Reds Lose To Rockies And Series.

Jun 29, 2013; Arlington, TX, USA; Cincinnati Reds pitching coach Bryan Price (38) visits starting pitcher Mike Leake (44) and catcher Devin Mesoraco (39) on the mound during the third inning against the Texas Rangers at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

The Reds are losing series’ at the wrong time to teams under .500 as they fall to the lowly Rockies 7-4 on Sunday afternoon at Coors field in Colorado. They remain 3 1/2 games behind the Cardinals and Pirates, who are tied for first after St. Louis’ victory over Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Things definitely didnt fall for the Reds on this day. It all began in the first inning as Rockies leadoff hitter Corey Dickerson dropped a shallow fly between second base and right field, turning a lazy fly into a double. Jay Bruce made a great running grab at the right-field wall on the next play, but with two out in the inning, Michael Cuddyer doubled to left to put the Rockies up 1-0.

Reds starter Mike Leake has struggled big time after his outstanding 1st half as he fall to (11-6) on the season and at one time his ERA was under 2.30 has risen up to 3.51 ERA for the season.  He allowed a lead off homerun to  Nolan Arenado in the second to make it 2-0 Rockies.

The Reds offense finally came around in the third inning, Leake lead off with a single to center. His liner struck Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood  just activated off the disabled list Sunday on his pitching hand as the right-hander followed through. He would stay in the game, but he allowed a  two-run homer to the next batter, Shin-Soo Choo his 18th of the season to tie the game at two then walked two batters in a row before leaving the game with a bruised right thumb.

Todd Helton’s defense helped erase a potential big inning for Cincinnati, as he took a throw from shortstop Troy Tulowitzki on a Chris Heisey groundball that couldn’t beat Heisey at first. In a heads up play, Helton threw the ball to home, where the catcher tagged Joey Votto six feet in front of home plate for the third out.

Rockies went off in the fifth inning off of Leake, a pinch-hitter started a rally that saw six straight Rockies reach base. A singled to left and was followed by a single from Dickerson, a two-run double to left from DJ LeMahieu, a walk to Tulowitzki, and a run-scoring double. Leake was relieved by Curtis Partch and walked Helton intentionally before allowing a run on a sacrifice fly.

Colorado added a run in the seventh when Cuddyer led off with a homer. Helton next doubled down the left-field line for his 2,500th hit we congratulate him on that accomplishment.

Reds scored one in the eighth and ninth but it didn’t matter. So they will depart from Denver and head home to start a huge 10 game homestand starting tomorrow afternoon on Labor Day. It will be the first place Cardinals for four games to start it off, no doubt a critical series for the Reds if they wanna have any chances in winning the NL Central Division title. Pitching match up for the first game of the series will be aces for both teams Mat Latos for the Reds and Adam Wainwright for the Cards. First pitch is at 1:10pm.