Maybe the Reds’ luck is changing.
A team that has sent 11 players to the disabled list and has often seen masterful starting pitching go for naught could certainly use a break. Cincinnati celebrated the return of closer Aroldis Chapman, enjoyed a quality start by Homer Bailey and received some timely help from visiting Colorado on Sunday to win, 4-1, at Great American Ball Park.
“All the pieces we were missing early are finally starting to come together,” Bailey said.
Cincinnati slowed Colorado’s runaway-freight-train batting order often enough to win two of three games over the weekend.
Bailey (3-2) gave up only Charlie Blackmon’s solo homer over 7 1/3 innings and continued to lower his season ERA — to 4.72 from 6.15 at the end of April. He began his delivery with his hands over his head Sunday, a mechanical sequence he had not used since 2009.
“I needed something to get my timing back,” Bailey said. “I had nowhere else to go but better. The next step was to start throwing left-handed.”
Bailey eased over a potential fifth-inning speed bump.
The Rockies put runners at second and third with nobody out, thanks to Justin Morneau’s leadoff walk and Michael McKenry’s ground-rule double that bounded into the left-field seats. Bailey then pulled himself together, striking out DJ LeMahieu and Juan Nicasio and getting Blackmon to pop up and end the inning.
After McKenry’s double, Bailey sat down nine in a row before LeMahieu’s eighth-inning single.
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