Reds' bullpen unable to uphold Bell's plan

CINCINNATI -- The way Reds manager David Bell viewed it in the moment, choosing to pitch to Orlando Arcia was the best way to go. Bell still held that opinion following a 4-3 loss to the Brewers on Tuesday at Great American Ball Park, when Arcia hit the game-winning three-run home run in the top of the sixth inning.

Starter Anthony DeSclafani fanned eight over five innings in his 2019 debut. After he left, it was a 1-1 game in the sixth. Reliever Zach Duke opened with a walk to Jesús Aguilar, and Yasmani Grandal hit a one-out single. With two outs and the pitcher on deck, Bell called on Michael Lorenzen from the bullpen to face Arcia. The light-hitting Brewers shortstop came into the at-bat 0-for-16 on the season. First base was open, and Bell had the option of having Duke or Lorenzen pitch around or even walk Arcia instead of going after him.

"They had [reliever Alex] Claudio up, and they [would've] had [Ryan] Braun and [Eric] Thames available in a tie game with the bases loaded," Bell said after his club’s third straight loss. "I think their starter was at about 80-plus pitches. I think we have to go after Arcia there, especially with Michael. We feel good about that."

On a 1-0 cutter that drifted on the inside of the plate from Lorenzen, Arcia lifted a three-run homer that barely cleared the right-field fence.

"The cutter was supposed to be away, [I] didn’t execute. A guy like him who swings a ton, it's just a terrible pitch on my part," Lorenzen said. "We score a couple of runs after that, and all I have to do is come in and get one out. I do my job, I do what I'm supposed to do, we win tonight. Tonight, that's on me."

Arcia had only three homers and a .576 OPS in 2018, but Lorenzen wasn't too shocked that he capitalized on a mistake pitch.

"Our stadium is tiny. He swings hard," Lorenzen said. "If he puts the ball in the air, he's got a chance. All you're trying to do there is make him chase. It's just terrible execution, a terrible game plan on my part."

Was Arcia surprised that the Reds pitched to him?

"In one way I was, but really, no," Arcia said through his translator, Carlos Brizuela. "They probably knew there was a chance [starter Jhoulys] Chacin wouldn't hit if they walked me. So you knew they were going to come after me. I tried to be aggressive."

Lorenzen realized that he should have adjusted his game plan to account for a base being open.

"A guy who chases, got a base open, don't have to throw him a strike," Lorenzen said. "Let him get himself out, and you throw a cutter middle in when it's supposed to be middle away. Don't execute, and he makes you pay for it. It sucks, but I have to get better."

Lorenzen, who gave up six homers over 81 innings last season, followed the Arcia at-bat with walks to Chacin and Lorenzo Cain before he got Christian Yelich to fly out and end the inning.

The Reds got a run back in the bottom of the sixth on Scott Schebler’s bases-loaded groundout, and Eugenio Suárez made it a one-run game with his two-out solo homer to left field in the eighth against Junior Guerra. Suarez also had an RBI double in the fourth. But it was Arcia’s homer that accounted for that one-run deficit that the Reds could never fully make up.