In 1st loss of the year, perfectionist Strider laments pitches that got away

CINCINNATI – Spencer Strider has been just about perfect this season.

On Sunday, his manager said he was throwing about as well as he has since returning from a left oblique strain. But baseball can be finicky, and results don’t always match up with looks.

Strider allowed four runs -- three earned -- on seven hits, striking out eight and walking two as the Reds handed him his first loss of 2026, a 6-4 setback before 31,084 at Great American Ball Park. The four runs and seven hits marked season highs for the Atlanta right-hander, who entered with a 3-0 mark and a 3.46 ERA, with all five starts coming in the month of May. He finishes the month at 3-1 with a 3.77 ERA.

He allowed just single runs in the first, third, fourth and fifth, with the run in the fourth coming when Ronald Acuña Jr. dropped the ball while picking up Will Benson’s double to the warning track from the ground, allowing Spencer Steer to score.

To Braves manager Walt Weiss, Strider looked as good physically Sunday as he did on May 9 at Dodger Stadium, when he held the powerful Dodgers lineup to one hit over six shutout innings, striking out eight and walking two in his second start back from an oblique injury.

“I thought that, especially the first inning, I'm like, ‘Whoa, okay, this looked like his start against L.A.,' where his stuff was really ticked up," Weiss said. "His stuff has been good, but in L.A. it was extra special. It kind of looked like that to me early on, especially like he touched 98 [mph] today. I don't know if he's done that before this year, and threw some good changeups. So yeah, I thought he thought he threw the ball well.”

Strider is a perfectionist, and he was tough on himself after his first loss of the season. And while Weiss felt like his starter deserved better results, Strider is the one who has to live with them on the mound.

“Limiting runs is the name of the game and I didn't do it,” Strider lamented afterward. “It doesn't really matter how it happened. So, I didn't get the job done. I felt like I was capable of pitching better, and didn't. I’ve got to be better.”

Two batters, in particular, burned Strider Sunday. Switch-hitting Elly De La Cruz - batting lefty - with two singles, a walk and two runs scored, and left-handed batter JJ Bleday with a pair of run-scoring doubles.

“In all the hits I gave up, besides a couple of them, I didn't think they were executed pitches," Strider said. "I didn’t get the fastball into lefties. I just gave too many guys a chance. Nothing prevented me from pitching better than I did today. I just didn't get the job done.

“I think command is everything, executing pitches is everything. The more you throw the ball in the areas that you want to throw each specific pitch, the better chance you have of avoiding hits and avoiding bad outcomes.”

Austin Riley flew out to open the ninth against new Reds closer Tony Santillan. But Dominic Smith walked and Mike Yastrzemski singled. After Sandy León popped out to shallow left, Acuña Jr. singled to center to cut Cincinnati’s lead to 6-4. Sam Moll was brought on to face Michael Harris II, who worked a walk on nine pitches. The Reds challenged the seventh pitch ball call, which would’ve ended the game but Harris’ eagle eye was rewarded.

The game was left up to the club’s home run leader. Matt Olson got a pitch but couldn’t elevate in the Great American Ball Park bandbox, and his grounder to third ended the game in a 6-4 Reds win.

“The way things have gone, I'm thinking we're winning that game in the ninth inning,” Weiss said. “We had some really good at-bats in that ninth. Dom works an 0-2 walk, and Yaz gets a hit. Michael works an unbelievable at-bat, you know, and so looked like it was lining up for us to win that one.

“But another series win, and that's the bottom line. Try to keep stacking up series wins. Things are still going well. So, it's good.”

Acuña Jr. continued his long ball assault Sunday, homering on the game’s first pitch, a 96 mph fastball from Cincinnati starter Nick Lodolo, giving Acuña Jr. five home runs over four games.

“The homer is what it is,” Lodolo said. “The guy has never seen a ball out of my hand. He puts a good swing on it. It’s not even a strike, really. He’s a really good player.”