McCoy: Missed opportunities doom Reds in one-run loss to Cubs

As a result, the Reds dropped a highly winnable game to the last-place Chicago Cubs, 3-2.

Opportunities?

They filled the bases with two outs in the third inning. But mega-struggler Eugenio Suarez struck out. He struck out three more times, solidifying his position as the National League’s strikeout leader with 43.

They loaded the bases again in the fourth inning with two outs. But Nick Castellanos grounded to second on a full count.

From the fourth through the eighth, the Reds didn’t have a hit against four Cubs relief pitchers.

The hardest and loudest knocking surfaced in the bottom of the ninth against Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel.

When the Reds saw Kimbrel, they should have been salivating. In two GABP appearances last year he couldn’t get anybody out.

And sure enough, Tyler Stephenson banged Kimbrel’s first pitch into right field for a single. Jeff Hoffman, a starting pitcher, ran for Stephenson.

Pinch-hitter Tucker Barnhart crushed a hard single to right, sending Hoffman to third.

With the tying run on third and the winning run on first with no outs, the Reds had Kimbrel dangling by a thin thread of twine.

Amazingly, he escaped. Pinch-hitter Alex Blandino took a low 3-and-2 pitch for a called strike three. Tyler Naquin took a called strike three, also on a full count.

Castellanos grounded to second and it was suddenly over and Kimbrel had extended his scoreless streak this season to 16 1/3 straight innings.

“There in the ninth, we faced a great pitcher, a closer that has been in that situation a lot of times,” said Reds manager David Bell. “Tyler (Stephenson) and Tucker (Barnhart) did great jobs with big hits. We were in a good spot, but that doesn’t mean it gets any easier against Kimbrel. He made pitches and he really did a great job.”

The Reds jumped on Cubs starter Zach Davies, he of the 9.47 earned run average, for a pair of runs in the first inning, then nothing more. And those two runs were gift-wrapped. One scored on a throwing error and the other on a sacrifice fly by Mike Moustakas.

Then came the two high-wire escape acts by Davies and the string of zeroes strung up by five Cubs relief pitchers.

“We got out to a couple of runs lead, then we weren’t able to get any more across the plate the rest of the game,” said Bell. “That makes it tough, but our offense has been so good. It didn’t work out today.”

Reds starter Luis Castillo has encountered first-inning problems in nearly every start this season. He worked diligently between starts to tweak and refine some mechanics.

He breezed through the first, 1-2-3, and breezed again through the second, 1-2-3.

But his sharpness and command faltered in the third against the bottom of the order and the Cubs scored a run on a double by Nico Hoerner, a single by Tony Wolters and a bunt by Davies.

The Cubs tied it in the fourth after Castillo had two outs and nobody on. David Bote doubled and scored on Jason Heyward’s single.

Chicago scored what turned out to be the winning run in the sixth when Javier Baez singled and Anthony Rizzo walked. Castillo retired Bote and was lifted after 94 pitches.

Sean Doolittle arrived and gave up a two-out, run-scoring single Hoerner. That run was charged to Castillo, dropping a defeat in his lap and dipping his record to 1-3.

Asked if made progress in this start, Castillo said, “Yes, yes. The stuff that the pitching coach (Derek Johnson) and I worked on in the bullpen seem to be clicking. We definitely made progress. Unfortunately we didn’t win the game, but that’s part of the game. We’ll move on.”

Castillo said the adjustments were that he stood up straighter, picked up his leg more than he had been and delivered the ball homeward at a quicker pace. He pitched 5 2/3 innings and gave up three runs and eight hits while walking one and striking out five.

Bell was pleased by what he saw from Castillo … at least for two innings.

“Early on he was really good,” said Bell. “He did a fantastic job against a good lineup to keep it right there once they scored a couple of runs. Early on he was real good, then the Cubs did a nice job of adjusting. They put some good swings on him and were hitting the ball well. It was a real good step for Luis, especially early on.”

There was a minor shouting match when highly volatile Reds relief pitcher Amir Garrett appeared with one out in the eighth and struck out Rizzo. Garrett did some celebratory histrionics on the mound. Javier Baez shouted some stuff from the Chicago dugout.

Baez and Garrett have a prior antagonistic relationship and the two tried to get to one another but were restrained.

“Amir has been struggling and he struck a guy out,” said Bell. “It’s an emotional game. From my standpoint, I saw Amir speaking to himself. I may be wrong, but I thought I saw Amir showing excitement and it was directed at himself.

“I don’t know how it was interpreted by the Cubs and it might have been taken another way,” said Bell.

Round three of the three-game series, tied at a win apiece, is scheduled for 1:10 Sunday afternoon in GABP.