Manager Bryan Price called the Reds’ second half “miserable” Wednesday.
That was before the team lost, 3-1, to the Cubs and was dealt its ninth losing sweep, sixth of the second half.
With their 82nd loss, the Reds will finish under .500 for the first time since 2011 and are five losses away with nine games to go from a franchise-worst second half in a non-strike season. Cincinnati, which won 90 games last year and reached the playoffs, is 20-38 since the All-Star Game, when its deficit for the National League Central lead was just 1 1/2 games.
“It takes its toll on the guys because they’re out there busting their humps to go out there and compete,” Price, the first-year manager, said. “When you don’t get results, it can suck the life out of you. That’s what we don’t want to do down here with these last nine games, is have the life sucked out of us to the point where we stop competing.”
The Reds exceeded their hit total of four from the first two games of the series, but couldn’t provide Daniel Corcino more than one run of support. Cincinnati left seven stranded and went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
“Daniel Corcino gave us a chance to win a ballgame. … The bullpen did their job. We just have really struggled to score runs,” Price said.
Corcino, making his second start in place of the injured Mat Latos, allowed two earned runs, three hits and four walks with six strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings. He threw 101 pitches (58 strikes), exceeding the century mark for the sixth time in 30 starts — all in the Minors.
The 24-year-old righty is in the mist of an audition of sorts for a potential spot in the 2015 rotation. Corcino has allowed four earned runs, five hits and five walks with 10 strikeouts over 11 2/3 innings in his two starts.
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