At least it wasn’t another 1-run loss for the Cincinnati Reds

It was still a loss, though.

The Cincinnati Reds fell behind first by the score of 2-0, later by the score of 4-1, and somehow managed to battle their way back to a tie game that ultimately went to extra innings on Thursday afternoon in Great American Ball Park. On the line was not only an elusive victory, but an even more elusive series victory, something they’ve failed to deliver since the Strasbourg Dancing Plague.

Alas, they lost. The San Diego Padres put the screws to lefty Sam Moll in the Top of the 10th inning, plating a pair of runs before holding the Reds off the board in the Bottom, and Cincinnati stumbled to a full 10 games under the .500 mark with the world-beating Los Angeles Dodgers next on the docket.

Tyler Stephenson, one of the precious few hitters the Reds have who has performed this year, neither started nor pinch-hit with the game on the line. Jake Fraley, on the active roster despite the lack of a functioning finger for the last few days, finally appeared on the bases but cannot hit. So, we watched Moll left out to dry against a series of righties who punished him while the likes of Luke Maile, Stuart Fairchild, and Mike Ford were tasked with overcoming the 2-run deficit to finish the game off.

It’s not just bad, it’s bad on cruise control, and that’s distressing to any fan who actually gives a damn about this team in the standings anymore. They’ve gone 0-8-1 over their last 9 series, after all.

Yeah, they’ve got a lot of hurt guys. But yeah, they’ve also got a lot of mostly healthy guys who aren’t playing worth a lick now and haven’t for weeks. The season, as we sit in mid-May, is already perilously on the line, one of those valleys they promised to avoid when seeking peaks that were sustainable.

I’m not mad. I’m not even that frustrated, really. I’m just frankly resigned to the sound of inevitability that echoes from almost every corner of this franchise anymore, and that’s just plain sad.

Padres 6, Reds 4, Dodgers on-deck for tomorrow evening.

Photo by Aaron Doster/Getty Images