Reds Now Hunt Only for October

The Reds lost their 12th consecutive game Wednesday night, as Rafael Bournigal singled with the bases loaded and Kevin Gross pitched seven strong innings to give the Dodgers a 3-1 victory.

The Reds haven’t won since Sept. 8 and have lost 17 of 20. They haven’t gone this long without a victory since August of 1945, when they dropped 13 in a row.

Forced by injury to use their backups and minor league call-ups, the Reds have been worse than the two expansion teams and the salary-shedding San Diego Padres since the All-Star break.

They are now one loss shy of the longest losing streak in the major leagues this season--13 by the expansion Colorado Rockies.

Manager Davey Johnson said, “Sometimes you can use your bench to fill in for three or four days, but we’ve had to use our bench every day for three months.”

Opposing pitchers aren’t sure what to make of the everyday lineup.

“There were quite a few guys in there I didn’t know,” said Gross, who gave up four hits over seven innings and struck out six, bringing his record to 11-13. “I’ve watched them the last few days. They all pretty much swing the bat at what you throw them.”

Gross walked one and allowed one extra-base hit, Chris Sabo’s 19th homer in the second inning.

“Today, I was in command of my breaking stuff and had real good command of my fastball,” he said.

The Dodgers scored all three runs off rookie John Roper (2-5), who hasn’t beaten anyone but Colorado.

Eric Karros led off the second with a homer, his 22nd. He also drew a two-out walk in the fourth that started the winning rally. Cory Snyder singled and Bill Ashley drew a full-count walk to load the bases. Bournigal lined the first pitch to center for his first major league RBIs and a 3-1 lead.