Reds' road trip concludes with third straight loss

CHICAGO – When the Reds didn't make any deals to boost their rotation before Tuesday's Trade Deadline, they essentially put a lot of eggs in the baskets of Hunter Greene and Nick Lodolo -- both of whom are on the injured list.

Greene is due back Aug. 20 and Lodolo is expected to return before the end of this month. How Cincinnati's rotation performs until their returns could mean everything for the outcome of this season.

There's no disputing the Reds' starters had a rough four-game series vs. the Cubs, and it was capped by Luke Weaver lasting only three innings during a 5-3 defeat. After winning the first game, Cincinnati dropped the last three at Wrigley Field.

An 11-day, 10-game road trip against three playoff contenders -- the Brewers, Dodgers and Cubs -- ended with a 4-6 record. Cincinnati lost its grip on first place and has a tenuous hold on second. Milwaukee is a half-game ahead in the National League Central and the Cubs are two games behind the Reds.

"This is definitely not the first kick in the teeth we’ve had this year. It probably won’t be the last," catcher Luke Maile said. "We’ve been saying it all year, man. We’re just going to keep playing hard. That’s how we’ve gotten ourselves out of the things that happened like this.”

The Reds rotation's ERA for the series was 15.95. No one among Andrew Abbott, Ben Lively, Brandon Williamson and Weaver completed five innings. Williamson came the closest with 4 1/3 innings and five runs allowed on Wednesday. There were two blowout losses.

Graham Ashcraft's six innings for a 9-0 win on Sunday at Dodger Stadium was the most recent quality start for the club.

“It’s been a long road trip," Weaver said. "Basically every series has been a playoff-type atmosphere. This is just a tough place to play in general. L.A. is a tough place to play and Milwaukee is a tough team to beat. That’s just a long road trip and we get the Cubs on the back end."

Weaver gave up four runs, four hits and four walks over his three innings with five strikeouts. Credit to the Reds' bullpen for keeping the game close. Three relievers -- Sam Moll, Daniel Duarte and Ian Gibaut -- combined for four scoreless innings on one hit. Fernando Cruz gave up two hits and a sacrifice fly in the eighth for a Cubs insurance run.

It was a 1-1 game when Weaver was well on his way to a smooth third inning. With two outs, he struck out Nico Hoerner, but his 1-2 sweeper in the dirt got past Maile. Hoerner easily took first base on the wild pitch and the inning continued.

And continued…

And continued.

“It was just a great pitch that got by me," Maile said. "It was nothing to it other than that it’s about the worst feeling you could ever have. It’s the type of thing you want to crawl into a hole on. There were other pitches to make. I tried to move on the best that I could.”

The next batter, Ian Happ, walked on four pitches before Cody Bellinger hit an RBI single to right field. Dansby Swanson walked to load the bases and Christopher Morel's walk forced in a run. Then Jeimer Candelaraio also walked for another Cubs run.

Both Weaver and Maile showed their frustration on the field. Manager David Bell stormed from the dugout to argue with home plate umpire Derek Thomas and was ejected.

Bell said he didn't argue balls and strikes but was trying to protect his players.

"At the time, I don't have a good vantage point at all," Bell said. "I know Luke got frustrated, which happens when you're in the moment and competing and that's going to happen. I wanted to make sure that it just got left at that and it wasn't escalated. I saw the umpire jump out from behind the plate and that's when I went out there. That was the point I was going to make."

Weaver struck out the inning's ninth batter, Yan Gomes, to end a 41-pitch inning -- including 28 pitches after the wild pitch.

A six-game homestand begins Friday vs. the Nationals.

"We'll continue to show up, do the work, stay together and continue to find ways to get better, just like we have all year," Bell said. "Nothing will change with this team, that's for sure. That's saying a lot. It's a young team and it's a team that's close, continues to push each other and very consistent. We'll show up tomorrow and do the same thing over and we're already looking forward to tomorrow night's game."