Count the ways:
— Reds starter Nick Lodolo was far off the tracks — 5⅓ innings, seven runs, 10 hits, two hit batsmen and a three-run home run.
— The Reds made two costly errors in the same inning that led to four Washington runs.
— The Nationals stole four bases.
— The Reds were down 7-4 in the top of the seventh and Washington had Dylan Crews on third. Jacob Young dropped a safety squeeze bunt. Pitcher Yosver Zulueta fielded the bunt and could have thrown Crews out at home. Instead he threw to first base and Crews scored.
“There was a little bit lost in the translation,” said manager Tito Francona. “He thought Steve-o (catcher Tyler Stephenson) was yelling first and he was yelling four (home).”
— The Reds were down 8-4 in the seventh with one out and Elly De La Cruz on first. Down four runs, he tried to steal second. Gavin Lux struck out, De La Cruz was out at second, end of inning.
— With two on and two outs in the eighth, Noelvi Marte popped up. But third baseman Amed Rosario dropped the ball as a run scored. But Marte tried to take second and was thrown out. End of inning.
— The Reds’ usually efficient bullen gave up four runs over the last 3⅔ innings.
It was evident from the start that it wasn’t Lodolo’s night. He gave up two runs, three hits, a walk and threw a wild pitch during a 24-pitch first inning.
“A lot of different reasons,” said Lodolo about his off night. “I was falling behind a good amount, not executing at a high clip at all. Nothing much more than that.”
The Reds, though, bounced back in the bottom of the first with two runs off Washington’s Trevor Williams, who entered the game 1-3 with a 5.70 earned run average. And the Nats lost his previous start, 19-5, to the New York Mets.
Spencer Steer’s two-out, two-run double tied it, 2-2. And the Reds took a 3-2 lead in the second on a single by Tyler Callihan, his first career hit and first career RBI.
Then Washington’s Amed Rosario took over, the same Amed Rosario who played 22 games for the 2024 Reds.
Jacob Young opened the fourth with a single, stole second, then scored on Rosario’s two-out double to tie it, 3-3.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Then came the fateful sixth.
Young reached on second baseman Matt McLain’s error to begin the inning. With one out, Lodolo had an 0-and-2 count on CJ Abrams and hit him with a pitch, one of three batters the Reds hit.
Rosario, the next batter, unloaded a 408-foot three-run homer to highlight a four-run inning, breaking a 3-3 tie and putting Washington in front, 7-3.
Rosario finished with three hits and four RBI. James Wood had four hits and Nathan Lowe had three.
Of hitting Abrams with an 0-and-2 pitch, Lodolo said it was a deep regret.
“You saw what Rosario did after that,” he said, referring to the three-run homer. “I wish I could have that one back, y’know.
“Outside of Rosario, the damage wasn’t crazy, but Rosario...he definitely killed me tonight,” he added.
Said Francona of the game-deciding sixth inning, “That inning got away in a hurry. The one big ball was Rosario hitting the three-run homer. We went into that inning 3-3 and feeling pretty good about it. It got away fast.”
Francona was characteristically upbeat despite the horror show he witnessed.
“Give them some credit,” he said. “Lodolo made some pitches he probably wants back. I thought his stuff was good. He probably wasn’t commanding like he can. And it cost him.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
And the Reds did accumulate 12 hits, three by Santiago Espinal, who is 9 for 16 on the homestand. Jake Fraley produced two hits, including a solo home run. Spencer Steer had two hits, drove in two and scored one.
“Espy is solid wherever we put him,” said Francona. “And Spencer looks like he is turning into Spencer, which is a really good thing.”
NEXT GAME
What: Washington at Cincinnati
When: May 4, 4:10 p.m.
TV: FanDuel Sports
Radio: 1410-AM
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