2 hours ago 4

Nick Kurtz & Co. slug Reds right into doldrums again on Sunday

The optimist within hoped the Cincinnati Reds would waltz into Sacramento’s Sutter Health Park and use the hitter-friendly dimensions to the advantage of their own offense, their line-drive hitters finally morphing into dinger machines in the cozy confines against a struggling A’s pitching staff.

Surely the Cincinnati starting rotation wouldn’t suffer from those same dimensions, no. That was the one infallible hallmark of this particular club, that their starters would perpetually find ways to deke short porches and slice and dice their way through any lineup in any park - in any conditions.

That didn’t happen in Sacramento this weekend, sadly. On Sunday, the Reds once again jumped to a meager lead only for one of their absolute best starters to give it right back, with A’s sluggers smashing and bashing them to bits in the AAA ballpark they’re playing in en route to Las Vegas.

This time, it was Nick Lodolo getting slugged, as he yielded a trio of dingers and 5 ER in 5.1 IP. That came on the heels of Hunter Greene getting bonked around on Saturday, and while the Cincinnati bats did manage to hit a trio of balls over the walls in the park themselves, it was the artists former known as Oakland who did so with many more runners on base and at much more opportune times.

Sunday’s loss rendered the Reds swept, the second such time that’s happened of late after their remarkable (surprising?) run of sweepless series to begin the 2025 campaign. It also sunk them to a sub-.500 record for the season at 74-75, their quest to sneak into the playoffs also dented as they slipped to 2.5 games back of the final National League Wild Card spot.

The loss today stings, obviously. The losses all series, though, belie something much more consequential at this juncture of the season: an utter and distinct lack of momentum, and an even more subdued identity itself.

What is this Reds team right now? It’s not a platoon offense that puts fear in opponents hearts in certain matchups, that’s for sure. The starter pitching just struggled against a club that’s been out of the playoff race for weeks already, and its bullpen was positively shelled throughout. They don’t sock homers at all, and they’ve largely eschewed running the bases in a manner that defined them throughout the David Bell years.

The quote the inimitable Office Space, it’s hard not to ask the collective Reds the question of what would you say…you do here?

The loss surely meant a brutally austere flight back across the country to Cincinnati on Sunday evening, and the Reds will welcome the St. Louis Cardinals to Great American Ball Park to begin play in a three-game series on Monday evening. It’s that, four against the Chicago Cubs, and a trio against the Pittsburgh Pirates to wrap the season’s home slate at GABP before they head to Milwaukee for a three-game set to finish the regular season.

Whether or not this team has the ability to reinvent itself in time to make an epic push for a playoff spot remains to be seen, but the A’s sure seemed to expose that inability in spades all weekend long in Sacramento.