CINCINNATI _ Kevin Pillar climbed up the center-field wall at Great American Ball Park and made a spectacular catch to rob Reds rookie Nick Senzel of his first major league home run on Saturday.
The Giants' biggest problem on Saturday was that Pillar couldn't reach five other flyballs the Reds hit over the outfield fence.
Right-hander Dereck Rodriguez allowed a career-high eight earned runs in five innings as the Cincinnati Reds blasted a Giants starter for the second day in a row in a 9-2 blowout.
After San Francisco erased an eight-run deficit in a come-from-behind win for just the fifth time in franchise history in Friday's series-opener, the Giants could not write another storybook ending after digging another gigantic hole. The Giants have now lost eight of their last nine at Great American Ball Park and have been outscored 78-27 in those games.
Rodriguez and Tyler Beede became the first Giants starters to give up at least eight runs on back-to-back days since Jeff Samardzija and Matt Moore did so June 15-16, 2017 against the Rockies at Coors Field.
Rodriguez was also the first Giants pitcher to allow four home runs in a game since Samardzija gave up four to the Chicago White Sox in a 13-1 loss on September 9, 2017.
Though Pillar took a home run away from Senzel in the bottom of the third inning, the Reds center fielder didn't wait much longer to launch his first career blast. After Derek Dietrich hit his third home run in two nights in the bottom of the fifth, Senzel went back-to-back by sending a Rodriguez fastball into the right-field bleachers.
A day after setting season-highs with 12 runs and 17 hits, the Giants hardly challenged Reds starter Tanner Roark. The right-hander allowed just two runs and four hits in 6 2/3 innings.
Right fielder Steven Duggar turned in his third consecutive multi-hit game as Duggar collected RBI singles in the second and seventh innings. His final hit drove in Brandon Crawford from second base and forced Reds manager David Bell to go to the bullpen for the first time.
Saturday marked the second consecutive rough outing for Rodriguez, who has posted a 5.85 ERA in seven starts after finishing with a 2.81 ERA in his rookie season last year. Though Rodriguez has minor league options, the Giants optioned Beede to Triple-A Sacramento after Friday's game and do not have any other candidates on the 40-man roster who could take Rodriguez's next turn in the rotation if the Giants wanted to skip the young right-hander.
Prospect Shaun Anderson continued an impressive run at Triple-A Sacramento with five innings of one-run ball on Friday, but Anderson is not on the 40-man roster and the Giants likely will not want Anderson to debut at Coors Field in Colorado.
With a limited amount of choices and the organization's desire to see Rodriguez remain a fixture in the rotation, the Giants will likely opt to let him work through his struggles much like they allowed Duggar to do during the first month of the year.
The Giants promoted Pat Venditte prior to Saturday's game to take Beede's roster spot and the switch-pitcher allowed one run in two innings of work. Reds right fielder Yasiel Puig hit the final home run of the night off Venditte, sending a 404-foot solo shot soaring over the Giants' bullpen in left-center field.
