After giving up only one hit and losing 1-0 Monday night, the Reds gave up 16 hits Tuesday and were annihilated, 8-2.
The Padres came into the game with a .210 team bating average, lowest in the majors, and did a Beach Blanket Bingo number on the Reds with their most hits this season.
And the Reds? Two runs in 18 innings against the Padres.
Reds starter Mike Leake was a human batting practice machine, giving up three runs and 11 hits in 5 2/3 innings.
But when he left the Reds trailed by only 3-1 before the Padres staged the highlight of their beach party against the Reds bullpen.
They scored four runs off Logan Ondrusek and J.J. Hoover in the seventh inning.
San Diego leadoff hitter Seth Smith drove a home run over the right field wall in the first inning to give the Padres a 1-0 lead.
They made it 2-0 in the second with three straight two-out hits. Irving Fulu, 0 for 16 on the season, singled to keep the inning going and pitcher Ian Kennedy singled to score a run.
There was hope in the fifth when the Reds scored a run to cut the deficit to 2-1. Zack Cozart began the inning with a single. He took second and third on a pair of ground balls and scored on Todd Frazier’s single.
The Reds had several early opportunities against Ian Kennedy, 5-9 with a 4.01 ERA when the game began.
Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips singled with two outs in the first, but Jay Bruce struck out.
Billy Hamilton dragged a bunt past first base for a hit to lead the third and stole his 35th base. He took third on a ground ball with one out and stayed there when Phillips struck out.
The Padres made it 3-1 in the fifth when Smith doubled and scored on Chase Headley’s single.
Then came the fateful seventh, an Achilles Heel to the Reds most of the season.
Ondrusek gave up a leadoff single to Smith, his third hit, and with one out, Carlos Quentin drilled a long, long home run into the left field seats to make it 5-1.
Yasmani Grandal, a No. 1 draft pick by the Reds, drew a walk and Tommy Medica singled. J.J. Hoover replaced Ondrusek and Cameron Maybin singled to make it 6-1.
Alexi Amarista hit a ground ball to first base and Joey Votto committed not one, but two errors. First he booted the ball for one error. Then he picked up the ball and threw it past Hoover, covering first, for a second error as another run scored to push it to 7-1.
The Padres added a run in the eighth off rookie Carlos Contreras on a sacrifice fly by Quentin, his third RBI of the game.
The Reds put up a mini-scare on the Padres in the ninth. Devin Mesoraco led the inning with a home run and the Reds filled the bases. Brandon Phillips hit a ground ball to third and Headley threw to second to get a force. Todd Frazier was called safe. San Diego manager Bruce Bochy asked the umpires to check New York. And the review-masters in New York said the throw was in time and Frazier was out and the game was over.
And the Reds missed an opportunity to gain on both Milwaukee and St. Louis, both losers Tuesday. Instead they remain 7 games behind first-place Milwaukee and a few percentage points behind second-place St. Louis.
After winning five straight series, the Reds have lost this one and are in salvage mode for today’s afternoon’s game, sending Johnny Cueto to the mound to put a tourniquet on the wounds.
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