Cincinnati Reds drop Game 1 of doubleheader and lose two players to injured list

The Cincinnati Reds moved past the halfway mark of their season during their 4-2 loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday in the first game of a doubleheader and the number of players on their injured list (16) isn't far from their number of wins (28).

After Mike Minor had an up-and-down outing, striking out a season-high eight batters in 6 1/3 innings, the Reds lost two players to the IL.

Luis Cessa called for a trainer after he threw his 10th pitch in the seventh inning and he was placed on the 15-day IL with a left side injury. Catcher Aramis Garcia, who started the first game of the doubleheader and exited in the eighth inning, went on the 10-day IL with a left middle finger injury.

It's been that type of a season for the last-place Reds. One step forward and two steps back.

The first two times Minor worked through the Pirates lineup Thursday, it looked like he finally had things figured out after his disappointing start to the year. Then a three-batter stretch, the third time Minor faced the top of the lineup, sunk him and the Reds in the loss at Great American Ball Park.

"I thought today was the best I’ve thrown it all year," Minor said. "They still came away with four runs on the board, but I felt like my stuff was a lot better, the control, the pitches were moving a lot better. I had some more swing and miss stuff."

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With the score tied in the sixth inning, Minor surrendered an infield single to Ke’Bryan Hayes in a 2-2 count and he hit Bryan Reynolds with an errant changeup in a 1-2 count. Michael Chavis followed with a two-run double, thumping an 85-mph slider into the left-center gap.

Minor didn’t allow a hit before the fifth inning, and he gave up four runs in 6 1/3 innings. Pirates hitters were 1-for-17 with a solo homer against Minor in their first two trips through the lineup and 4-for-7 during their third time facing him.

"The other starts, I felt like I was getting the ground balls and the popups and stuff like that, but I wasn’t pitching the way I wanted or the stuff wasn’t moving the way I wanted," Minor said. "Maybe I could’ve pitched Chavis a little bit differently. I feel like he was making good swings on the outer half and I kept throwing it there. Other than that, I’ll take it. We didn’t get the win, but something to build off of."

Minor mixed his pitches well, tallying a season-high eight strikeouts with three coming from his fastball, three from his slider and two from his changeup. It was his highest number of strikeouts since June 10, 2021.

Pirates catcher Jason Delay knocked Minor out of the game in the seventh inning with an RBI double to the right-field wall for his first Major League hit. Minor has given up at least three runs in six of his seven outings this year.

"The balls in the gap with guys on base killed me," said Minor, who allowed a solo homer to Diego Castillo in the fifth inning, which ended the no-hitter and shutout.

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In a game when the bullpen didn't give up any runs, the group still took some losses. Cessa underwent exams between games of the doubleheader to determine the severity of his injury.

The Reds have 12 pitchers on the IL: Cessa, Tyler Mahle, Alexis Díaz, Art Warren, Tony Santillan, Vladimir Gutierrez, Justin Dunn, Daniel Duarte, Connor Overton, Lucas Sims, Tejay Antone and Justin Wilson. Sims, Antone and Wilson are out for the remainder of the season.

Garcia tried to play through the pain and he struck out in his two at-bats Thursday. He aggravated his finger injury in his start Monday on a couple of foul tips and he took a backswing to his elbow.

The Reds didn't produce much offense against rookie starter Roansy Contreras and Pittsburgh's bullpen. Donovan Solano opened the bottom of the fifth inning with a solo homer to center field in front of 13,086 fans. It was Solano’s first homer in a Reds uniform, launching a 95-mph fastball that sat over the middle of the plate.

Contreras retired 11 of his last 12 batters sandwiched around Solano’s homer and the Reds didn’t have another runner touch second base until Jonathan India hit a one-out double in the eighth inning off reliever Wil Crowe. India scored on a single from Tommy Pham.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds vs. Pirates game: Mike Minor falls short in loss, Luis Cessa hurt