Bluegrassrivals

Mat Latos’ second start as a Red was better than the first. The problem is it was only one out longer.

The Reds ended up losing 3-2 to the Washington Nationals in 10 innings before a sellout crowd of 40,907 in the home opener at Nationals Park. The game ended when Alfredo Simon, the last pitcher on the roster, threw a wild pitch.

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“We were in a tough spot,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “We didn’t have (Logan) Ondrusek because he’s gone four out of five. We didn’t have (Aroldis) Chapman because he went two innings (Wednesday). We were down to Billy Bray and (Sean) Marshall.”

Latos pitched five innings and allowed two runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out one. He needed 99 pitches to get through five. The Reds – because of the tired bullpen – were hoping for six or seven innings.

“He had a couple of high-pitch innings,” Baker said. “He was nearly at 100 pitches when we took him out. We were hoping to get six or seven. Then we could piece it together. When you exit after five and we’re already short … it came back to bite us.”

Latos was pleased with his performance overall. He credited the Nationals.

“I thought I threw the ball well,” he said. “They took some borderline pitches. I thought some calls could have gone the other way. There’s no excuses. The walks hurt me. A couple of long at-bats hurt me.”

The Reds did rally. Down to their final two outs, they scored two in the ninth to tie it at 2-2.

Joey Votto walked with one out. Scott Rolen followed with a double down the left field line. The Nationals intentionally walked Jay Bruce to load the bases to get to Ryan Ludwick, who was hitting .071. Ludwick fell behind 0-2, then singled off third baseman Ryan Zimmerman’s glove to drive in Votto and Rolen to tie it.

That made the loss tougher.

“One more hit there in the ninth and we win that game,” Baker said. “We go to Marshall there’s no guarantee, but he’s been throwing the ball great. That was a tough way to lose that game.”

The Nationals loaded the bases with one out against Jose Arredondo, but he got Danny Espinosa to hit into 1-2-3 double play to end it.

Simon, signed off waivers on the day before Opening Day, hit Ryan Zimmerman with the first pitch of the 10th. An out later, Jayson Werth singled. The runners moved up on Xavier Nady’s groundout.

The Reds chose not to walk Roger Bernadina.

“(Simon) has a tendency to be wild,” Baker said. “You don’t want to take a chance on walking in a run.”

Simon threw a split-finger fastball. Catcher Devin Mesoraco blocked it, but it bounced up the first-base line. Zimmerman scored easily.

“I was trying to throw a splitter down,” Simon said. “He blocked it. But the ball went outside. Bad luck. We lost the game.”

Latos got ahead of hitters but had trouble putting them away. He needed 99 pitches to get through five.

It was 0-0 game until the fifth. Latos allowed a one-out single to pitcher Gio Gonzalez, his first in the majors. Ian Desmond followed with a single. Latos then walked Danny Espinosa to load the bases.

Zimmerman hit a slower grounder to shortstop Zack Cozart, who made a terrific play. He threw home to force Gonzalez.

But Adam LaRoche singled sharply to center to get two runs in.

“The key to that inning was Gio getting his first hit,” Baker said.

Latos had two strikes on Desmond and Espinosa.

“Coulda, shoulda, woulda,” Latos said. “I went on the attack early, then got defensive later. That’s probably why. There were some pitches that could have been Strike 3.”

The Reds got nothing going against Gonzalez, the left-hander the Nats got via trade from Oakland. He pitched seven shutout innings and allowed two hits. He walked none and struck out seven.

“He was real good,” Baker said. “We saw him once in Oakland. He pitched a different ballgame. In Oakland, he threw a lot of breaking balls. Today, he threw a whole bunch of fastballs.”

Alfredo Simon sucks...simple as that.

....and the offense is a major letdown so far.