Mahle pays for early struggles vs. Dodgers

LOS ANGELES -- On two occasions Tuesday vs. the Dodgers -- when decisions needed to be made or not made -- Reds manager David Bell let starting pitcher Tyler Mahle know it was his game, for better or worse.

Mahle lasted for six innings and finished strong, but the damage was already done by Los Angeles -- the most critical of it came during a three-run, five-hit second inning before the Reds went on to a 6-1 loss at Dodger Stadium. Cincinnati (5-11) has dropped three games in a row.

“I just made more pitches, got ahead of hitters, better than I did in the first couple and just was relentless with everything,” Mahle said. “I kept going after guys and not really getting too frustrated or giving in.”

Mahle finished with four earned runs and 11 hits surrendered over six innings. He did not walk a batter and struck out three. The fateful second inning turned after a one-out single by Rocky Gale. With pitcher Kenta Maeda batting and showing bunt, the Reds’ corner infielders came crashing in. Mahle made the decision to turn and try to pick off Gale at first base. Since Joey Votto was already in on the grass, there was no one to receive the throw. Mahle held on to the ball, and received the balk call from first-base umpire Nick Mahrley.

“A miscommunication. It’s tough to hear, or we just got mixed up,” Mahle said.

Two batters later with two outs, Joc Pederson -- who won Monday’s game for the Dodgers with a walk-off two-run home run -- abused a high 2-0 fastball and drove it to right-center field for another two-run homer (his eighth home run of the season) and a 3-0 lead.

The Dodgers weren’t done roughing up Mahle as Corey Seager beat a four-outfielder alignment with a single to left-center field. The third and fourth hits in a row followed, with Max Muncy notching a single and Enrique Hernandez delivering the RBI single that made it 4-0. By the fourth inning, Mahle had already allowed a career-high 10 hits.

“Just made bad pitches,” Mahle said. “I mean there’s no other way to put it. Just made bad pitches and they hit them.”

There was stirring in the Reds bullpen during the second inning, but no one was instructed to get warmed up. Bell knew that Michael Lorenzen and Robert Stephenson were unavailable and he also wanted to avoid using Wandy Peralta if possible because all three had worked the previous two games. Raisel Iglesias was also unavailable because he didn’t feel well.

Mahle, who had thrown 58 pitches through two innings, would give up only one more hit after the fourth as he retired six of his last seven batters.

“He’s shown that a few times already where he continues to get better as the game goes on,” Bell said. “I think that’s a strength, but also something for him to be aware of and come out just as strong. It says something about the way he competes and makes adjustments. His velocity gets better as the game goes on. Over time, that’s going to serve him well.”

In the fourth inning, when it was a 4-1 game, the Reds had the bases loaded and two outs with Mahle due up to face Maeda. It was a gray area where Bell could have summoned a pinch-hitter.

The downside of that choice was having to fill at least five more innings with a shorthanded bullpen. Mahle, who hit a double in the third inning and scored on Votto’s RBI double, batted for himself and struck out.

“It’s tough because you always want to take a shot to get back into the game,” Bell said. “Really, we’ve done that a lot and it’s worked out OK for our staff. But sometimes the more responsible decision is to do what’s best for our pitching staff over the course of the year.

“Knowing it is still a three-run game, if he holds them there for a couple of more innings, it still gives us a shot to get back into that game. As it turns out, it was our best opportunity.”