Terry Francona Praises Reds for Competing Through Rough Patch
The Cincinnati Reds came into the weekend staring up at most of the National League Central, with an eight-game losing streak having dropped the team into the basement.
They finally got off the mat Saturday in a one-run win over Houston , then turned around Sunday and shut the Astros out 5-0 behind six scoreless innings from Andrew Abbott .
The two wins moved Cincinnati to 22-19, and the clubhouse felt lighter than it probably should after the week the team just had.
Manager Terry Francona was straight about the stretch, though he sounded like a guy who has not lost faith in the room.
The Manager's Message
Asked about it after Saturday's win, Francona did not dance around what happened last week, but he stayed locked in on what his guys were doing right.
"It's been a tough week, but they're working and they're competing, and it's not always been as good as we want," Francona said, "but they're not quitting, so we're not gonna quit on them."
That fits the way he handled an earlier rough patch back in April , when he told the room he would figure things out with them as long as they kept showing up.
It is who he has been his whole career, and the players seem to be responding.
The bullpen has been short with Rhett Lowder getting an injection in his shoulder, and slugger Eugenio Suarez is still out with a left oblique strain that has hung around longer than expected.
A Record That Should Look Different
The Reds were 20-11 before things fell apart in May, sitting at the top of the NL Central, playing like one of the more complete teams in baseball.
Eight straight losses dropped them from first to last in under two weeks, which says more about how tight this division is than the roster in Cincinnati.
Per Baseball-Reference , the Reds still hold a positive run differential, and the offense, propped up by Elly De La Cruz's hot start , has been one of the better groups around.
Add in a rotation that fell on its face during the skid, and the math says this is closer to a 26-15 team than a 22-19 one if even a couple of those eight losses break the other way.
Cleveland Waits This Weekend
After a midweek series at home with the Washington Nationals , the Reds head north to face the Cleveland Guardians Friday through Sunday.
Cleveland comes in at 21-20, and there is a little extra to this one for Francona personally since he managed the Guardians for 11 seasons before he ever wore a Reds uniform.
Take two of three and the bad week is gone, with a softer stretch of schedule sitting right behind it.
That is the whole ask from Francona, who is not about to change how he runs the room because of one ugly week.
