Glance at the National League offensive leaders Dexter Fowler Jersey , and the Cincinnati Reds would seem to be a team destined for the playoffs.Scooter Gennett leads in batting average and hits. Eugenio Suarez is in the top five in home runs and in the top two in RBIs. Joey Votto is a National League All-Star at first base.So much offense, but so few wins. And so little pitching.Article continues below ...That’s already evident as the last-place San Diego Padres and the last-place Reds prepare to play their second game of a four-game series Friday night at Great American Ball Park, with right-handers Brett Kennedy (1-2) and Anthony DeSclafani (7-4) opposing each other. A win by the Padres would clinch the season series for a sixth consecutive season.As is often the case in a Reds game, home runs told the tale as the Padres won the series opener 6-2 Thursday night behind two homers from rookie catcher Francisco Mejia, who was playing in only his second game with San Diego.Mejia homered in successive at-bats off inconsistent Reds starter Luis Castillo (8-12), who has allowed 27 long balls in 28 starts. Mejia, once the top prospect in the Cleveland Indians farm system, homered in only his second at-bat with San Diego in the third inning, then hit a three-run drive in a four-run fourth inning.Going into the game, Mejia had only 16 career major league at-bats.“I’m really happy to go up there and do what I can do and show my ability,” Mejia told Fox Sports San Diego while speaking through an interpreter. “It’s really fun.”Hunter Renfroe also homered off Castillo in the fourth, and made an outstanding two-out catch in left field after the Reds loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning.Padres starter Eric Lauer pitched shutout ball for the second successive start since coming off the disabled list, though he lasted only four innings and thus didn’t qualify for the win.Homers have been a season-long theme for the Reds (59-82), and it explains why they’ve now clinched a fifth consecutive losing season — and why, with 21 games remaining, they’ll likely finish with 90-plus losses for a fourth consecutive season.As well as the Reds hit, with eight players batting .275 or better, they pitch far worse. They’ve already allowed an alarming 204 home runs — no other NL pitching staff has given up even 180 — and their 4.74 ERA is the second worst in the league to the Marlins’ 4.77.The Reds have allowed 1,323 hits, an average of 9.4 per game http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-steve-carlton-jersey , or 70 more than any other NL staff.“He (Castillo) threw a couple of balls in some bad spots,” Reds interim manager Jim Riggleman said. “We gave him (Mejia) a couple of fastballs and he didn’t miss them. Luis didn’t make a lot of mistakes, but when he did they drove it.”Padres manager Andy Green said, “He (Mejia) is proving in a hurry he can hit fastballs, and he saw a couple of good ones (from Castillo).”DeSclafani is the one Reds starter who’s maintained a level of consistency, and he’ll try to do so again in his first start against the Padres since 2016.The right-hander has a 2.75 ERA in his last 36 innings of work, and he lasted at least six innings in five consecutive starts until being pulled after 3 2/3 innings during Cincinnati’s 6-4, 10-inning victory Sunday at St. Louis.Despite missing all of last season and the first two months of this season with multiple injuries, DeScalfani has bounced back to help the Reds win 10 of the 16 games he’s started. Compare that with former staff ace Homer Bailey (1-14), whose 20 starts have resulted in 19 Reds losses.DeSclafani is 1-0 with a 0.64 ERA in two career starts against San Diego, yielding one run in 14 innings, but those starts came against an entirely different cast than the Padres currently put on the field.Kennedy will make his sixth major league start and his first against Cincinnati. His last time out, he pitched six shutout innings of four-hit ball during a 7-0 Padres victory over the Colorado Rockies last Friday — gaining his first career victory. He was promoted to the majors after going 10-0 with a 2.72 ERA in 16 starts at Triple-A El Paso.The Padres have won three of the first four games between the clubs. CLEVELAND (AP) Nothing splashy, just sensible.The Cleveland Indians stabilized their shaky outfield without making a blockbuster trade.Riddled by injuries to outfielders all season, Cleveland acquired center fielder Leonys Martin from the Detroit Tigers before Tuesday’s deadline for 21-year-old infield prospect Willi Castro.The AL Central-leading Indians also received right-hander Kyle Dowdy.Although they had been linked to talks involving more high-profile outfielders like superstar Bryce Harper, Adam Jones and others, the Indians opted to make a deal that wouldn’t be too damaging to their future. Manager Terry Francona had high praise for his front office.”They did a really good job. It’s not easy,” Francona said. ”We have some parameters which we know are in place. We’re not going to be the Dodgers or the Red Sox. But we don’t want that to get in the way of us winning, and I think they’ve done an unbelievable job of making us better.”The 30-year-old Martin is a steady hitter and strong fielder who will take away runs for Cleveland’s pitching staff. He leads the league with nine assists.He also gives Francona another option in center field with Bradley Zimmer done for the season following shoulder surgery and Tyler Naquin on the disabled list with a hip injury.”It’s been a position that’s been a little bit in flux for us for a balance of the season, so we explored a lot of alternatives to try and address and improve our outfield options Paul DeJong Jersey ,” team president Chris Antonetti said. ”And we were really pleased to be able to acquire Leonys Martin. We think he’s a great complement to our roster. He provides us a very good defender in center field who’s a good baserunner, capable of playing both center and right, and is also a very good offensive player against right-handed pitching.”The Indians made a second move before the deadline, acquiring outfielder Oscar Mercado from St. Louis for outfielders Conner Capel and Jhon Torres.Because of injuries, Cleveland was down to Greg Allen and 37-year-old Rajai Davis as their center fielders. Also, right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall is out with a nagging calf injury.”When it was all said and done, you’re like, `OK, what can really impact us?’ A center fielder that compliments Raj,” Francona said. ”I think sometimes people lose track of, OK, what’s your roster and what compliments what?”Martin has twice been on the disabled list this season with a left hamstring injury, but Antonetti is confident he’s healthy and ready to help the Indians immediately.The trade for Martin followed Cleveland fixing its worrisome bullpen. On July 19, the club sent top prospect Francisco Mejia, a switch-hitting catcher/outfielder, to the San Diego Padres for All-Star closer Brad Hand and sidearmer Adam Cimber.That major move may have impacted the Indians’ willingness to get into a bidding war for Harper, who remains with Washington.Martin batted .251 with nine homers and 29 RBIs in 336 plate appearances this season for the Tigers, who were 18 games behind Cleveland at the deadline. Martin has scored 78 runs in his first season with Detroit.The Cuba native has a .248 average with 47 homers and 205 RBIs in 699 games with Texas, Seattle, the Chicago Cubs and the Tigers.The Tigers began rebuilding in earnest last season lex Reyes Jersey , when they traded J.D. Martinez, Justin Upton and Justin Verlander. Their trade candidates this year were a little less prominent, but they were able to move Martin.”It came about from their need in center field. I had a couple other inquiries on Martin. Cleveland was the most aggressive. They obviously had, probably the biggest need at this point,” Detroit general manager Al Avila said. ”We had identified Castro as the guy that would be the main guy in the deal, and quite frankly, we held off to the end there to be able to get him.”Martin has a $1.75 million salary, of which the Indians are responsible for $573,925. He has earned $600,000 in bonuses based on plate appearances, and would earn $100,000 each for 350 and each additional 25 through 475 plus $50,000 for 500.More importantly, he is under club control through next season through arbitration.Dowdy, 25, is 8-8 with a 4.74 ERA between Double-A Erie and Triple-A Toledo this season.Castro batted .245 at Double-A Akron with five homers and 39 RBIs.—