Nick Martinez, Reds can’t hold 7-run lead vs. Brewers who win 13th straight
Cincinnati Reds starter Nick Martinez had an 8-1 lead in the second but “lost focus” and couldn’t get out of the third in a 10-8 loss to the Brewers.
- The worst appears to be over for a quad injury that Elly De La Cruz has battled much of the summer.
- Elly De La Cruz has this week shown flashes of his old speed, scoring from first on a double and beating out an important infield single.
- Elly De La Cruz entered Aug. 16 batting only .227 in his past 18 games with one home run since June 23.
Is Elly De La Cruz poised for a strong finishing kick to the Cincinnati Reds season just in time for a playoff push?
The All-Star shortstop hasn’t been available in the clubhouse the last couple days to discuss it, but after being hampered by a touchy left quad much of the summer, he might be close to picking up some speed, manager Terry Francona said. Literally.
“He’s had to manage that quad for a while, and I think he’s managed it really well,” Francona said. “I think he’s coming through the other side of that to where his speed is up. It’s not quite where it would be, but he’s on this (improving) trajectory.”
De La Cruz scored from first on a double in Aug. 13 over the Phillies, beat out an infield single an inning later, and he was aggressive on a fly down the line in left field Aug. 15, all suggesting he might feel closer to full strength.
The league’s reigning stolen base champ has only two steal attempts this month and just six since the All-Star break (all successful). He leads the team with 19 home runs but has only one since June 23.
De La Cruz is 17-for-75 (.227) in his last 18 games (through Aug. 15), with the July 31 home run, two doubles and three steal attempts.
“He’s done a good job managing it,” Francona said of the two-time All-Star who insists on trying to play every day and hasn’t missed a game this season.
The Reds can use every bit of their shortstop’s dynamic offensive skillset as they face MLB’s toughest schedule down the stretch clinging to the edges of the NL playoff picture.
One factor within that remaining schedule might work in his and the team’s favor: They have five scheduled days off over the final 39 days of the season, with only one stretch of more than six games in a row (10 games Sept. 12-21).
It’s an especially welcome pattern for a team that wound up with an unscheduled stretch of 20 straight days on the field, thanks to the Speedway Classic rain-delayed fiasco in Bristol, Tennessee, two weeks ago.
“It should help,” Francona said. “For a number of things. One, your bullpen. And you’re able to give your starters hopefully an extra day.”
He said it’s less of an issue for position players more accustomed to the everyday routine.
But certainly it should help anybody, like De La Cruz, dealing with extra aches and issues.
The Reds went 11-8 during that 20-day stretch (the Speedway Classic taking two days to complete).
“It wasn’t just the 20 days in a row,” Francona said. “That was a long couple of days there (when rain washed out their scheduled departure from Bristol). I thought that took a little bit of a toll.”