Cincinnati Reds not taking advantage of softer schedule, blown out by Detroit Tigers

The Cincinnati Reds have an advantageous schedule compared to other teams in the wild-card race, but they haven’t shown they can take advantage of it.

After dropping three consecutive series, the Reds were sunk by a six-run sixth inning in their 15-5 loss to the Detroit Tigers on Friday in their series opener at Great American Ball Park in front of a crowd of 19,430. There were moments where the defense was dreadful. Vladimir Gutierrez had another poor start. The bullpen couldn’t stop the bleeding.

It was a clunker for a Reds team that can’t afford to lose many games against sub-.500 teams. Reds pitchers allowed 18 hits, which matched a season-high. It was bad enough where they used a position player (Max Schrock) to pitch in the ninth inning.

More:How Miguel Cabrera influenced Cincinnati Reds' Nick Castellanos and Eugenio Suárez

The Reds have lost seven of their last 10 games. They’ve missed opportunities to separate themselves in the wild-card race, but they maintain a half-game lead over the San Diego Padres, who lost to Houston on Friday. The St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies are within two games. 

"Our players have shown that resiliency," Reds manager David Bell said. "Any good team, that’s what it takes. ... Our players have shown the ability to do that and I don’t expect anything different now."

The Reds trailed by a run in the bottom of the fifth inning and they had two runners in scoring position with one out for the middle of the lineup. Tigers reliever Kyle Funkhouser was on the ropes, giving up a two-run homer to Jonathan India, issuing a five-pitch walk and giving up an infield single.

Funkhouser won a pair of seven-pitch battles against Joey Votto and Eugenio Suárez, ending the inning with back-to-back strikeouts. Votto hit a foul ball down the first-base line by about a foot – the difference between a one-run lead and a one-run deficit.

"If you overlook that, you're doing a disservice to this game," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "He really needed to get two pretty dangerous hitters, especially Votto, you're not expecting the swing-and-miss. He really pitched him tough and made some key pitches to him. That game is just so different if they were able to push those runs across."

More:Max Schrock's one-of-a-kind batting stance turned him into a contributor on the Reds

The top of the sixth inning was a nightmare for Reds pitchers. They needed three relievers to record the three outs. Lefty Justin Wilson gave up three groundball singles, including one that didn’t leave the infield. Right-hander Mychal Givens faced four batters and they all reached base. Givens gave up a two-run homer to Dustin Garneau, the first homer he’s allowed outside of Coors Field this season.

Miguel Cabrera and Jeimer Candelario added two-out RBI hits against Jeff Hoffman. The Tigers sent 11 batters to the plate and produced five singles, two doubles, a homer and a walk. 

"Really, a couple of plays go different right there and it’s a totally different game and we have an opportunity to win," Bell said. "I know the final score didn’t look like that, but there were a couple of turning points that a play was made, a base hit or whatever, it would have really changed the whole game."

More:Series Wrap: Where the wild-card race stands after Reds lose two of three to Cardinals

Things snowballed during Detroit’s six-run sixth inning and the Reds’ defense didn’t help. When it was still a one-run game and Wilson was on the mound, Harold Castro hit a single up the middle and center fielder Tyler Naquin tried to throw out the runner at third. Castro advanced to second on the throw, taking away a possibility of a double play.

The next batter, Victor Reyes, shot a ground ball past shortstop Kyle Farmer for an RBI single. On the throw to the infield, Reyes sprinted toward second. Third baseman Mike Moustakas had an errant throw, which allowed a run to score and Reyes to move to third. If the Reds had kept the double play alive, maybe they are able to limit the damage after one run.

"Anytime they did something, then we had momentum coming our way where we stopped them from scoring," Hinch said. "They had (10) guys left on base. They had a lot of opportunities that we were able to squash." 

It was the second consecutive rough outing for Gutierrez, who was lifted after 3 1/3 innings. He allowed four runs (three earned) on four hits and one walk.

"The fastball just didn’t have real good life," Bell said. "That happens at different points in the year. We’re at that point of the year. I believe he’ll get his second wind here."

Gutierrez didn’t miss many bats, totaling one strikeout and four swings-and-misses in 67 pitches. After walking Cabrera on four pitches and committing an error on a throw to first base, Gutierrez surrendered a two-run double to center to Castro in the second inning. He gave up a solo homer in the third and fourth innings.

"I just didn’t have good results," Gutierrez said, according to interpreter Jorge Merlos. "The home run to Candelario, I threw a changeup right there, and it seemed like he was waiting for it. The other home run, it was a curveball that I tried to throw in there, and it seemed like he was waiting for that one, too."

When Gutierrez gave up a one-out double in the fourth inning, Reds manager David Bell emerged from the dugout and signaled to the bullpen. Gutierrez shook his head as he walked off the mound. He’s permitted nine runs (eight earned) in his last 6 1/3 innings, raising his season ERA to 4.17.