SAN DIEGO — When Cincinnati Reds manager Terry Francona got into his seat on the team plane at the St. Louis Lambert International Airport on Sunday, he did the same thing he’s done for years. He opened up his laptop, and before he started digging into the scouting report for the San Diego Padres, he erased the Reds’ lineup from Sunday’s loss and started writing in the one for Monday.“That’s probably my way of, whether we won or lost, moving on,” Francona said.What Francona came up with for Monday’s game against Padres right-hander Walker Buehler wasn’t much different than the one he put together against Cardinals right-hander Michael McGreevy. The results weren’t any different, either, with the Reds falling 6-2 to the Padres for their fifth straight loss.It wasn’t just that the Reds lost again, it’s that they lost with a win in sight. Just like in all three games in St. Louis, the Reds had a lead and lost it. They’ve lost 15 games this season in which they’ve led, 13 of them since May 2.“They say when it rains, it pours — but that’s what we get paid to do; we ’ve got to go out there and win games,” first baseman Sal Stewart said. “It feels tough right now. It feels like we’re treading in quicksand a little bit. It feels like we’re right there in games, but then they’re not going our way.”Reds starter Andrew Abbott didn’t give up a hit until Padres catcher Freddy Fermin homered to lead off the third, and Ty France’s two-out single later that inning was the last one he allowed until the seventh. The Reds, on the other hand, chased Buehler in the fifth, racking up eight hits against the Kentucky native, but only pushing across one run.It came on back-to-back two-out hits in the fifth, but a batter’s interference call against Blake Dunn likely erased at least one more. Second baseman Edwin Arroyo singled to start the inning and was in motion for six consecutive pitches during Dunn’s 11-pitch at-bat. Dunn fouled five of those off five with a full count, but when he swung through the 11th, his momentum took him out over the plate, forcing Fermin’s throw to go into centerfield. The interference call resulted in Arroyo being called out, as well.After that double play, JJ Bleday doubled, Stewart singled him in to tie the game at 1 and Nathaniel Lowe singled, chasing Buehler from the game before Eugenio Suárez flew out to end the inning. Without the interference call, the Reds would’ve likely had a chance for a big inning. Right fielder Noelvi Marte singled to lead off the sixth and scored on an Arroyo sacrifice fly. Earlier in the game, Matt McLain was thrown out at home in an inning-ending double play when he tried to tag up on Arroyo’s fly out to shallow left.“I just think we’ve been on the bad end of a couple bounces, a couple things and then it kind of balloons into something,” Abbott said.Abbott gave up a leadoff double to Xander Bogaerts to lead off the seventh and Padres designated hitter Gavin Sheets hit a double down the line in left to tie the game and end Abbott’s night.Right-hander Tejay Antone, who was able to bail the Reds out of a bases-loaded jam Saturday, came into the game and nearly repeated the feat, but allowed a pair of bunt hits and committed an error before leaving the bases loaded against the top of the Padres’ lineup. The Reds’ bunt defense — which was an issue in Sunday’s loss — again wasn’t up to snuff as Stewart crashed Jase Bowen’s bunt and nearly collided with Antone, who may have had a shot to get Bowen at first. Instead, Bowen was safe.The Padres then scored on a squeeze play, with Stewart attempting to field the ball with his bare hand to make a play at home, but couldn’t come up with it. Fermin followed with another bunt that Antone couldn’t handle, reaching on an error before Antone got a fly out, a fielder’s choice and groundout to get out of it.“Sometimes you just ain’t got it and this stretch has been rough,” Abbott said. “We’re not panicking. We’re not trying to make it a bigger deal than it is. Maybe we’re not playing our baseball right now. But we know that it’s a long season. We were in the same spot or worse or maybe a little bit better last year. And then we turned it on. So it’s not unfamiliar territory. We’ve just got to keep showing up, keep taking the ball if you’re a pitcher, keep taking quality at-bats and working if you’re a hitter and things will turn around.”Jun 9, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms