Pitching Woes Continue, Reds Blow Five-Run Lead in 8-7 Loss to Nationals

The Cincinnati Reds have not looked like the team that the fanbase fell in love with back in April. On Tuesday, it was another embarrassing loss when the Washington Nationals took the first game of the series in a 10-4 knockout.

Unfortunately, the bad vibes surrounding this team would continue on Wednesday. A game that will have every fan talking until they take the field again, the Reds dropped an 8-7 extra-innings battle to the Nationals.

We've got plenty to break down in this one, so let's get right to it. Here's the recap of another heartbreaking loss in May.

A Cursed Mound

The Reds score five runs in the first inning. That's the kind of performance that should lead a team to a victory. However, these Reds are no normal team. What came next was no surprise to anyone who has let this team hurt them in the past.

Nick Lodolo made his second start of the season after coming back from blister issues that have bothered him throughout his career. After a stellar first inning of action, Lodolo fumbled the five-run lead by giving up four runs in the second inning. Lodolo's night ended after four innings, which saw him give up five runs and six strikeouts in his second start of 2026. It's just not good enough.

Lodolo had a poor performance, and so Tony Santillan, who gave up the game-wiinning two run shot in the top of the 10th. It doesn't feel like things are going to get better.

Finding The Positive

Cincinnati Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson (37) is embraced by teammates as he returns to the dugout after hitting a home run in the first inning of a MLB game between the Cincinnati Reds and Washington Nationals, Wednesday, May 13, 2026, at Great American Ball Park in downtown Cincinnati. | Frank Bowen IV/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

If you're looking for the light in a dark room, the Reds' offense looked like a completely different unit on Wednesday. Before the game, it was announced that the team would be making major shakeups in the lineup. Elly De La Cruz and Sal Stewart would move up one spot in the lineup, which proved to be a positive. But it was Tyler Stephenson who had the monster evening.

Stephenson's grand slam in the first inning was a jolt to the bottom of a lineup that has been dragged by nearly every fan on social media. As I mentioned earlier, a team scoring five runs in the first inning should be an automatic win; this group could muster only two more runs across the plate in nine more innings of action.

Blaming an offense that scored seven runs in a game isn't the right move. Pitching is killing this team, and the bleeding isn't stopping.

On to the next one.

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