Another day of bullpen struggles as Reds lose 8-3

Brady Singer pitched well in his fourth start of the spring as he allowed a run and struck out five batters. But the Reds offense struggled to get much going on the day and the bullpen combined to allow seven runs in the final four innings as the Seattle Mariners handed Cincinnati another loss with their 8-3 win on Sunday evening.

The Highlights

Cincinnati got on the board first in this one. Gavin Lux went the other way for a 1-out double in the 2nd inning. He then stole third base and when the throw got by the third baseman he took off for the plate and scored.

Brady Singer was in control through the first four innings as he kept Seattle off of the board. But that came to an end in the top of the 5th when Dominic Canzone led off the inning with a solo home run. Singer would get a lineout, but then allowed a single and a walk before he exited the game with 78 pitches. Sam Benschoter came on and stranded both runners to keep the game tied up.

Taylor Rogers took over on the mound in the 6th and he gave up a run after allowing three singles in the inning, giving the Mariners a 2-1 lead. Seattle scored two more runs in the next inning against Ian Gibaut as he walked two and allowed two singles in the inning as the Mariners extended their lead to 4-1.

Joe La Sorsa tiptoed his way around two baserunners in the 8th inning to keep Cincinnati’s deficit at three runs. The lead expanded in the top of the 9th when Bryan Shaw took the mound for the Reds. He would give up a leadoff home run to Rowdy Tellez and then four more hits, and he hit a batter – leading to a 4-run inning that saw Seattle take an 8-1 lead.

The Reds didn’t go quietly. Dominic Pitelli led off the bottom of the 9th with a solo home run – his second of the spring. Ruben Ibarra followed up with a home run of his own as Cincinnati cut the lead to 8-3. But that was all they’d get, going down in order after that as the club dropped their 6th spring game in a row.

You can see the box score for the game here.

Game Notes

The Spring Breakout game is scheduled to begin at 7:40pm ET. I’ve got the lineups and roster as well as information over at RedsMinorLeagues.com if you want to check that out.

Brady Singer has made four starts and thrown 12.0 innings this spring. His ERA is 2.25 and he’s struck out 18 batters with five walks.

Only two starting players managed to pick up a hit. Gavin Lux’s double and then an infield hit by Blake Dunn.

Monday’s Games

The Reds are playing a night game on Monday. They’ll be “on the road” to take on the Cleveland Guardians at Goodyear Ballpark. It’s a late one, too, with first pitch scheduled for 9:05pm ET. It will be a nationally televised game that will be available on MLB Network and will be on MLB.tv as a Free game of the day. It will be the Cleveland broadcast. Andrew Abbott, Carson Spiers, Brent Suter, Albert Abreu, Ian Gibaut, Emilio Pagan, Sam Moll, and Scott Barlow are all listed as being expected to pitch.