The Cincinnati Reds started their road trip from St. Louis without a major part of their front office staff. Before the game on Friday, the Reds’ pitching coach, Derek Johnson, announced an indefinite personal leave, and by the second inning, the team even lost their manager. As the St. Louis Cardinals crushed the Reds 10-3 on Friday, Terry Francona couldn’t help but go berserk on the field, causing his ejection. After the game, he didn’t hide his frustration, talking about his clubhouse.

“None of our pitchers were locating tonight…Steve-O was like a goalie. That’s a hard way to be successful,” Chatterbox Sports quoted Francona.

Friday was one such day for the Reds when everything went wrong. Be it their pitching, fielding, offense, or even the umpiring, it also went against them. Francona’s Steve-O, Tyler Stephenson, is batting .188, and just when the Reds’ offense needed to be dominant, he returned with 1 hit from his 4 at-bats.

Brady Singer started the day well for the Reds, allowing 1 run from his 4 innings with 6 SOs. However, the Reds still allowed 2 unearned runs at the first. Shortstop Edwin Arroyo made an errant throw into the dugout, which allowed Lars Nootbaar to advance to second base. Then, Sal Stewart was ruled to have come off the bag on a throw from second baseman Spencer Steer.

While these errors contributed 2 added runs, they also made things worse for the Reds. Stewart challenged the call that ruled him for pulling his foot off the bag. Overturning the call would have ended the Cardinals’ inning, but the review took a long time to conclude, making Francona frustrated. He emerged from the dugout in what appeared to be support of Stewart.

Arguments followed with the umpires and an ejection.

“Just the longer they waited, I was getting madder and madder,” Francona said. “It’s not something I set out to do.” Although the Reds manager stuck to his perspective after the game. “I still think he was out,” Francona added. “I’ve got a picture that shows him on the bag. The way Sal went after it gave the umpire a chance to call it. So it’s a little bit of both, maybe.”

However, that still doesn’t hide the fact that the Reds struggled on the mound. After the dominant start by Singer, the bullpen blew up the game. Zach Maxwell and Luis Mey surrendered four hits, four walks, and a hit batter in the Cardinals’ six-run sixth. This is another addition to their misery of having allowed 148 walks through Monday, the highest in MLB. “We made errors, we didn’t throw strikes, and we paid a big price for it,” Francona added.

Amid all this chaos, there’s some silver lining getting brighter for the Reds’ battered offense.

The Reds’ offense needs a breather

The Reds are currently ranked 19th in terms of total runs scored (267) and 27th in terms of average (.229). Sal Stewart leads the hitting chart with 12 homers, which shows a sad picture. But here’s the positive news.

Elly De La Cruz‘s hamstring injury is improving, and the Reds are reportedly moving up his MRI. “Elly’s next step— the MRI — has been moved up from Monday to Friday,” FOX 19 Cincinnati’s Charlie Goldsmith said. Cruz was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. The injury occurred during a game against the Atlanta Braves when he pulled up awkwardly while rounding first base.

Before the injury, he was hitting .280 with 12 homers, and his IL had a serious impact on the Reds’ offense. The Reds also sent former leadoff man TJ Friedl, who batted just .179, to Triple-A Louisville to try to rediscover his swing. Hence, a few positive changes are happening, but with a 31-31 record, the Reds have very limited time left to rebound.