A top Reds reliever takes another loss as the Athletics beat the Reds

The Cincinnati Reds ’ pitching staff is a “day-to-day” puzzle as manager David Bell tries to piece together nine innings every night with just three active starting pitchers on the roster. The two pitchers that should give the Reds the most confidence are closer Alexis Díaz and setup reliever Tony Santillan.

But over the last two games, they’ve been the ones who have taken the loss.

On Tuesday, Santillan allowed the go-ahead homer in the seventh inning as the Oakland Athletics beat the Reds, 5-4. Díaz blew his first save since May on Sunday and surrendered a walk-off homer in a loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Santillan entered Tuesday with a 1.20 ERA and has been Bell’s go-to reliever in high-leverage situations. In the sixth inning, Santillan entered the game with the bases loaded and two outs and got an inning-ending strikeout. Santillan didn’t keep that momentum going into the seventh inning, issuing a walk before he allowed a two-run homer to third baseman Max Schuemann that put the Athletics up 2-1.

The Reds weren’t able to take advantage of an unexpected performance from long reliever Jakob Junis, who got the start and pitched four perfect innings. Junis hadn’t thrown more than 47 pitches or thrown more than 2 ⅓ innings all year, but he was efficient enough to get the Reds nearly halfway through the game.

"It's no surprise that we've been hit by the injury bug lately in the rotation," Junis said. "The breadth of that has fallen on the bullpen, and that's a tough spot to be. Starting and relieving, I know how tough that can be. Providing length tonight is what I set out to do."

Junis passed the baton to Buck Farmer and Sam Moll, who kept the shutout intact. Then, Santillan gave up his third homer of the season with a fly ball that snuck over the right field fence.

Athletics rookie Mitch Spence, who has bounced between the rotation and the bullpen this year, allowed just one run on five hits in 5 ⅓ innings. A contact play gone wrong burned the Reds in the second inning, and first baseman Dominic Smith grounded out to strand two runners on base in the fourth inning.

"We were down and not able to score early," Bell said. "Late off of a good back end of a bullpen, our guys did a nice job of battling back against a couple really good pitchers. We came up a run short."

The Reds scored two runs in the ninth and made it a one-run game, but pinch-hitter Amed Rosario struck out to end the game with two runners in scoring position. Rosario pinch-hit for Will Benson, who initially entered the game as a pinch runner and didn't receive a plate appearance on Tuesday.

Benson's role has been significantly scaled back. He's hitting .192 this year with a .275 on-base percentage, and he has struggled in particular with fastballs over the plate. Santiago Espinal, who had never played right field until last week, started at that position over Benson on Tuesday. Rosario, Smith, Ty France and Espinal have all been getting starts over Benson recently.

In the eighth inning on Tuesday, Benson entered the game as a pinch-runner for Espinal. In the ninth inning, the right-handed Rosario pinch-hit for the left-handed Benson in a matchup against a right-handed pitcher.

Instead of playing the matchups with the go-ahead run on second base, Bell went with Rosario over Benson against Athletics All-Star closer Mason Miller.

"Will is continuing to work, and he's going to get through this," Bell said. "There's no doubt. We still believe in Will as a player. It's as simple as that."

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: A top Reds reliever takes another loss as the Athletics beat the Reds