For the first time in the young 2021 season, the Reds’ high-octane offense was leaned out by an opposing pitcher. Cincinnati was held to less than five runs for the first time this season and its six-game winning streak was halted with an 8-3 loss to the D-backs at Chase Field.

The lack of runs wasn't for a lack of hard contact, however. Tyler Naquin had Statcast's hardest-hit ball of the game at 110 mph to open the proceedings, but it went for a groundout that first ate up second baseman Eduardo Escobar before third baseman Asdrúbal Cabrera was able to throw out Naquin.

In the third inning, Naquin slashed a 104.6 mph grounder that also went for an out, this time to first base.

Nick Castellanos, who went 0-for-5 and ended his hitting streak to start the season at seven games, hit a 105.6 mph line drive in the seventh inning that was caught in left field.

"I think the idea is to just keep hitting the ball hard. If we continue to do that, good things will happen," Reds manager David Bell said. "You just keep doing that, stay with it, and we did a good job of putting the ball in play tonight. Overall it wasn’t our night, but a lot of good things still happened."

Arizona did the bulk of its damage during a five-run bottom of the fifth inning. Nine men batted, but only three balls left the infield against starter Jeff Hoffman and reliever Cionel Pérez.

One of them was Stephen Vogt's single to center field that drove in two runs, with a third run crossing when Nick Senzel bobbled the ball for an error.

Hoffman finished with three earned runs and six hits allowed over 4 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out two. 

"You give their hitters credit, for sure, but there were some balls that our infielders were doing everything they could to make the play," Bell said. "We were just kind of in between balls that led to some hits. I think their speed came into play as well. Hoffy pitched a solid four-plus innings, and Cionel came in, and maybe not quite as sharp as we’ve seen him, but pretty good."

Cabrera's home run to right field to lead off the fourth inning against Hoffman snapped a 24-inning scoreless streak for Reds starting pitchers.

"We just tried to be in the zone as much as possible. They worked their counts," Hoffman said. "They did what they were trying to do. They did their job and got me out of the game early and it is what it is."

Meanwhile, D-backs starter Riley Smith limited the Reds to a pair of second-inning runs with eight hits scattered over six innings in his first big league start.

The Reds took a 2-0 lead on RBI singles by Senzel and Jonathan India in the second inning. They appeared poised to add on in the fourth when Eugenio Suárez and Mike Moustakas both notched infield hits. But Senzel flied out and the rally died when India -- their second-best run producer thus far in 2021 -- grounded into a double play.

By the time Suárez slugged a one-out solo homer to right field in the eighth inning for the Reds, they were too far back.

The Reds' seven-game streak of five or more runs scored to start a season was the longest since the 2019 Mariners also had seven. No team had a longer streak to begin a season since the Tigers and Cardinals both had eight-game streaks in '04.

Cincinnati still leads the Majors with 66 runs, a franchise record through eight games that broke the previous mark of 64 by the 1900 Reds.