Boxscore

Fresh off losing the last two games of the Marlins series, the Cincinnati Reds traveled to Pennsylvania to battle the Pittsburgh Pirates. One might think that the Reds would bounce back. One would be wrong.

After losing the first game thanks to no ability to get hits with runners on base, the Reds actually had a lead and were looking good at the end of the second match-up. Johnny Cueto started and had a rough 1st inning, but settled down and was actually in line for a win. That would have been the first in by a Reds starter this year.

The offense was doing well, with RBIs from the big bats of Jonny Gomes, Joey Votto, Jay Bruce, and Brandon Phillips. Votto was 3 for 4, and it is so nice to see him out of his minor slump. I hope Phillips and Bruce follow soon.

But the real villain in this game is none other than Francisco Cordero. Apparently, he listened all to well to Dusty Baker’s wonderful old chestnut about walks clogging the bases. How else do you explain 3 walks in the 9th? Surely he thought no one would be able to score with the bases so clogged.

The Pirates did score. First, they tied the game on Cordero’s third walk. Then they won it when Garrett Jones hit one to the center field wall, giving the Pirates the walk-off win and the Reds their 4th loss in a row.

2 and 3 losses in a row isn’t really a streak. But 4? Definitely. As is 10 years of losing records in a row, which is what I’m fairly sure the Reds are headed toward. And that is Pittsburgh Pirate territory.