​There was a heartrending moment for the Cincinnati Reds during their 8-4 defeat to the Chicago Cubs at Great American Ball Park on Sunday afternoon. The Reds, languishing in last place in the NL Central and nine games under .500, actually looked capable of turning things around for a change. Andrew Abbott labored through a 30-pitch first inning, and Cincinnati fell behind 2-0 early. Yet they dusted themselves off and found a way to counter the Cubs lefty Matthew Boyd, climaxed by Eugenio Suarez launching a 433-foot blast into the upper deck in left field to reclaim a 4-2 lead. It was a moment of momentum, and Geno’s shot marked his 200th homer as a Red, a milestone that felt like a sign they might be getting something figured out again as the All-Star break neared.
The mood shifted quickly, though. In the bottom half of the frame, a routine grounder up the middle threatened to derail the Reds’ briefly bright outlook. The Cubs had loaded the bases with two outs off Abbott, and Kevin Alcantara hit a comebacker toward the bag at second base where Edwin Arroyo naturally prepared to field, tag the runner, and throw to first to end the inning. Instead, the ball deflected off the bag and caromed into right field for a lucky single that scored two runs, tying the game. Just like that, the vibes—so briefly buoying the team—soured again.
By the start of the seventh, the game felt almost predetermined. With Sam Moll on the mound, a slow grounder to roughly the same spot as earlier reached Arroyo, who hesitated between attempting to tag the runner or throwing to first. His delay allowed the play to unfold, and by the time he chose to throw, it was too late. Moll was pulled, and Pierce Johnson came in and promptly served up a back-breaking three-run homer to Alex Bregman. The pivotal moment seemed to have shifted from where it began to where it ended, and the Reds’ defense and infield decision-making played a central role in the late damage.
At first, I figured the emotional turning point was Suarez’s homer—the big, 111.3 mph drive that was the hardest-hit ball of the year for him and extended his hitting streak to back-to-back games. In the moment, it felt like Suarez’s hot stretch could lift the team, and I even muttered that he looked ready to carry them for a while. That glimmer of hope dissolved quickly, though, once the realization set in that there would be no game the next day, and possibly no more games for a while after that with a stretch of days off looming. The Reds fell short anyway, despite Suarez’s big swing, and the real poignant twist was the looming possibility that Geno might be nearing the end of his time in Cincinnati.
With only 16 games on the docket between now and the August 3 trade deadline, Geno’s sudden hot stretch would be a boon for Nick Krall if he remains at the helm, assuming the front office still governs the squad by then. Yet the schedule is bleak: the first nine games after the All-Star break are all on the road, including a trip to Colorado where I plan to watch them. By the time Cincinnati returns home on July 27, Geno could already be wearing a different uniform. That’s the cruel reality of a franchise whose losses accumulate far more quickly than wins.
So the 200th homer of his Reds career might end up being his final swing at GABP, a quiet marker of a career moment shadowed by the uncertain future and the near inevitability of change as the clock ticks toward the trade deadline.