Nick Lodolo left Tuesday night with his left wrist contused and the Cincinnati Reds trailing the Milwaukee Brewers 2-0, ending a four-inning shutout before the damage to his hand could be judged by anything other than feel. The pitcher said his hand “went totally numb” when a grounder off Jackson Chourio struck his wrist in the fourth inning, and he had to leave after trying to recover the ball.
The injury mattered because Lodolo had been giving the Reds exactly what they needed: four clean innings in a game they could not afford to lose. Instead, he walked off with no decision and another reminder that a rotation arm can look steady one moment and be finished the next. Terry Francona said he was “OK” as long as the swelling stayed down and did not look worse the next day, adding that Lodolo should be OK for his next start if the wrist does not worsen.
That was the immediate worry in a series already defined by Milwaukee pitching and Cincinnati silence. The Reds were 4-for-59 at the plate through the first two games, with no walks and 27 strikeouts, and their only hit Tuesday did not come until Jose Trevino opened the sixth with a single. By then, Elly De La Cruz had returned after three weeks on the injured list and gone 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, while Edwin Arroyo was thrown out trying to steal second after replacing Trevino on the bases.
The broader picture was just as bleak. The Reds entered the series at 2-13 against NL Central opponents, even though they had gone 35-26 against everyone else, and the first two games were controlled by Brewers starting pitching that carried both games deep into the sixth before the Reds could scratch together anything. In that span, Lodolo and Brady Singer gave Cincinnati 11 shutout innings, but neither pitcher got the win that would have matched the quality of the outings.
That is what makes the wrist check so important now. Lodolo had also been pitching through a rough month, with a 7.80 ERA in three June starts before Tuesday, and Cincinnati cannot afford to lose a starter who was finally stringing together scoreless work. For now, the Reds are left waiting on one simple test: whether the swelling stays down enough for Lodolo to take the ball again without this injury turning into something more.
