McCoy: Reds lose De La Cruz, Burns and game in ugly 9-2 blowout to Royals | Sports

The Cincinnati Reds lost big before the game and then lost even bigger during the game Monday, June 1, in Great American Ball Park.

They lost their scheduled starting pitcher, Chase Burns, to an illness.

They lost shortstop Elly De La Cruz to the 10-day injured list.

And then, playing two eggs short of a dozen, they were crunched by the Kansas City Royals, 9-2.

With Burns (7-1, 1.93) down, Reds manager Tito Francona was forced to go to a bullpen day and he started recent call-up Lyon Richardson.

It was ugly.

First inning: Walk, hit by pitch, pop-up, walk and a first-pitch grand slam home run by Lane Thomas and the Royals led, 4-0, on one hit.

And this game was over.

“No command,” Francona told reporters of Richardson’s inning. “It looked like he might wriggle out of it, tried to get ahead (of Thomas) and caught too much of the plate.

“That was four right there and I think he threw 30 pitches. That was a lot.”

But wait. Kansas City was in a dilemma, too. They arrived at GABP lugging a heavy six-game losing streak and losses in 16 of their previous 19 games.

And with two of his starting pitchers on the injured list, Royals manager Matt Quatraro was forced into an adjustment, too.

He started Luinder Avila, only his second major league start.

When JJ Bleday homered in the bottom of the first there was hope in the Reds dugout that Avila would suffer the same fate as Richardson.

It wasn’t to be.

Avila had never pitched more than three innings during his career, but he not only pitched five innings, he gave up just one more hit after Bleday’s home run.

If there could be a baseball-type hero for the Reds on this dismal evening, it was just called-up pitcher Brandon Leibrandt.

He did what they call, “Take one for the team.”

A son to former Reds/Royals pitcher Charlie Leibrandt, he pitched the final six innings. Yes, he gave up five runs and 10 hits, two of them home runs, but he saved the bullpen.

That gave the regular bullpen operatives a day of rest before the final two games of the series.

“I hope we win tomorrow and if we do he’ll deserve a pat on the back because that was a lot,” said Francona after Leibrandt threw 99 pitches.

Leibrandt already received pats on the back from most of his appreciative teammates when he arrived in the dugout after pitching the ninth inning.

With De La Cruz on the injured list, the Reds summoned Edwin Arroyo from Triple-A Louisville and he was instantly installed at second base. Matt McLain was shifted from second base to shortstop.

Kansas City’s Nick Loftin led the second inning by ripping one toward right field. But Arroyo skidded on his knees to make the stop and whistled a strike to first base.

He struck out his first three times at the plate, but with two outs in the ninth he lined a single to right for his first major league hit.

McLain, 1 for 28 with 10 strikeouts, doubled to left to score Arroyo so instead of losing 9-1 the Reds lost 9-2.

But it left Arroyo and McLain with good feelings.

Asked by reporters if his fielding gem or his base hit was the lasting memory, Arroyo said, “Both. The first play was a little exciting, but so was the hit exciting. So, both.”

Arroyo is a natural shortstop but had been playing second base a bit at Louisville.

“The last couple weeks I played some second base so I’d feel comfortable,” he told reporters. “Tito asked me if i felt comfortable there (before the game) and I said, ‘Yes, wherever you put me.’”

The Reds had only two hits through seven innings, then added two in the eighth and two in the ninth to finish with Bleday’s homer, McLain’s double and four singles.

While there were good vibes for Arroyo, McLain and Leibrandt, it still was a lousy loss to a struggling team that was 15 games under .500.

Kansas City’s bullpen was stellar against a lethargic Reds offense. John Schreiber, Alex Lange and Mason Black each pitched a scoreless inning.

Eli Morgan struck out the first two in the ninth before giving up Arroyo’s single and McLain’s double. Then he struck out Bleday to end it, Cincinnati’s 12th strikeout.

Losing blowout games is an alarming trend for the Reds. They’ve lost 16 games by five or more runs, tied with the Colorado Rockies for the most in MLB.

De La Cruz figures to miss at least two weeks, but things return to normalcy Tuesday, June 2 when Andrew Abbott takes the mound against Kansas City’s Noah Cameron (2-4, 4.61).