Montas, Reds unfazed by rough start to second half

WASHINGTON -- With the second half of the season now underway, so begins an important nine-game, 10-day road trip that could impact what actions the Reds will take before the upcoming Trade Deadline.

The Reds were three games out of the final National League Wild Card spot when they arrived at Nationals Park after the All-Star break. They opened the series with an 8-5 loss to the Nats on Friday night, but it won’t define them.

“I do not think you can or should play with any more importance in one game than the next,” said manager David Bell. “That’s not the way the game works. Every game has to be the most important game you play when you walk out on that field.”

When thinking about selling at the Trade Deadline, many clubs look to short-term or expiring contracts to make moves. Right-handed starter Frankie Montas is one of those veterans whom Cincinnati signed to a one-year, $16 million deal in January.

Just before the All-Star break, the 31-year-old Montas said he felt his stuff was at its best, and it showed in the first three innings on Friday, when he allowed no hits. However, he began to slip in the fourth inning, allowing a one-out walk, two consecutive hits, a wild pitch and a two-run home run to give the Nationals a 4-1 lead.

The Sainagua, Dominican Republic native came back out for the fifth inning, but the Nats rode the momentum of the previous frame, scoring three runs on a Juan Yepez homer. Montas allowed a season-high seven runs over the course of his 4 2/3-frame outing and was replaced by Brent Suter with two outs in the fifth.

“The velocity looked like it was there,” said Bell. “You know they have some good left-handed hitters throughout their lineup, especially at the top, and he was battling them but just wasn’t able to put them away.”

Montas said he felt physically fine during his outing and felt like he had his best stuff but it was just not his day. He also said he was going to focus on the positive and get ready for his next outing in five days.

“To be honest, I feel pretty good,” Montas said. “My arm feels good, I just missed location a couple of times today, and they’re a pretty good team. It’s the big leagues -- when you miss a spot, they’ll make you pay for it.”

In the first half of the season, Montas went 4-7 with a 4.38 ERA over 17 starts. He pitched a season-high seven innings against Colorado on both June 4 and July 10, and in five starts in June, he held his opponents to a .189/.289/.311 slash line.

This is only the beginning of the second half for the Reds, and like their starter, they are not worried about the loss. They showed potential in their attempt to rally in the ninth inning, when they scored four to cut their deficit to three runs and brought Elly De La Cruz to the plate as the tying run before he grounded out to end the game.

“What a great comeback by the guys,” said Suter, who exited in the sixth after experiencing some left shoulder tightness. “They were firing me up in [the treatment room], and I was icing my lat. It was a great fight.”

The club (47-51) remains three games out of the final NL Wild Card spot, tied with the Giants. The effort that Cincinnati showed at the end of the game showed that it is still a team that can fight for a spot in the postseason at the end of September.

“We came up short, and that's obviously what matters, but when you're down in a game, really the goal is to get the tying run up to the plate to give yourself an opportunity,” Bell said. “There's some really good at-bats there at the end to put ourselves in that situation. Elly put a good swing on the ball, but we came up short.”

“[We’ve] got good momentum going into tomorrow,” Suter said. “We still have a chance to win this series.”