CINCINNATI -- The Reds made clear their postseason aspirations when they were buyers leading up to Monday's 4 p.m. ET Trade Deadline. But over their last two games, they haven't played like it.
Cincinnati got little going until the ninth inning during a 7-5 loss to the Cardinals on Monday at Great American Ball Park. Hours earlier, the Reds bolstered their bullpen by acquiring reliever Archie Bradley from the D-backs and the outfield by adding Brian Goodwin from the Angels.
Bradley and Goodwin have yet to arrive, but they could not have done much to prevent a rough night, which came on the heels of Sunday's 10-1 defeat to the Cubs.
Reds starting pitcher Anthony DeSclafani, back from paternity leave, gave up seven runs on seven hits and four walks over 3 2/3 innings, with three strikeouts.
"I think it was just pretty embarrassing overall," DeSclafani said.
There are 25 games remaining, and despite having a 15-20 record, the Reds are 2 1/2 games out from a postseason spot in the expanded eight-team National League bracket. They're also 5 1/2 games behind the first-place Cubs in the NL Central.
"To be at this point and be buyers and add to the bullpen and add to the lineup, it's two really solid players that only make the team better," DeSclafani said. "I think it's exciting if and when you're going for a playoff spot, and I think we still have a really good chance. ... I think those two acquisitions are only going to help."
Five games under .500 isn't close to what the underperforming Reds expected when they invested $166 million on five free agents in the offseason. While right fielder Nick Castellanos has delivered 10 home runs, center fielder Shogo Akiyama and second baseman Mike Moustakas have yet to produce. Lefty starter Wade Miley is in the midst of his second stint on the 10-day injured list, and reliever Pedro Strop was designated for assignment last week after only four games and 2 1/3 innings, with his own IL stint mixed in.
Yet here the Reds are, very much in the race, with a pair of reinforcements coming.
"Baseball is hard. It’s a really hard sport," said Michael Lorenzen, who provided much-needed length with four scoreless innings of relief. "You can put together the best team and just kind of hope everything clicks and everything goes well. I think you see that with some teams around the league, where everything is going well for them. That doesn’t last forever.
“We’re not expecting what we’ve been doing to last forever, either. Once we break out of that thing, I think you’re going to see what we’re really capable of."
Laboring from the beginning, DeSclafani gave up back-to-back doubles to Tommy Edman and Paul Goldschmidt for the game's first run. A two-out RBI single by Eugenio Suárez against Dakota Hudson tied the game briefly in the bottom of the first. St. Louis added a run against DeSclafani in the second inning and one more in the top of the third.
The crushing blow came in the fourth after DeSclafani gave up Kolten Wong's one-out single and back-to-back two-out walks to Goldschmidt and Brad Miller. After being down 1-2, Paul DeJong worked DeSclafani to a full count before hitting a grand slam to center field that broke the game open.
The Reds’ moribund offense finally perked to life in the bottom of the ninth when Suárez slugged a three-run homer to center field to cut the deficit to two.
Cincinnati has now dropped three of its last four games. The front office did its part Monday. Now it's up to the Reds' roster to hold up its end of the bargain.
"You got a real good reliever and a left-handed bat," said bench coach Freddie Benavides, who managed in place of the suspended David Bell. "It definitely energizes the club that we’re in it. We’re still in this."