In a predictably quiet and mostly empty clubhouse, starting pitcher Mike Leake wondered what the Reds needed to do to beat the Cardinals. The latest victim of the best offense in baseball, Leake lasted five-plus innings and gave up seven runs in a 15-2 rout on Sunday at Great American Ball Park, moving Cincinnati to 4-8 against St. Louis this season and 0-6 in the last six series between the two clubs.
And the more Leake thought about what needed to change for the Reds to find success against their National League Central rivals, the less he seemed to know.
“They got our number for sure,” Leake said. “They play us tough. It’s on us to try to figure them out because they got us figured out for the most part. But it’s our job to figure them out a little bit better.”
Sunday marked the fifth time Cincinnati lost to St. Louis this season by seven or more runs. The 15 runs allowed by the Reds was the most they’ve given up all season, while the 19 hits fell one short of matching a season high. Despite a win on Saturday, the Reds were outscored 31-13 over the weekend, as Cincinnati pitching surrendered more runs than any three-game series since August 2010.
From top to bottom, St. Louis dominated Reds pitching in Sunday’s finale, as nine Cardinals collected at least one hit and eight notched multi-hit games.
“I don’t know if it’s the way they home grow their guys and how they develop them, but they’re never out of it,” Leake said of the Cardinals. “Even if you get two strikes, they all seem into the at-bats every time. They’re not an easy out by any means.”
For the third straight game, the scoring started immediately in the first inning.
Leake entered his 22nd start of the season having given up four runs combined in his last three outings. On Sunday, he matched that total in the first six batters of the game.
After retiring Matt Carpenter and Jon Jay to open the top of the first, Leake gave up four straight hits. Allen Craig started the two-out rally with a single, which was followed by back-to-back doubles and a two-run homer off the bat of Matt Adams.
Leake’s early struggles came two days after Bronson Arroyo also gave up four runs in the first inning en route to a 13-3 loss to open the series. Sunday’s final result was much of the same, as the offense barely did enough to even threaten a comeback.
Following a scoreless bottom of the first, the Reds were able to cut into the four-run deficit in the next inning, when Zack Cozart hit his ninth home run — a two-run blast to the upper deck in left field. However, that homer and the single from Jay Bruce two batters prior were Cincinnati’s only two hits in the first six innings.
By the time Joey Votto led off the seventh with a single for the team’s third hit of the day, the Cardinals had already blown the game wide open.
The Reds are now 3-7 in their last 10 games, and in the losses, they’ve combined to score just 10 runs. Manager Dusty Baker has been adamant all season that the offense would perform to its potential, and he stuck by that on Sunday.
Click here to read more of this story.
About Marion Online Sports
