MILWAUKEE -- As "Torpedo" bats and the home runs produced by them have made headlines in Major League Baseball the first week of the season, the Reds have spent the last three games instead harkening back to their own personal Dead Ball Era.
Not all nostalgia is cool, however. On Thursday vs. the Brewers at American Family Field, Cincinnati lost its third consecutive game by a 1-0 score. That feat happened five previous times but only once before in the Live Ball Era (after 1920), when the 1960 Phillies also did it May 11-13.
“They’re trying their [butt] off. Maybe too hard," Reds manager Terry Francona said. "They’re fighting. We’re not going to have a situation where it’s ‘us’ when we win and ‘they’ when we lose. We’ll do this together and we’ll figure it out together."
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no team has lost four straight 1-0 games.
Sal Frelick's two-out RBI single in the fourth inning against Nick Lodolo was all that Milwaukee needed to topple the Reds.
For those who don't regularly follow Cincinnati, it might be tough to fathom that this is the same club that produced a 14-3 win over the Rangers on Monday.
“It’s in there. We know it. We’ve just got to keep going," Reds catcher Jose Trevino said.
Texas took the other two games of the series by the 1-0 score. Batting .197 as a club and scoreless over their last 28 innings, the Reds are missing key hitters with Austin Hays and Tyler Stephenson on the injured list and haven't picked up the slack consistently.
During this three-game stretch, the trio of Carson Spiers, Hunter Greene and Lodolo have given up two earned runs, 10 hits and three walks with 17 strikeouts.
"You see this all the time throughout a baseball season. The pitchers will pick up the hitters and the hitters will pick up the pitchers. It’ll all switch at some point," Trevino said. "We’re going to need them. They’re going to need us. At some point, we’re all going to be together. That’s just how the baseball season goes.
"Right now, our pitchers are doing really well. Our hitters, we’re grinding. It’s not like we’re trying to give outs away. We’re out there putting some good at-bats together. We’re going to turn this thing around. I have full confidence in this team.”
The victim in the "Torpedo" bat sensation against the Yankees when he gave up five homers in his previous start, Brewers lefty Nestor Cortes bounced back well. Cortes stymied Cincinnati for six innings while allowing one hit and two walks with six strikeouts. Trevino hit a one-out double in the third inning and Matt McLain walked with two outs. But the threat ended when Elly De La Cruz was called out on strikes.
"I think it was the thing where he came off a really poor outing and you could tell as he got into the game … his tempo picked up, his pitches were a little more crisp. He was gaining confidence," Francona said. "That’s what good pitchers do.”
Lodolo's run allowed was unearned over 6 2/3 innings with four hits, no walks and four strikeouts. After he went nine up, nine down to begin his night, the only inning where Lodolo labored came during a 29-pitch bottom of the fourth.
Two batters after Jackson Chourio led off the inning with a ground-rule double to left-center field, William Contreras hit a grounder away from first base. Christian Encarnacion-Strand fielded it but Lodolo dropped the toss to leave everybody safe.
“Just, I tried to find the bag before I had the ball," Lodolo said. "Obviously, I wish I could have that one back.”
Two batters after that, Frelick came through with a single grounded to right field. At that point, Lodolo wasn't worrying about run support.
“I obviously want us to score, but I’m not thinking about it," he said. "I’ve got to do my job at the end of the day, regardless. We’ll turn it around. I guarantee you that.”
Francona had Sam Moll warming in the bullpen as Lodolo's pitch count spiked. But the left-hander escaped and returned with a 1-2-3 fifth inning while throwing seven pitches and getting three flyouts.
“It was definitely big," Lodolo said. "Especially getting us back in the dugout. You don’t want to go 30 pitches. I was getting pretty tired that inning. To be able to go out there and be efficient again definitely kept me in rhythm.”
Despite the Reds owning a 2-5 record overall, the rotation has a 2.06 ERA that's third lowest in MLB.
“If that trend continues, these conversations will be a lot more fun," Francona said.