One of the few things cooler than going an entire season without being swept is simply not losing the first two games of a series to thereby beg the question.
Alas, here we find the Cincinnati Reds, losers of the first two games of their series in Dodger Stadium, and on the brink of being doused completely in a series for the first time in 2025. And, in the process, the Reds are watching their faint postseason hopes drift ever further from their boat.
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The Reds 6-3 loss late Tuesday to the Dodgers featured a recipe quite similar to their series opening loss to them in that a big defensive miscue effectively slammed the door. Whereas it was the 5-hole grounder missed completely by Elly De La Cruz on Monday, it was a 2-run, 2-out double off the wall in CF by Miguel Rojas that broke the game wide open on Tuesday.
It sounds innocuous enough – a double off the wall in CF. However, it came via a bit of a misread by CF Noelvi Marte, and the ball went right over his head despite being otherwise catchable.
CF Noelvi Marte. That’s what’s not innocuous.
Despite having all the athletic talent in the world and at least a half-month or so of experience in RF, the idea that the Reds could simply use Noelvi in CF for his first career professional start there on Tuesday night seemed perilous, at best, when lineups were announced. Putting a guy out there in such a vital spot just seemed to ensure the Baseball Gods were going to point the spotlight on him, and sure enough that’s exactly what happened.
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Frankly, I think Noelvi can play a good CF out there eventually. I think with practice, experience with foreign ball parks, etc. he’ll end up being just fine out there. But to simply ask for it to manifest itself before any of that was far too much from manager Terry Francona, Nick Krall, and the front office, and it burned them in a big, big way on Tuesday.
That the Reds offense was once again subdued shouldn’t be misunderstood here, however. Clayton Kershaw shut them down completely after the Reds scored a run in the Top of the 1st, though a colossally poor bunt attempt that turned into a backbreaking double-play in the Top of the 6th was a similarly devastating attempt at trying to manufacture something when you know you can’t simply, y’know, hit the goddamn ball.
The Reds now find themselves 3.5 games back of the New York Mets for the final NL Wild Card spot, and now they’ll face Shohei Ohtani in the series finale. They’ll welcome back lefty Nick Lodolo from his blister issues to make the start, but they’ve once again found themselves behind the 8-ball by their own doing and now look like they’ll need a miracle to turn this entire thing back around.