Just as Reds starter Sonny Gray was beginning to put together one of his best starts of the season Tuesday, his night ended in a hurry.
Gray was pulled prior to the start of the fourth inning of the 5-1 loss to the Brewers, being replaced on the mound by lefty Sean Doolittle with Cincinnati up 1-0 at Great American Ball Park. Gray took some extra time between innings, before being met on the mound by catcher Tucker Barnhart, pitching coach Derek Johnson and trainer Tomas Vera.
Gray had thrown a few warmup pitches and was shown stretching out his right leg and grimacing in between pitches. Reds manager David Bell joined them on the mound, and after conversing for a few minutes, Gray walked off the mound and into the dugout. It ended a solid start in which Gray had already struck out five Brewers and recorded eight whiffs on 21 swings.
The problem? Cincinnati’s bullpen then had to work through six innings, and issues that have plagued the team’s relievers all season quickly became apparent:
• The Reds’ bullpen entered the game with the worst ERA in the Majors (5.78); Doolittle, Ryan Hendrix and Amir Garrett — the first three relievers out of Cincinnati’s ‘pen — were charged with three earned runs in three innings.
• Reds relievers went into the game in a four-way tie for the most home runs allowed this season in the Majors (36); on just the second pitch Doolittle threw, Brewers right fielder Avisaíl García hit a Statcast-projected 380-foot shot to left-center, tying the game at one run apiece.
• Cincinnati relievers’ 125 walks in 2021 were second only to the Cardinals (140) among big league bullpens; Hendrix walked Brewers shortstop Luis Urías and first baseman Daniel Vogelbach to start the fifth inning, with Urías later scoring the go-ahead run on left fielder Christian Yelich’s double play.
It didn’t help that the Reds managed just two hits after the third inning, but the bullpen couldn’t overcome the challenge set by Gray’s early exit.
