This just ain't the Cincinnati Reds' year, man.
Entering the season, they looked about as good as anybody. Maybe not quite as good as the Cardinals. But better than the Brewers and the Pirates, for sure. But the Reds never got going in the spring -- they were 23-29 in late May, despite Johnny Cueto's tremendous spring -- and just haven't been able to dig themselves from that hole.
Still, there have always been reasons for optimism. Even today, the Reds' run differential is the second-best in their division. More to the point, at the All-Star break they were just a game-and-a-half out of first place. If not the division title, then a wild card certainly seemed in the Reds' reach.
That was then. Since the All-Star break, All-Star Alfredo Simon is 0-5 with a 5.46 ERA. Also since the All-Star break, the Reds have gone just 10-19. And whatever slim hopes they might have retained were dashed last week-end. On Saturday, Joey Votto was shifted to the 60-day Disabled List and Homer Bailey was placed on the DL. Sunday in Denver, they blew a 7-3 lead and a 9-5 lead in the first game of a doubleheader, losing 10-9 after Aroldis Chapman issued four straight walks and Drew Stubbs hit a walkoff homer. In the second game, they blew a 4-1 lead and lost 10-5.
There's no such thing as a must-win game in August, or even a must-win doubleheader. But the Reds entered Sunday with a (granted, theoretical) 15-percent chance of making the playoffs. They left with a 7-percent chance. You can't do much worse than that on one day in August.
