McCoy: Reds can’t hold early lead, fall to Padres 4-3 in 10 innings

The 11th, and probably the most disastrous, occurred Monday night in Petco Park when the San Diego Padres walked them off in the 10th inning, 4-3.

And there is a constant theme in those games — the inability to move the ghost runner from second base in extra innings.

It happened again Monday night. Ghost runner Ke’Bryan Hayes started on second base in the top of the 10th and stayed there.

Instead of trying to move him to third with a bunt, Tyler Stephenson didn’t bunt, nor did he hit the ball to the right side to move Hayes to third. He grounded out to shortstop.

Matt McLain took a 100 miles an hour fastball from Padres closer Robert Suarez for strike three and TJ Friedl lined out to left against former Reds pitcher Wandy Peralta.

“Steve-o (Stephenson) hit the ball right on the nose,” Reds manager Tito Francona told reporters after the game. But he hit it in the wrong direction.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Then the Padres did it the right way with perfect execution against Nick Martinez in the bottom of the 10th.

With ghost runner Jake Cronenworth on second, Freddy Fermin pushed a perfect bunt up the third-base line. Martinez fielded it and his throw to first glanced off second baseman McLain’s glove, putting runners on third and first with no outs.

Fernando Tatis Jr. lofted a fly ball to left and Cronenworth scored from third on the sacrifice fly, a walk-off win for the Padres.

“Once we don’t get the out (on Fermin’s bunt), there are a lot of options for them,” said Francona. “Once we don’t get the out, it takes away a lot of what we could do.”

The Reds failed to take advantage of a 1-0 loss by the New York Mets to the Philadelphia Phillies and remain four games behind the Mets in the wild card chase.

Making it worse, the San Francisco Giants won and passed the Reds and are only three games behind.

And the Arizona Diamondbacks and St. Louis Cardinals are only a half-game behind the Reds.

The Reds owned a 3-0 lead after five innings, thanks to a superb effort by Nick Lodolo, making his second start in 34 days.

He held the Padres to no runs and two hits over five innings and one of the hits was a bunt.

But he was out of energy after five and Scott Barlow replaced him in the sixth and the Padres celebrated with three runs to tie it.

Tatis opened the inning with a single and stole second. Barlow retired the next two, but Gavin Sheets doubled home Tatis to make it 3-1.

Barlow then walked Ramon Laureano on four pitches and Francona brought in left-hander Brent Suter to face left-hander Jackson Merrill.

He ripped one up the right-center gap and after a long run, center fielder TJ Friedl dove and the ball ricocheted off his glove as two runs scored to tie it, 3-3.

It was a difficult play for Friedl, but one he has made many times over the course of the season.

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

Friedl opened the game by seeing eight pitches from Padres starter Yu Darvish and the eighth pitch landed in the right field seats, a home run.

Friedl also scored the second run on a single, stolen base and a two-out run-scoring single by Elly De La Cruz. Austin Hays made it 3-0 in the sixth with a home run.

Padres manager Mike Shildt then went to his bullpen, a bevy of hard-throwing strikeout artists, the most talented and most reliable in MLB.

Over the last 4 1/3 innings, six San Diego relief pitchers held the Reds to no runs and one hit with six strikeouts.

Just when the Reds seem to wake-up, they hit the snooze button and with only 19 games remaining it will be daunting for them to make the playoffs.

In addition to their 3-11 record in extra innings, the Reds have lost 21 one-run games and have lost 37 times when they led games.

Lodolo was the only positive thing for the Reds on this night.

“Definitely hurts to lose that one,” Lodolo said softly during a post-game interview. “Overall, I thought I threw the ball solid. Definitely there were some things I was doing better than before the layoff.

Asked about fatigue, he said, “Definitely, for sure. I was definitely running a little bit low, on fumes there. But I feel the next time I take the ball I’ll be in a good spot.”

Francona was most appreciative of Lodolo’s performance, but knew once the Padres tied the game, the degree of difficulty against San Diego’s bullpen was steep.

“There’s a lot of high-leverage guys,” he said of the Padres bullpen. “They keep bringing them out and that’s part of why they are good. They’re pretty deep out there.”

Credit: AP

Credit: AP

After taking two straight from the Mets, Francona said after the second game, “They care. That’s all it is. They aren’t asking anybody to feel sorry for them. They really care. They’re a really good group of guys.

“Sometimes the game doesn’t end the way we want it to, and we’ve been through a really tough stretch. But we’re still alive. Until they make you go home, then keep playing.”

Home seems closer and closer.

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