That was the case for Jonathan India and Tyler Naquin on Monday night when the Cincinnati Reds lost to the New York Mets, 15-11, in 11 innings.
India was on base six times via three hits and three walks. Naquin banged five hits and drove in four runs.
The Reds, though, were outhomered seven to none and the bullpen gave up nine runs in seven innings.
Despite their outstanding successes, both India and Naquin were glum after the game because they are all about winning and the Reds have lost four straight since the
All-Star break.
“Doesn’t feel great, just another tough loss,” said India. “But we hit (11 hits) and that’s a positive. The offense did well and other than that, I’ve got nothing. Just a tough loss.
Asked about reaching base six times, the rookie second baseman said, “Yeah, it’s cool, it’s awesome that I got on base six times, but at the end of the day I want to win, that’s all I care about.”
The Reds fell behind, 3-0, in the top of the first, then scored seven runs in the first two innings with the aid of four New York errors.
But the Mets chipped away and tied it, 7-7. The Reds look an 8-7 lead, fell behind 9-8, then tied it in the ninth on Jesse Winker’s two-out single, his third hit.
Each team scored a run in the 10th and the Mets scored five in the 11th, three on a home run by Kevin Pillar off Ryan Hendrix.
“Personal goals … that stuff doesn’t matter to me,” said India. “I compete, I want to win, I don’t do it for myself. That’s baseball. Some days it will love you and some days it will hate you.
“Things aren’t going our way right now and it stinks,” he added. “We just have to keep fighting. It’s the only way we’ll get through this. We can’t quit, we can’t get down. We still have a lot more to the season. Better it is happening now than later in the season when it really, really matters.”
Naquin talked along the same lines.
“It’s a cliche, man, but sometimes you come out on top in a game like this,” he said. “That’s a lot of runs scored and both teams were swinging the bats.
“If you lose by one or lose by ten it still goes down as an ‘L,” he added. “They’re frustrating, but you have to put this one behind you and come out and play tomorrow.”
Of current events, Naquin said, “The mood of the team is fine, although nobody is thrilled that we’ve lost four. Everybody wants to win, whether it’s checkers or a big-league ball game. I wish I had an answer to it.
“We have to keep grinding because we know we have the guys to do it, both bullpen and lineup,” he added. “Sometimes guys hit rough spots and other guys have to pick them up. That’s part of a team sport.”
One positive feature of Monday’s mess was a pinch-hitting appearance by Nick Castellanos in the 11th. He was coming off the swollen wrist injury after he was hit by a pitch Friday and missed Saturday and Sunday games.
With two on and one out, he drove a pitch to the warning track in right field … with one hand on the bat.
“He is a professional,” said Naquin. “It showed it with something like that. And he has shown it all year.”
Said India, “It speaks volumes, because Casty is a winner, too. He doesn’t care about his stats. His mentality is to win. For a guy at his part of his career, it’s amazing. It rubs off on us, especially me as a young player. To see a guy of his caliber care about the team instead of himself. He put himself out there tonight and put a really good swing on the ball. Imagine if he had two healthy hands right there. That ball’s 15 rows deep.”
While India talked about Castellanos, Winker talked about India.
“He is an unbelievable ball player, both sides, and baserunning,” said Winker. “Very, very, very outstanding and watching him play all year has been a joy. The guy is gamer, baseball player and a damned good one.
“It is fun to hit behind him and it seems as if every time I walk up to the plate he is on first.”
The bottom line, though, is that the Reds have lost four straight and fallen 7 1/2 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the National League Central.
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