As prolific as the Reds have been at scoring runs throughout June, the Padres have been every bit as anemic.
Therefore it was no surprise that Reds starter Mat Latos did his part to keep the Padres’ bats quiet Monday. The real stunner was how the Padres managed to hand the Reds a 1-0 defeat while being dealt a combined one-hitter by Latos and reliever Sam LeCure.
“It’s what makes baseball a great game — in this case, a painful game,” Reds manager Bryan Price said.
It marked the sixth time since 1914 that the Reds lost a game where they allowed only one hit. But it was the first time it’s been done to them since losing to the Brooklyn Dodgers on Sept. 12, 1950, at Ebbets Field. In that game, Ewell Blackwell was a 3-1 loser despite only giving up one hit in the game to Gene Hermanski in the fourth inning.
Meanwhile, it was the second time in three weeks the Padres won a game with one. The other time was a 3-2 victory over the Pirates on June 4. No team had won two games with one hit since the 1965 Los Angeles Dodgers.
Padres rookie starting pitcher Jesse Hahn and four relievers held down a previously scorching Cincinnati club that came to town with a season-high five-game win streak and victories in eight of its last nine.
The lone San Diego hit was a second-inning single by Tommy Medica. Latos’ line was seven innings with one earned run, one hit and one walk while he struck out four.
“We saw a good slider and saw some funky swings on it,” Padres manager Bud Black said of Latos. “You saw the good velocity, the good change and he had a good, deceptive arm angle that’s tough to pick up.”
Latos retired 12 of 13 heading into the bottom of the fifth, when the Padres manufactured their run. Leading off, Medica walked on five pitches and stole second base when he barely beat catcher Devin Mesoraco’s throw. Cameron Maybin’s flyout to center field advanced Medica to third base, and he scored on Everth Cabrera’s sacrifice fly.
“I can’t really say tough-luck pitcher. At least I won’t say that,” Latos said. “My job is to put zeros and try to win a ballgame. I made one mistake. I walked a leadoff hitter. It came back to bite me in the butt. That’s on me. If I throw up all zeros, maybe we’re here, a tie ballgame and we’re still playing trying to win a ballgame.”
Combining the just-completed four-game sweep of the Giants and Monday’s loss, Reds starting pitchers are 3-1 with a 1.14 ERA in the last five games.
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