ST. LOUIS -- Trevor Bauer’s underwhelming performance since his midseason trade to the Reds continued on Saturday afternoon, when he allowed six runs in just four innings at Busch Stadium. His struggles proved too much for a late-game surge to overcome, as the Reds fell, 10-6, to the Cardinals in the first game of the first doubleheader of the weekend.
Bauer, who recorded a 3.79 ERA in 24 starts for Cleveland this season, now has an 8.40 ERA in six starts for Cincinnati. His five strikeouts Saturday allowed him to set a new career high, with 222 split between the Tribe and the Reds.
“He’s searching right now,” said Reds manager David Bell. “He’s trying to find it. We believe in him and we’re going to support him, and he’s going to figure it out. He’s been through this before; all these guys have.”
Bauer, for his part, believes he’s in a uniquely challenging stretch.
“By far the worst month of my career,” Bauer conceded.
“I think I’d have to try really hard to give up runs in six straight innings. As of the third inning [today], my last six innings, I’ve given up runs. This has never happened before, to me anyway, and probably not to many people either, so it’s hard to say.”
The Reds’ half of the eighth inning included Aristides Aquino hitting an RBI single and Tucker Barnhart delivering a bases-loaded double to score four runs with two outs. José Iglesias followed Barnhart with a single, but Phillip Ervin grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the threat.
Bauer has been unable to complete five innings in four of his six starts since the trade, and he has allowed at least six runs in three of those four short starts. That includes 14 runs (13 earned) in only seven innings pitched in his past two appearances. Eugenio Suárez’s first-inning big fly to the second deck in left field got the Reds out to a 2-0 lead, but it became a two-run deficit before Bauer recorded his second out of the game.
“The game can be about momentum,” Bell said. “You can never give in to that, but it’s just human nature. When we come out and score and they come right back, it does a lot for their team and makes it tougher for us.”
Suarez continued his torrid pace since the start of July, hitting his 39th home run and his 22nd since that month began. Suarez tied Tony Perez’s club record for home runs hit by a third baseman in a single season; Perez hit 40 total and 39 manning the hot corner in 1970. He later added a double and a walk off Cardinals starter Dakota Hudson.
Bell complimented Suarez’s ability to reliably get his team off on the right foot, saying, “Having him at the top of the order to get big hits and home runs and get out to a lead, that really is a great way to start a game. Gets the momentum started in the right way.”
Joey Votto’s first-inning single allowed him to score the 994th run of his career on Suarez’s homer, moving him past Dave Concepcion into fifth place on the franchise’s all-time leaderboard in that category. He recorded his 995th on Aquino’s single in the eighth.
As this stretch of five games in approximately 50 hours continues, the Reds received some relief in the form of R.J. Alaniz, who followed Bauer in the game. In 2 2/3 innings, he allowed two St. Louis runs to score, including one via a sixth-inning balk. Joel Kuhnel and Lucas Sims followed Alaniz to finish the game for Cincinnati.
“It’s two innings in the middle of the game and most people don’t notice, but we do. It really sets us up, especially with the situation we’re in this weekend,” said Bell.
Bauer emphasized that this is the healthiest he’s felt all season, which adds to his frustration.
“When I tried to get ahead with a strike and make sure I grab more of the plate, they’d hit it,” Bauer said. “When I tried to execute a pitch I’d miss by a couple inches, and they’re ahead in the count. I didn’t execute enough good pitches, and when I did execute good pitches, they either fouled them off or they hit them. It’s tough to win like that.”