Cincinnati Reds lose TJ Friedl, game, series to San Francisco Giants

Oof.

The best part of the Cincinnati Reds Sunday afternoon in San Francisco came prior to the game’s first pitch, when TJ Friedl stood healthy in the 1B side of the batter’s box. Precisely one pitch later, however, he was writhing in pain on the ground, Kyle Harrison’s first offering of the game having run in on the Cincinnati leadoff man and hit him squarely on the left thumb.

Friedl eventually took 1B and later scored on the bases-clearing double off the top of the CF wall by Jeimer Candelario, and the Reds held one of those elusive ‘early leads’ most every other team in baseball often enjoys. Unfortunately, the last we’d see of Friedl all day came after he crossed home plate, as he eventually went down for more testing on that thumb and exited the game for good.

We’re still waiting to find out what those x-rays really confirm, as it’s been a nebulous response from the Reds so far. Nebulous response from the Reds so far also just so happens to describe their ability to play the game of baseball as a whole, as they eventually blew their early 3-0 lead in a 6-5 loss in extra innings to the San Francisco Giants today.

That means they lost 2 of 3 by the bay and, therefore, another series. They’ve not won one of those in over three weeks.

Mike Ford did homer, which was nice. Frankie Montas was really good until he was really not good. Jonathan India had a trio of hits, and the bullpen - save for the walk-off hit in the Bottom of the 10th with the Manfred Man already on-base - looked quite solid after Montas exited after just 4.2 IP.

The loss, though, is still very much a loss. The Reds now sit 6 games under the .500 mark, and they’re now off to face an Arizona Diamondbacks club that swept them at GABP just days ago before they spend a 4-day weekend facing the world-beating Dodgers in Los Angeles.

This is very much crunch time for the Reds, and they very much haven’t managed to meet the task. Add to that the potential loss of Friedl for the second time already this season, and they will have reached crisis level.

Enjoy Arby’s.