The Reds lost 4-1 to the Pirates on Aug. 9, 2025, their fourth straight loss. Elly De La Cruz drove in the lone run as Nick Martinez took the loss.
StatPro MLB Beat Reporter
The Reds needed a spark in Pittsburgh on Saturday. Instead, they got more of the same: a quiet night at the plate and a 4-1 loss to the Pirates at PNC Park, their fourth straight defeat. Elly De La Cruz drove in the lone run, but Braxton Ashcraft muted Cincinnati’s lineup while Nick Martinez took the loss. At 60-58 and third in the NL Central, the Reds’ margin for error is shrinking — even as reinforcements and reasons for optimism percolate down I-71 from Louisville.
Four straight losses have the Reds at 60-58 and 27-32 on the road — urgency time in the NL Central.
When you score once, the game becomes a tightrope. Nick Martinez (9-9, 4.66 ERA) wasn’t shelled, but he also didn’t get the run support to turn a decent effort into a win. Elly De La Cruz provided the only RBI, and that was the extent of the damage Cincinnati could muster against Pirates starter Braxton Ashcraft (3-2, 3.24 ERA). The loss dropped the Reds to 27-32 on the road, a trend that’s kept them from gaining real traction in the division.
The Reds have enough star power to change games quickly, but the grind of August exposes weaknesses in approach and depth. Gavin Lux (.280 AVG, .361 OBP) and De La Cruz (.278 AVG, 19 HR, 73 RBI) remain reliable table-setters/finishers, but Cincinnati didn’t stack quality at-bats often enough to pressure Pittsburgh. Whether it’s early-count rollovers or missed damage pitches, the conversation right now isn’t about talent — it’s about timing and traffic. The offense needs more base runners and more length in at-bats to tilt leverage back in its favor.
Here’s the silver lining: Hunter Greene’s rehab is trending in the right direction. In a start for Louisville, Greene punched out seven over 5 1/3 innings. He did allow two home runs and five earned runs, but the strikeouts speak to the stuff and the build-up is the point right now. If the velocity and command continue to tick toward his norms, the Reds can soon slot a difference-maker back into the rotation and shorten the game for a bullpen that’s shouldered plenty lately.
MLB Pipeline officially anointed Sal Stewart as the Reds’ No. 1 prospect, and the bat keeps giving reasons why. The 21-year-old infielder went 1-for-4 with a double for Triple-A Louisville, continuing a run that’s been built on power and plate discipline — the exact combo that plays in the bigs. Around him, Hector Rodriguez went 2-for-4 with a run, Will Benson chipped in a hit and a run, and both Rece Hinds and Ruben Ibarra made offensive noise. On the mound, Zach Maxwell and Trevor Kunci tossed scoreless relief frames. This is what you want to see in August: multiple bats pushing and a couple of arms knocking on the door.
Reds fans on social media spent Saturday night asking for lineup tweaks and sharper bullpen usage, and it’s hard to argue when the club has lost four straight in largely winnable games. The official account leaned into small positives — De La Cruz’s RBI, Greene’s strikeouts — but the chatter reflects urgency. The good news: internal options exist. If the offense keeps searching, Triple-A bats are performing; if the pen needs a jolt, a couple of arms are logging zeros. The front office didn’t make moves today, but the evaluation window is wide open.
No trades, signings, or roster shuffles hit the wire on Saturday. That said, August is as much about health and readiness as anything, and the Reds continue to monitor Greene’s ramp-up and the day-to-day of key contributors. If the current skid lingers, the cleanest path to a spark likely comes from within — a fresh bat, a middle-innings arm, or simply better sequencing from the existing group.
The blueprint to stop a slide isn’t complicated: score early, win the big at-bat, and keep traffic off the bases. That starts with setting the table for De La Cruz and letting his damage play. It also means attacking the zone from pitch one and avoiding free passes that turn singles into rallies. The Reds have shown they can stack weeks of high-level baseball. With the division still bunched, grabbing the next one in Pittsburgh and leaning into the momentum of Greene’s progress and Stewart’s ascent could flip the script quickly.
The Reds are in an August rut, but not an August sentence. They’ve got an elite talent rehabbing, a new No. 1 prospect raking, and enough offense to win series when the approach clicks. Stop the skid in Pittsburgh, ride a strong start, and let the kids’ energy travel north — that’s the task in the days ahead.
