a ball to right field, and Shogo Akiyama, playing in a two-man outfield for the final play, made a throw that was not in time.

“I was trying to focus myself on pitching lower in the strike zone and get a slow roller to get a double play,” Iglesias said. “Unfortunately, that's not what happened. I tried my best to do that, but [sometimes] things like that happen in baseball, and unfortunately, it just didn't go my way today.”

Bell backed Iglesias and has no plans to replace him with Bradley at closer.

“Raisel has been pitching great. That’s a tough job he had today getting five outs,” Bell said. “He had to be perfect. He’s been throwing the ball well. He’s been pitching extremely well. The other thing is our bullpen has been outstanding other than whenever we struggled the first part of the year. Since then, we’ve been really good.”

Two games out of a postseason spot as of their final out, the Reds will continue their road trip with six more games at a pair of division rivals ahead of them: the Cubs and Cardinals.

“We just have to keep going. We still have an opportunity ahead of us,” Bell said.