Royals Take Two of Three in Cincy as Reds Begin June Swoon
by William Meiners
I’ve seen the future. In no way has it helped me in betting or stock markets. I’m simply behind on these Reds recaps, today writing on the last day of June about the Kansas City matchup that began it. And I know how the Reds fared.
A longtime deadline writer, this tardiness would get me fired from any reputable paper. But running out of steam on a tail-spinning ball club in late May, I’m not sure who’s reading anyway. So I’ve returned. Like the advice for shy hoofers to “dance like no one’s watching,” I’ll press on writing like no one’s reading. Though my assumption is 10 times more likely than anyone shaking their ass near a window.
Back to the Reds, coming off a bad May who avoided a sweep by the Atlanta Braves on its final Sunday. Maybe some sign of life, and with a scuffling bunch of Royals rolling into town already 14 games under .500, the Reds, just one game over, could get healthier.
Not so. In fact, Chase Burns, the Reds best hurler, must have called in sick, keeping him off the mound for the opener. In a disastrous callup, hard-throwing Lyon Richardson, began the game walking a batter, hitting the next guy, coaxing a popout (infield fly rule), walking a guy, then striking out a guy. With two outs, Lane Thomas hit a grand slam. They played on, but that was pretty much the game. KC won 9-2, as the Reds managed bookend runs in the first and ninth.
Tuesday, Andrew Abbott allowed three runs in the fourth. Spencer Steer homered twice — solo shots in the fifth and eighth — drawing the Reds within one. Will Benson homered in the ninth to force extras. With a wave of fans in “tarps-off” mode, swinging shirts above their uncovered upper halves, Blake Dunn singled Steer home for a walk-off win. Apparently the win took place on Ladies’ Night at the GABP, so I’d have to subscribe to Cinemax to catch the “tarps-off” highlights.
On Wednesday, a recovered Burns gave up a two-run homer in the first, but settled down, pitching six full innings without allowing anymore scoring. Dunn tied the game with his own two-run homer in the fifth. Neither team managed much of anything until Tony Santillan, still struggling, gave up three in the ninth. Game over, series lost.
I could have watched the news. It was an off day between NBA finals. Christ, I watch enough daily news, repeated and awful, so my struggling Reds are a reprieve from our confined idiocracy. A diapered dictator is constantly droning on about “radical, leftwing lunatics.” It’s his own tic, whenever he’s mic’d up. Makes me think of “radical left-handed lunatics” and wonder about Al Hrabosky and the political leanings of a “Mad Hungarian.” There’s some debate about whether Van Gogh was left- or right-handed. He could paint, but could that lunatic pitch? We’d have to live in a fantasy league for the Reds to call him up.
William Meiners is the editor of Sport Literate. Among his summer 2026 plans are the documentation of 33 Reds’ series. That should be about 600 to 700 words every few days. If you don’t expect too much breakdown or analysis, outside of his own troubled head, you may not be disappointed. From losing streaks through high-water marks, he’ll follow the club, sometimes literally, from the reluctant spring of early May through the dog days of August. Then he’s off to something else.