By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MILWAUKEE - For most of the season, you could count on the Reds bullpen. But that was before Gabe White, Scott Williamson, Scott Sullivan and Kent Mercker were traded, Felix Heredia was let go and Ryan Wagner was shut down.
Three relievers gave up four runs in the seventh, and the Reds fell to the Milwaukee Brewers 9-6 Wednesday night at Miller Park.
"Any time you've got to use three relievers to get through the seventh, it's not good," Reds manager Dave Miley said. "We were trying to get the groundball. It never came."
Former Red Brady Clark was the hitting star for Milwaukee: 3-for-4 with a double, triple and homer, four runs scored. He just missed the cycle by lining out in his final at-bat.
"I've known Clarkie for a long time," Miley said. "Maybe we should've walked him to tick him off."
It was the Reds' ninth loss in 11 games. It looked like the lineup would be the problem in this one.
With Ryan Freel lost for at least the next 10 days and probably the season, Miley had to find a leadoff man. He turned to Juan Castro, who hit first for the third time in his career.
Miley also needed an outfielder. He turned to Eric Valent, who became the 54th player the Reds have used this year.
"Get 'em in here," Miley said, "and get 'em out there."
The lineup featured only one Opening Day starter (Jason LaRue).
Still, the offense produced six runs on 10 hits and came from behind three times.
But starter John Bale had his worst outing as a Red, giving up five runs on six hits in five innings. His ERA went from 2.76 to 3.67.
He gave up three runs in the sixth.
"It's a shame," he said. "Because I felt good. One bad inning really cost me."
The third Reds comeback made it 6-5 going to the seventh. That's when the bullpen, specifically Scott Randall and Brian Reith, failed
"We can't always be looking down there for (Chris Reitsma and Danny Graves)," Miley said. "We're looking for someone to take the bull by the horns."
John Riedling is the only reliever that started the season with the Reds still in the bullpen.
"It's like spring training," Riedling said. "It's hard to meet all the new guys."
Clark gave the Brewers the lead in the first with his fourth homer of the year.
The Reds answered with two runs in the fourth on LaRue's RBI double and Stephen Smitherman's RBI single.
The lead didn't last long. Clark led off the Brewer fourth with a triple, the first of his career. Richie Sexson followed with a groundball into the hole at short. Castro ran the ball down, fielded, turned and threw in one motion to get Sexson. The Brewers argued that Sexson was safe, but there was no arguing that it was a brilliant play.
It got away from Bale in the sixth. He allowed three hits without getting an out. He was pulled after Sexson's two-run triple.
"It was a curve I left out over the plate," Bale said. "The curve was my third best pitch tonight. I should have thrown a changeup."
| Cincinnati | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| JCastro ss | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | .252 |
| Hummel 3b | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .259 |
| DJimenez 2b | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .305 |
| Branyan 1b | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .225 |
| LaRue c | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .228 |
| WPena cf | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | .176 |
| Smitherman lf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .194 |
| Valent rf | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .333 |
| Bale p | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .083 |
| Riedling p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .235 |
| Stenson ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .300 |
| Randall p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| Reith p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .000 |
| PNorton p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| Totals | 35 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 8 | 7 | |
| Milwaukee | AB | R | H | BI | BB | SO | Avg. |
| Podsednik cf | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .316 |
| KGinter 2b | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .265 |
| BClark rf-lf | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .310 |
| Sexson 1b | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | .266 |
| MSmith lf | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .320 |
| Nance p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| LVizcaino p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| Estrella p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| Hall ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .282 |
| Crudale p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| Kolb p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | --- |
| Helms 3b | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | .256 |
| EddPerez c | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .271 |
| Clayton ss | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .221 |
| Martinez p | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .000 |
| Rusch p | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .212 |
| Conti ph-rf | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .222 |
| Totals | 29 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 7 | |
| Cincinnati | 000 | 210 | 300 | -6 | 10 | 0 |
| Milwaukee | 100 | 103 | 40x | -9 | 9 | 0 |
LOB-Cincinnati 10, Milwaukee 6. 2B-DJimenez (10), LaRue (20), Stenson (3), BClark (19). 3B-BClark (1), Sexson (2). HR-Branyan (7), off Nance; BClark (4), off Bale. RBIs-DJimenez (19), Branyan (17), LaRue (46), Smitherman (5), Stenson 2 (7), BClark 2 (36), Sexson 3 (105), MSmith (8), Hall (13), EddPerez (43), Clayton (37). CS-JCastro (3). SF-MSmith, Hall, EddPerez. GIDP-Hummel, EddPerez.
Runners left in scoring position-Cincinnati 7 (JCastro 4, Hummel, Branyan, WPena); Milwaukee 2 (Conti 2).
Runners moved up-DJimenez, LaRue, Sexson.
| Cincinnati | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
| Bale | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 84 | 3.67 |
| Riedling | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 20 | 5.24 |
| Randall L, 0-1, BS 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 15 | 11.25 |
| Reith | 2/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 14 | 4.63 |
| PNorton | 1 1/3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 7.50 |
| Milwaukee | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | NP | ERA |
| Martinez | 4 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 84 | 6.75 |
| Rusch | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 35 | 6.77 |
| Nance H, 1 | 1/3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 8 | 6.89 |
| LVizcaino H, 9 | 1/3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 16 | 6.92 |
| Estrella W, 6-2 BS, 5 | 1/3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3.74 |
| Crudale H, 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 8 | 2.19 |
| Kolb S, 16 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 1.85 |
Bale pitched to 3 batters in the 6th, Randall pitched to 4 batters in the 7th, Martinez pitched to 2 batters in the 5th.
Inherited runners-scored-Riedling 1-1, Reith 3-3, PNorton 2-0, LVizcaino 1-0, Estrella 3-2, Rusch 1-0.
IBB-off Reith (Helms) 1, off Randall (Sexson) 1. HBP-by Randall (KGinter), by Bale (BClark). WP-Martinez, Rusch. Balk-Martinez.
Umpires-Home, Randy Marsh; First, Angel Hernandez; Second, Sam Holbrook; Third, Lance Barksdale.
T-3:07. A-10,282 (41,900).
How the runs scored:
Brewers first. Podsednik flied out to left fielder Smitherman. Ginter struck out. Clark homered to left on the first pitch. Sexson singled to right. Smith flied out to right fielder Valent.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Brewers 1, Reds 0.
Reds fourth. Jimenez flied out to center fielder Podsednik. Branyan singled to right. On Martinez's balk, Branyan to second. LaRue doubled to left, Branyan scored. On Martinez's wild pitch, LaRue to third. Pena walked on a full count. Smitherman infield single to third, LaRue scored, Pena to second. Valent flied out to left fielder Smith. Bale singled to left, Pena to third, Smitherman to second. Castro flied out to center fielder Podsednik.
2 runs, 4 hits, 0 errors, 3 left on. Reds 2, Brewers 1.
Brewers fourth. Clark tripled to center. Sexson grounded out, shortstop Castro to first baseman Branyan, Clark scored. Smith singled to center. Helms walked on a full count, Smith to second. Perez grounded into a double play, shortstop Castro to second baseman Jimenez to first baseman Branyan, Helms out.
1 run, 2 hits, 0 errors, 1 left on. Brewers 2, Reds 2.
Reds fifth. Hummel walked on four pitches. Jimenez doubled to left, Hummel scored. Rusch pitching. Branyan struck out. LaRue flied out to right fielder Clark, Jimenez to third. Pena grounded out, second baseman Ginter to first baseman Sexson.
1 run, 1 hit, 0 errors, 1 left on. Reds 3, Brewers 2.
Brewers sixth. Ginter singled to center. Clark was hit by a pitch, Ginter to second. Sexson tripled to center, Ginter scored, Clark scored. Riedling pitching. Smith hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Valent, Sexson scored. Helms grounded out, third baseman Hummel to first baseman Branyan. Perez walked on a full count. Clayton walked, Perez to second. Conti pinch-hitting for Rusch. Conti grounded out, second baseman Jimenez to first baseman Branyan.
3 runs, 2 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Brewers 5, Reds 3.
Reds seventh. Clark in as left fielder. Nance pitching. Conti in as right fielder. Jimenez flied out to right fielder Conti. Branyan homered to center on a 1-0 count. LaRue singled to left. Vizcaino pitching. Pena walked on four pitches, LaRue to second. Smitherman struck out. Valent walked on a full count, LaRue to third, Pena to second. Stenson pinch-hitting for Riedling. Estrella pitching. Stenson doubled to right, LaRue scored, Pena scored, Valent to third. Castro grounded out, shortstop Clayton to first baseman Sexson.
3 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Reds 6, Brewers 5.
Brewers seventh. Randall pitching. Podsednik singled to center. Ginter was hit by a pitch, Podsednik to second. Clark doubled to right, Podsednik scored, Ginter to third. Sexson was intentionally walked. Hall pinch-hitting for Estrella. Reith pitching. Hall hit a sacrifice fly to center fielder Pena, Ginter scored, Clark to third, Sexson to second. Helms was intentionally walked. Perez hit a sacrifice fly to right fielder Valent, Clark scored. Clayton singled to center, Sexson scored, Helms to second. Norton pitching. Conti struck out.
4 runs, 3 hits, 0 errors, 2 left on. Brewers 9, Reds 6.
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