Bailey hit hard in loss
CINCINNATI — Homer Bailey backslid.
After closing the first half of the season with consecutive strong outings, the veteran right-hander hit a speed bump in his comeback from a third straight elbow procedure. Bailey lasted just four innings, giving up eight runs on eight hits, including a pair of home runs, in a 14-4 loss to the Washington Nationals on Sunday at Great American Ball Park.
“We lost this game because I didn’t pitch well,” Bailey said. “No excuses. If I was hurt, I shouldn’t be out there. I need to be more consistent. I would throw a good pitch, then two bad ones. It’s simple: If you make a bad pitch it is going to get hit.”
Things went wrong quickly for Bailey (2-3), who has a 10.13 ERA.
He gave up both of his homers to Nationals second baseman Daniel Murphy. Murphy clubbed a two-run shot in the first, and Bailey gave up two more runs in the second on two doubles and a single. The third and fourth passed without much stress, but the ceiling collapsed in the fifth.
Bailey walked his first two batters of the inning, and then gave up another shot to Murphy to make it 7-0. Anthony Rendon singled in the next at-bat, and Bailey was done. Rendon wound up scoring on a home run by Adam Lind later in the inning, one the Nationals’ five homers on the day.
Jose Lobaton added a two-run shot and Rendon had a solo homer, his third home run in two games, to help the Nationals to their third win in the four-game series and fourth straight victory overall.
The Nationals have hit 10 home runs and outscored the Reds 29-11 in the first three games. The Reds allowed at least 10 runs in consecutive games for the first time since last season.
“These games are going to happen but not with this frequency,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “It’s deflating, but it doesn’t mean we’ll deflate. … They’re a legitimate team. They did a lot of things right. We did a lot of things wrong.”