Reds let one get away

Dodgers 5 Reds 4 

You talk about a single evening of baseball that fully encapsulates the wide ranging issues of this organization.

Will Smith's two-out 9th inning double off Emilio Pagan broke a 4-4 tie as the Dodgers rallied from a 4-2 7th inning deficit to win.

Alexis Diaz picked up the win in relief for LA, recording four outs on eight pitches, in what might have been the most efficient outing of his MLB career.
Of course he did.

Trailed 2-0 2nd, led 3-2 4th, 5-2 5th. 4-4 in 7th, trailed 5-4 9th. 

It's a game that Terry Francona would probably like a managerial do-over on. A night that started with Fraley, Marte and Benson in the lineup, ended with them replaced by Joe, Espinal and Hinds.

We can debate: ownership, President of Baseball Ops and manager all we want. Bottom line: Playoff caliber teams aren't turning to Connor Joe in the 8th and Rece Hinds in the 9th. They just aren't.

Defense: Mickey Mouse stuff for the 2nd night in a row.
Elly’s MLB high 15th E. Steer could/should have gloved on hop. 
Elly flailed at short hop ruled a hit. 
Elly bobbled poor short hop relay throw by Lux in 9th, go-ahead run scored.
Lodolo E on pickoff attempt/should’ve been on McLain.
Steer nice pick
Espinal nice one hop throw from foul territory 8th

Circled the sequence: 5th: Loaded, 0 outs = 1 run.
Elly RBI FC, Hays infield 1B, Espinal PH/Fraley shallow fly out. Steer K. 

Offense: 6 H, 5 BB, 6 K, 2 DP 
Fraley: 2-R HR (6), BB  
Marte: HR (7) Moved RF 6th, replaced by Joe 7th
Lux: H, BB. Reached 13 last 30 PA.
Trevino: 2B snapped 0 for 17. 1st EXBH June 22. 
Hays: H, BB, R 
Elly: 29 games w/o HR 
Espinal: PH FO vs LHP. .333/.412 July. .292 LHP. 

How they scored:
4th: Fraley 2-R HR, Marte HR, 3-2 Reds 
5th Elly FC RBI, 4-2 Reds 

Lodolo: 5.1 IN, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 11 K, HR, PO, 94 pitches.  
1st: K side. 2nd: 2-R HR Edman (.150 July). K Ohtani 3X. 

Bullpen: 
Barlow 0.2, Ashcraft 1.0, 3 H, BB, 2 R (left to face LH Freeman/RBI 1B tied it), Santillan 1.0, Pagan 1.0, R.

Reds pitching walked .194 hitting Michael Conforto TWICE.

LA stuff:
Alex Diaz come on w/ 2 outs and runner on 2nd at 4-4 in 7th: Hays ground out. 1-2-3 8th. 4 outs/8 pitches.
Ohtani was 0 for 5 with 4 K, three of them facing Lodolo.

The Reds (56-52) will need a win on Wednesday to avoid their first series sweep of the season (34 in a row). They will face Shohei Ohtani. They have avoided being swept with a win in the final game of a series five times this season.