Reds bullpen allows run in record 21st straight game

The Cincinnati Reds bullpen is ... not good.

Reds relievers gave up a run for the 21st consecutive game Tuesday to set a new major-league record they'd probably prefer not to own. Caleb Cotham set the dubious mark by giving up a go-ahead RBI single to San Francisco Giants second baseman Kelby Tomlinson in the eighth inning, and went on to give up one more, sealing the Giants' 3-1 win.

The 2013 Colorado Rockies bullpen previously held the modern-era record, having given up a run in 20 consecutive contests.

It was expected that the Reds would be one of the weaker teams in baseball this year, but their bullpen has been a whole other level of bad, sitting at the bottom of the league in multiple categories.

CINCINNATI'S BULLPEN BLUES

(Statistics prior to Tuesday's game)

It's not much prettier on an individual level. Cotham's 3.29 ERA entering Tuesday's game was the lowest among Reds relievers; Dan Straily and Blake Wood are the only other pitchers to sport ERAs under 4.00. J.J. Hoover, the "closer," has just one save - the team's only save of 2016 - and an ERA of 13.97 in just 9 2/3 innings pitched.

Adding insult to injury, the Reds have given up two or more runs in 18 of the 21 games during their current streak of futility.

Considering the Reds have four starters on the disabled list right now, these bullpen numbers may very well get worse before getting any better.