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Cincinnati bullpen suffers through another head-shaking nightmare

Kyle Ringo

Cincinnati probably wasn’t going to come back and win Tuesday when starting pitcher Alfredo Simon left the game in the fifth inning with the Reds down eight runs.

The bullpen took over with the goal of preventing any further damage, but as has often been the case for Reds relievers this season, it got ugly before it got better.  The Cincinnati bullpen set a major-league record this season by giving up at least one run in 23 consecutive games from April 11 through May 5.

Reliever Steve Delabar added to the Reds struggles Tuesday when he replaced Simon on the mound and proceeded to walk in four runs by walking five of the six batters he faced.

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Delabar inherited a situation in which runners were on the corners with one out. He walked Jason Kipnis to the load the bases before striking out Francisco Lindor. Mike Napoli, Jose Ramirez, Yan Gomes and Lonnie Chisenhall all proceeded to draw two-out walks off Delabar in succession before he was taken out of the game and replaced by Blake Wood, who induced a ground out from Marlon Byrd to end the inning.

Cleveland led 12-0 when Delabar left the game and went on to win 13-1. Delabar issued five walks and was charged with two earned runs in just one-third of an inning. He had issued four walks combined in five previous appearances this season.

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It’s been that kind of season for the rebuilding Reds. They just can’t seem to find any answers in the bullpen. It’s only the middle of May and chances are this is going to get better instead of worse over the course of the year, but maybe not.

Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer provided did some math after Tuesday’s game.

The Reds' bullpen is on pace to pitch 633 innings, the second most in the history of Major League Baseball. They’re also on pace to walk 364 batters in those innings, which would be the most ever by a big-league bullpen.

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Kyle Ringo is a contributing writer to Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at kyle.ringo@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @KyleRingo