CHICAGO – The Cincinnati Reds inability to add a starting pitcher at Tuesday’s trade deadline just got real again for the team that clung to a one-game lead in the NL Central entering Wednesday night’s game against the Chicago Cubs.
The team with the third-worst rotation ERA in the majors, put Tuesday’s starter, Ben Lively, on the injured list again Wednesday with a recurrence of the pec injury that landed him on the IL late last month.
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Lively, who was hit hard in a 20-9 loss to the Cubs Tuesday, was left in that game to labor through four rough innings and 94 pitches – allowing 13 earned runs – for the sake of an overburdened bullpen that was asked the night before to cover 5 u2154 innings.