The Cincinnati Reds fell to the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night due to one critical mistake. Tim Adleman failed to find his target and, with that, the ball went bouncing to the backstop and in a flash and the game was over. It was a one-of-a-kind moment for the pitcher, who rarely makes mistakes as egregious as that. Then again, it's been that kind of season for the Reds, a team going nowhere fast over the last seven weeks of the 2017 MLB season.

Adleman gets too wild

Adleman came on to start the bottom of the tenth inning. The score was tied 5-5, giving the Brewers a walk-off scenario if they could get some men on base.

The first out was a line out, but then Eric Sogard doubled to put a runner in scoring position. After another out, the next two batters walked, loading the bases. That drew Ryan Braun to the plate, with echoes of his team meeting flashing before everyone's very eyes. Turns out, he didn't even have to do the heavy lifting to knock off Cincinnati.

It was a 0-2 pitch, but while it slightly drifted, it didn't seem to be entirely Adleman's fault. Tucker Barnhart didn't do a great job of corralling it, or maybe he wasn't ready since he only came on as an ejection replacement in the tenth as well. Adleman wore a look of shock as the Brewers stampeded the field in celebration.

It may not have been the most well-deserved victory in Milwaukee history, but a win is a win, even if it's over the Reds on Adleman's first wild pitch of the season.

Reds go home unhappy

The ultimate result couldn't have been too surprising for Cincinnati. It's been a season of losses for the team, mainly on the field. They are now 49-68 on the year, good for last place in a somewhat weak NL Central.

The team was actually on a surprising three-game winning streak prior to Saturday, but two of those victories were over the San Diego Padres, a team just as hapless as the Reds in recent history.

The play of Adleman has been particularly disappointing. He wasn't a world-beater during his rookie campaign, but the Reds saw the potential of a back-end starter in the rotation.

He went 4-4 with an even 4.00 ERA in 13 starts last year. This season, he is 5-10 with a 5.40 ERA, dabbling a couple of times in bullpen work. He's already 29 years old, so he may not have much of a future with the team unless he turns it around quickly. If he's anything like the rest of the team - which hasn't won the division in 27 years - a turnaround is going to be tough for anybody to count on.
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