Arroyo knows he’s running out of time to prove he belongs

Veteran Reds pitcher gives up four home runs in loss to Rockies

Every time Bronson Arroyo struggles, all fans who have watched him start 274 games in a Cincinnati Reds uniform wonder the same thing: Will that be the last time he pitches with the Reds or even in the big leagues?

Arroyo surrendered four solo home runs and gave two other runs in a 6-4 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Sunday at Great American Ball Park. His last two starts (11 earned runs in 10 1/3 innings) have mirrored his first (11 earned runs in 10 innings). He knows he doesn’t have much time left to prove he belongs in the rotation.

“You can’t continue to give up a run an inning and expect a big-league ball club to keep running you out there time after time,” Arroyo said. “But I think in the position we’re in now, we’ve got a lot of guys who are still hurt who are probably going to be coming back in a month or a month and a half. That’s going to be my window of opportunity to see if I can solidify myself as somebody who can definitely continue to be successful at a rate good enough to be a big-league starter.”

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Injured starters Brandon Finnegan, Homer Bailey and Anthony DeSclafani are all in various stages of rehabilitation, hoping to return to the team in June or July. Until then, the Reds don’t have many options. The season ERA for Reds starters climbed from 5.83 to 5.93, far and away the worst in baseball.

Arroyo’s ERA climbed from 6.31 to 6.75. He has allowed 15 home runs, the third most in baseball. This latest performance led to the Reds (20-23) losing their eighth game in the last nine and their third series in a row.

“It’s a challenging game,” Reds manager Bryan Price said. “It doesn’t respect the best of people or the best of pitchers and players. I just have a lot of optimism with him because he knows how to pitch and he’s been a winner.”

Arroyo’s opponent on the mound, rookie Kyle Freeland, did the most damage in the early innings. He doubled to score former Reds catcher Ryan Hanigan, tying the game at 1-1 in the third. In the fifth, Freeland hit his first career home run.

Carlos Gonzalez, DJ LeMahieu and Pat Valaika also homered as the Rockies built a 6-1 lead.

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The Reds started a comeback in the fifth. Joey Votto hit his team-best 12th home run of the season, a two-run shot. An inning later, Scott Schebler tied Votto with his 12th home run.

The Reds stranded Devin Mesoraco after a lead-off double in the seventh and failed to score with runners at first and second and one out in the eighth.

In the end, they couldn’t overcome the poor start by Arroyo, who isn’t ready to give up yet.

“There’s an ebb and flow to the game,” he said. “I’ve been in this situation a lot of times, even when I was young and 100 percent healthy and had great stuff. It’s just the way the game is sometimes. I’m sure there is going to be a point where I hit a wall and maybe there’s not that up and down. It might just be all down. I don’t know if we’re at that point yet.”


MONDAY’S GAME

Indians at Reds, 7:10 p.m., FS Ohio, 700, 1410

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