Lowder rocked at Coors as Reds still looking for back-to-back wins

DENVER — One step forward and one step back isn't going to get the Reds out of the deep hole they're in, nor will it stop the train headed towards selling at the Aug. 3 Trade Deadline.

Wins have been hard to come by for Cincinnati, but win streaks have been downright elusive. The Rockies beat up the Reds as they were handed a 10-3 loss on Saturday afternoon at Coors Field. It came on the heels of a 7-2 win on Friday.

“For us to get to where we want to go, we’re going to have to do those things," manager Terry Francona said of trying to stack wins. "But I think the best way to do it is to show up and learn from today and play better tomorrow.”

The Reds, back to a season-high-tying nine games under .500 at 44-53 and an MLB-worst 24-42 since May 1, haven't won back-to-back games since June 26-27 at Pittsburgh. There hasn't been a winning streak of three games since May 23-26. They had two season-high five-game win streaks in April.

On the same day that close friend and teammate Chase Burns put pen to paper on a seven-year, $105 million contract, Rhett Lowder was roughed up during his return to the rotation after a stint in the bullpen.

Moved back to starting to replace the injured Nick Lodolo (left index finger blister), Lowder gave up eight runs and 11 hits over 2 1/3 innings with two strikeouts. The Colorado two-run first inning began with Jake McCarthy's blooped popup to shallow center field that shortstop Elly De La Cruz lost in the sun and center fielder Dane Myers couldn't get to.

“I thought there was some early contact but not hard contact," Francona said. "First pitch of the game is a popup that we don’t convert. [Next] ball falls into left field, JJ [Bleday] tries to make the play. Some groundballs. And then as it built, I thought [Lowder] started making some mistakes and elevated and kind of paid for it.”

When Lowder left the game with one out in the third inning, eight of Colorado's starting nine already had at least one hit each.

“They were just being ultra-aggressive, and I was probably leaving too many pitches thick for them to be as aggressive as they were," Lowder said. "Balls just finding holes.”

The big blow for Lowder was five straight two-out hits for the Rockies in the second inning that led to four runs. The first one was a squeeze bunt single by McCarthy that scored Brett Sullivan

“You look back and there’s a lot that happened but if we can take that away better, maybe it ends that inning," Francona said. "You just don’t know. That’s why you want to make sure you make the plays you’re supposed to.”

Lowder is 3-7 with a 5.75 ERA in 17 games, with 14 starts, this season. He missed a month from May 7 to June 7 with right shoulder pain. On July 4, he was moved to the bullpen when Hunter Greene returned from the injured list and pitched well. Lowder gave up one run over seven innings in three appearances.

This was Lowder's first time not only facing the Rockies, but pitching at mile-high Coors Field.

“This is a tough place to pitch," he said. "Everybody kind of knows that. Ball doesn’t do what it usually does, weird stuff. I’ve still got to make better pitches than that.”

A day after the Reds hit four home runs – two from Spencer Steer including an inside-the-park drive – offense was hard to come for Cincinnati. Jose Trevino, who could be elevated to starting catcher if the Reds trade Tyler Stephenson before the Deadline, hit a pair of solo homers to left field in the third and fifth innings against starting pitcher Tomoyuki Sugano. A pinch-hit RBI single by Nathaniel Lowe came in the seventh inning.

The loss makes winning Sunday's series finale paramount for the Reds. They'll have Greene starting and coming off seven scoreless innings with 12 strikeouts in a July 10 win vs. the Cubs.