Cincinnati Reds postseason hopes take huge hit in Washington

WASHINGTON – This is why the Cincinnati Reds can’t have nice things. Like a winning record.

Or a playoff spot.

They have the pitching and athletic talent for both.

And the mistake-happy nature for neither.

All of which is to say it looked like Joe Biden wasn’t the only one dropping out of the race Sunday in Washington.

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When the Reds lost another low-scoring close one to the Nationals by the margin of a couple of key mistakes, it finished off a Nats sweep that left the Reds lugging a four-game losing streak to Atlanta for their next series of a long road trip.

The 5-2 loss Sunday dropped the Reds to 5-8 since their emotional sweep of the Yankees in New York to open the month — all 13 games in the stretch against four teams with losing records.

In fact, a Nationals team that looked out of the playoff hunt and potential sellers at the July 30 trade deadline just caught the Reds in that massive, soft-middle scrum of a National League wild-card “race.”

And about an hour after the Reds game in Washington, the Cubs won in extra innings, dropping the Reds into last place in the NL Central for the first time in four weeks.

"At this point it's 'pick ourselves up,' " manager David Bell said. "We have so much to play for and so much time ahead of us."

Maybe not as much time as they think. They reached the 100-game mark Sunday (47-53), leaving just over two months to overtake at least a half-dozen teams.

But also this: It's barely a week to the trade deadline. And they're living their nightmare scenario one series into this three-city road trip with series left in Atlanta and Tampa Bay out of the All-Star break.

The only way the front office figured to pivot from buyers-at-the-margins to selling off important short-term pieces at the deadline was if the team face-planted on this nine-game trip.

Which means they're starting to feel the calendar.

“I won’t say that we don’t,” said outfielder Stuart Fairchild, whose leadoff homer in the fifth Sunday tied the game at 2-2. “We’re just trying to stay in the moment and control today, because that’s really all we’ve got.”

That's largely because of another costly error by rookie third baseman Noelvi Marte Sunday and another out on the bases with the score still tied in the sixth – the kind of mishaps that have plagued them all season.

The decisive blow came in the eighth inning, on a lefty-vs.-lefty clout by Nats touted rookie James Wood off Justin Wilson, a three-run homer with two out.

But the Reds set the stage for their own undoing.

Marte’s sixth error in just 17 games in the field since his steroid suspension cost the Reds their early lead, whiffing on a pickoff throw from catcher Austin Wynns in the third inning that had Jacob Young caught in no-man's land.

Instead of nabbing Young for the final out of the third, Young scored, and Juan Yepez took third on the play. Yepez then scored on an ensuing single. Both runs were unearned.

Marte declined to talk about the play or his struggles afterward other than to respond when asked if his view was obscured by the runner on the play: "A little bit."

The Reds already were the worst fielding team in the National League by defensive runs saved and fourth-worst in outs above average entering the game (per fangraphs.com)

And Marte already has more errors than he had in 33 games in the field last season after debuting in August (five).

Elly De La Cruz’s huge out on the bases after leading off the sixth with a double cost them their best chance to retake the lead – though it was caused by circumstances as much as any kind of mistake.

When Jeimer Candelario followed De La Cruz with a sharp grounder to short, De La Cruz rightly read the play as a ball hit behind him and followed the rule of thumb of taking off for third. Until he realized too late how quickly the ball got to shortstop CJ Abrams and was caught halfway between the bases for an easy first out of the inning and end to the scoring threat.

“It’s a big play. We have Elly on the bases, in scoring position,” Bell said. “We don’t want that to happen.

“It was just hit too hard.”

Whatever the reason this time, the ultra aggressive Reds entered the day tied for the major-league lead in making outs on the bases (38). It has contributed to one of the game's more inconsistent scoring lineups, which has in turn contributed to an MLB-high 19 one-run losses.

Between those factors and the continued fielding lapses (left-fielder Will Benson's highlight-reel catches Sunday notwithstanding), it makes it more difficult with each week that goes by to see the Reds as a threat to reach October.

Especially for anyone watching them against the Nationals in their first series back from the break.

“It’s tough,” Fairchild said. “It feels like there were some missed opportunities and games we could have won this year for sure."

Still, they remain resolute. "Let's move on," Fairchild said. "Our focus is on Atlanta right now."

And even if this doesn't have the look and feel of last year's midsummer magic carpet ride into late-September contention, they still talk like they're firmly in a playoff race, even from last place, well under .500 and two-thirds of the season gone.

“There’s no doubt at all,” said left-hander Andrew Abbott, who didn’t allow an earned run in 6 2/3 innings. “There’s no questioning anything in the clubhouse.”

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati Reds postseason hopes take huge hit in Washington