CINCINNATI -- Friday marked the beginning of a stretch where the Reds play the National League Central-leading Cubs in six of the next nine games. Call it their first big test of this season, a chance to see where they stand against one of baseball's best offenses.
The early answer stung. Cincinnati was slapped with a 13-6 loss at Great American Ball Park on the strength of four home runs by the Cubs. It came after the Reds led 4-0 after three innings and 6-2 heading into the fateful seventh. Pete Crow-Armstrong's go-ahead grand slam during a six-run top of the seventh was the gut punch the Reds did not get up from.
"We just got to kind of learn from this and go from there. Nobody is going to feel sorry for us. We’ve just got to keep going," catcher Jose Trevino said.
Crow-Armstrong, who also homered off Reds starter Hunter Greene in the fourth inning, might not have had the chance to hurt Cincinnati again in the seventh. But back-to-back defensive plays not made in the top of that frame set the stage for the dramatic slam.
With one out and a runner on first base with reliever Ian Gibaut pitching with a four-run lead, Matt Shaw hit a chopper to second baseman Matt McLain. Instead of flipping the ball to shortstop Elly De La Cruz to try and start a double play, McLain attempted to tag Nico Hoerner while he ran to second base. As he lunged for the bag, Hoerner went around McLain's glove onto the grass and was ruled safe.
Manager Terry Francona wished McLain didn't try for the tag.
"Just make sure [of] one [out]," Francona said.
Francona also tried to argue with second-base umpire Clint Vondrak that Hoerner ran out of the baseline, but he was unsuccessful.
“I was hoping," Francona said. "He wasn’t [out of the baseline]. At that point, [I] was just begging.”
Next, Ian Happ lifted a popup into short left field. It proved to be in no-man's land as De La Cruz and third baseman Santiago Espinal ran back for the ball while left fielder Austin Hays ran in. Espinal went the furthest, and he just missed gloving it, as it fell in for a bloop single that loaded the bases.
"The third baseman went straight back, full speed over his head," Francona said. "That would’ve been a hell of a play.”
Facing Tony Santillan, Kyle Tucker drove in two runs with a single to right field, followed by a Seiya Suzuki single to left field.
On a first-pitch slider from Santillan, Crow-Armstrong lifted the ball high in the sky before it kissed off the right-field foul pole for the go-ahead runs. Watching it all the way from the batter's box, Crow-Armstrong chucked his bat and pounded his chest before rounding the bases.
On advice from the video room, Francona asked for a last-ditch crew-chief review, but the call ultimately stood.
"I thought I saw it hit the pole, but it can’t hurt," Francona said.
Tied for third place in the NL Central at 25-27, the Reds fell to 6 1/2 games behind the Cubs (31-20) with their third straight loss.
If there is good news, it was that Greene returned without issue after missing two starts on the injured list with a right groin strain. While throwing 83 pitches, he gave up two runs and three hits over four innings, with two walks and two strikeouts.
“I felt good. I wish I could have gotten that pitch back. Given that’s pretty much the best-hitting team in baseball, I’ll take it," Greene said.
The pitch Greene wanted back? A 99.9 mph fastball on the outer half that Crow-Armstrong launched over the right-field fence for the Cubs' first run of the night.
“If it’s up, it’s probably a different result," Greene said. "I hit my spot, so just a very good piece of hitting by Pete.”
A 37-pitch fourth inning, which included a 12-pitch duel with Hoerner, ballooned Greene's pitch count and prevented him going another inning. That at-bat featured nine straight foul balls before a popout to the shortstop.
“I don’t know what else I could have done with Nico," Greene said. "I was hitting the corners on both sides of the plate -- inside, up and in, down and away outside, up and away outside. Maybe I just could have thrown a knuckleball or something that totally offset him. I was executing my pitches and what Trevvy was putting down. Obviously, that would have saved me, and [it] probably would have gotten me to the fifth. Not much I could have really done to change the outcome, honestly.”
Senior Reporter Mark Sheldon has covered the Reds for MLB.com since 2006, and previously covered the Twins from 2001-05.