CINCINNATI – It was a painful night for Brady Singer and the Reds.
In a sign of things to come during the 10-4 loss to the Nationals at Great American Ball Park, Singer took a Daylen Lile line drive off the right side of his right foot in the second inning for an infield single. The liner was a Statcast-projected 106.7 mph off the bat, and Singer went down to the ground, immediately grabbing for his right foot. Reds manager Terry Francona and trainer Sean McQueeney came out, and Singer managed to stay in the game.
Facing runners on first and third with only one out, Singer showed he could still field his position despite the sore right foot. Nasim Nuñez laid down a bunt in front of home plate. Singer scooped it up, looked CJ Abrams back to third and made the play at first. He then got José Tena to line out for the final out of the inning.
“It got the outside of the foot area,” Singer said afterward. “It stayed away from my ankle, which was good, and stayed away from kind of that bottom bone on the foot, so I think it was a good area.”
"He was hurting. He was hurting, and he'll never say a word, but I know he was feeling it,” Francona said. “That was the foot he drives off of. You can see his velocity dip a little bit right after that happened. ... We'll keep an eye on him. Hopefully, there's nothing [wrong], because he's limping around pretty good."
The Nationals broke through against Singer in the third, this time elevating those hard-hit balls into the seats in the outfield. James Wood got the homerfest underway, blasting a Singer slider to the opposite field in deep left for the first run of the game. Five pitches later, Singer tried a sinker on Luis García Jr., who drove it into the seats in right for a 2-0 Washington lead.
That Lile line drive off his foot came on Singer’s 26th pitch. He threw just 49 more, allowing three runs on three home runs, with two strikeouts and one walk in 3 2/3 innings.
“I didn't want to, obviously, screw the bullpen there coming out,” Singer added. “So yeah, just tried the best I could, but just kind of had what I had. I was thinking about [the injury] a little bit, too, trying to make pitches and obviously thinking about that. I just tried to do the best I could with what I had, and try to get some innings in there, too.”
With the Reds already down Rhett Lowder (right shoulder discomfort) and Brandon Williamson (left shoulder fatigue), and with Chase Petty nursing a fingernail/blister issue with Triple-A Louisville, the last thing the Reds need is Singer going down.
“Obviously, I’d like to see what [Wednesday] brings, but I’m going to do everything I can to make the next [start],” he said.
“He takes it very seriously,” Francona said of Singer’s willingness to stay in the game for another inning-plus. “His being reliable and being accountable and taking the ball. I started to worry that you start changing your arm action. I must’ve asked [pitching coach Derek Johnson] that 12 times, because you worry about stuff like that.”
Lile, a Louisville, Ky., product, connected for a 415-foot blistering home run to open the fourth against Singer, who then allowed a single and retired two batters before he was pulled.
Tuesday wasn’t just about the pitching problems. The Reds continue to be absentee hitters with runners in scoring position. They went 1-for-12 with runners at second or third and left 11 men on base, going 0-for-11 before JJ Bleday singled home Spencer Steer and Sal Stewart to make it 10-4 in the bottom of the ninth.
In the bottom of the fourth, Cincinnati appeared to be on the verge of breaking through. Elly De La Cruz and Stewart, the most consistent batters in the lineup, singled to put runners on first and second. Bleday worked a walk against Nats starter Miles Mikolas to load the bases with none out. Matt McLain grounded into a force play at second, just beating the potential double-play throw to first, to score Cincinnati’s first run.
After Mikolas walked Will Benson to load the bases, right-handed reliever Brad Lord entered. Tyler Stephenson chopped a grounder to third baseman Brady House, who could not field it cleanly. The error resulted in an RBI for Stephenson. But with one out and the bases still loaded, Ke’Bryan Hayes grounded into a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play.