Reds Defense Falters In Ugly Inning Against Jonathan India's Kansas City Royals

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Dateline: Goodyear, Arizona

Nick Lodolo made his second Cactus League start in the game against the Kansas City Royals.

Former Reds' second baseman, Jonathan India, led off the game with a home run. India singled again off Lodolo 

Spencer Steer, who started the game in left field, doubled off Aaron Sanchez to start the third inning. Dane Myers walked but Jose Trevino hit into a double play for the second time in two at bats. Christian Encarnacion-Strand doubled past third base to tie the score.

Lodolo had a pitch count of 58 when he left the game with no outs and two runners on in the fourth inning. He pitched three innings allowed x runs on six hits and two walks. He struck out four, including three with runners on second and third in the second inning.

"You don't want traffic but at the end of the day, I got some good work out of the stretch today. That second inning took a lot out of me," Lodolo said. "Overall, I felt good. I was not jumping ahead today by any means. I don't know the numbers but I know it wasn't good. I battled back in a lot of those counts, a lot. When you're trying to build up, you work out of the stretch a lot. I'm not going to lie, that second inning I kinda let it go. I treated it like it was a National League game. My pitch count wasn't that high but I wasn't efficient by any means. A lot of the hits were from falling behind and having to come in with a fastball."

The work was the key to getting Lodolo ready for the season.

"He did ok. He got to 58 pitches which was good. He had to work a little bit but it wasn't a crazy number. He's starting to get stretched out. His fastball had good life to it, that was good," Terry Francona said. "I'd love to see every body get everybody out but when the season starts we can't be rolling pitchers over. When they start getting a little bit fatigued, it's not the worst thing. Earlier you start to get nervous about it but now we're getting to where the pitch count is creeping up."

Sam Benschoter finished the inning with no damage.

Pierce Johnson pitched a perfect inning with a strikeout.

The Royals scored five run against Caleb Ferguson. He allowed five earned runs on five hits and two walks. He commited two errors that allowed runners to advance on the bases. Three of the hits, never left the infield. Tyler Tolbert was credited with a single, reaching on a squeeze bunt.

"It was an ugly inning," Francona said. "We didn't throw strikes. We didn't field our positions. We threw balls away. It was a poorly executed inning, all the way around."

The Reds made it a 6-2 margin with a run in the ninth. Will Banfield doubled, moved to third and scored on an infield hit, legging out a ground ball to the second baseman. Shane Sasaki doubled but the two runners were stranded at the end of the game.