Losses add up for Cincinnati Reds as they get swept by Mariners in Seattle

Remember all those extra big-league hitters the Cincinnati Reds had going into spring training, without enough positions for them all to play?

Yeah, neither does anybody else.

Certainly not after the Seattle Mariners finished taking out their own early season frustrations on the Reds in a three-game beatdown of the depleted visitors that included 31 strikeouts by Reds hitters — with just 12 hits and five runs to show for three days in the Pacific Northwest.

Talk about northern exposure.

For context, this was a Seattle team without a series win this season. The last time they swept a series was against the 112-loss Oakland A’s in the middle of last September. Only twice in their first 16 games did they hold a team to a run or fewer in a game — then did it to the Reds the last two days, including Wednesday’s 5-1 decision. And the series opener? The Mariners scored nine runs in that one, the most they’ve scored against anyone since last August.

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“Three games don’t define our team by any means,” Reds manager David Bell said.

Maybe not. But these three offered a pretty good explanation of the margin the Reds are working with this year.

And it ain’t much. At least not yet. Certainly not Wednesday.

When Jeimer Candelario missed his second straight game with the flu-like bug going around the clubhouse and Christian Encarnacion-Strand joined him for the day as an illness scratch, that made five projected regulars unavailable for Bell’s lineup against Seattle’s Bryce Miller.

The Reds got one hit. And the only reason they got a run is because the hit went over the right-field fence for Elly De La Cruz’s fifth home run of the season.

It gave the Reds their only lead of the week.

And it lasted maybe nine or 10 minutes, until Cal Raleigh homered in the bottom of the same inning.

“Of course we want everyone here,” Bell said. “We want everyone healthy. But all teams go through this, and our team fully expected to go out and win.”

About that: It’s not a reach to think those five missing players would have been among the first six in Wednesday’s batting order. Maybe even fill the first five spots in this order:

• TJ Friedl (wrist fracture; out until mid-May)

• Matt McLain (shoulder surgery, possibly season-ending)

• Encarnacion-Strand

• Jeimer Candelario

• Noelvi Marte (steroid suspension)

“It’s never a good feeling, for sure, but we’re a major-league team; we’ve got to figure out ways to win, whoever’s missing,” said left-hander Andrew Abbott, who did his job with six strong innings Wednesday for a second straight quality start — and fourth allowing two or fewer runs in as many starts so far this season.

“We have guys capable on the roster if somebody goes down or somebody’s sick for a few days that we can easily fill their slots,” he said. “It just comes down to (the Mariners) have really good pitchers; they’re able to execute on us. We know the hitting’s going to come around; the pitching just needs to stay steady.”

Abbott’s continued run to open the season was among the top three developments for the Reds coming out of a week in which they otherwise looked helpless in Seattle.

Among the top two was the performance of shortstop De La Cruz — especially in the field, where he made two exceptional plays, one on a sliding catch in left field Monday night and another in Wednesday’s third, when he ranged deep in the hole to backhand a sharp grounder and throw out Mitch Haniger by a half-step for the second out, saving a run in a game that was still tied.

“And he’s been feeling good at the plate, continuing to get more and more comfortable,” Bell said of the second-year shortstop who reached base four times in the final two games in Seattle — and who’s 10-for-32 (.313) with four walks, all five home runs and 1.201 OPS in his last nine games.

But the best thing coming out of Seattle for this depleted, sick and beat-up team coming out of Seattle is that they get a day off Thursday before opening a seven-game homestand Friday against the Los Angeles Angels.

Candelario and CES could be back in the lineup by then, Bell said.

As for the rest of the missing guys?

“They’re working hard to get back, and we have that to look forward to,” Bell said. “But we are where we are. We like our chances until they come back, and of course we’ll be even stronger when they do come back.

Notes

The Reds dropped to 2-10 all-time in Seattle, 5-19 against the Mariners overall. The only series the Reds won against the M's (of seven) came last September in Cincinnati. ... The Reds were swept for the first time since Aug. 4-6 last season, at home against Washington. ... They've lost three of their last four series. ... De La Cruz is MLB's first player five homers and five steals this season. ... The Reds enter the off day 9-9 and in fourth place in the NL Central, 2 1/2 games behind the division-leading Brewers (11-6). The Cubs (11-7) are in second place and the Pirates (11-8) third.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Reds strike out 31 times, outscored 17-5 in Mariners sweep in Seattle