ST. LOUIS – The Cincinnati Reds started the first day of their road trip without a pitching coach. They started the second inning without their manager.
A 10-3 loss to the Cardinals in the opener of their weekend series in St. Louis, dropped the Reds to 2-11 in division play this season – before they’ve played a game against first-place Milwaukee.
And they started to look like a team that couldn’t get out of its own way by the time they reached the sixth inning of a six-game road trip that will take them to San Diego next – and to the brink of getting buried in the division by midseason if the bats and bullpen keep looking like this.
The team that finished April in first place and in command of the National League Central has fallen like a rock since, with slumping lineup and one of the worst-performing, beat-up bullpens in the majors leading the race to the bottom.
Errors by rookie shortstop Edwin Arroyo and rookie first baseman Sal Stewart in the bottom of the first inning cost the Reds two unearned runs and most of a 3-0 lead – and cost the manager for the rest of the game when Terry Francona was ejected after an unsuccessful replay challenge.