The Cincinnati Reds could not have started May off any worse. They got swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates and Chicago Cubs before falling 10-0 to the Houston Astros on Friday, losing eight straight games before beating the Astros 3-1 on Saturday and 5-0 on Sunday.

The Reds now need to make up ground in the NL Central, as they're tied with the Pirates for last place at 22-19, five games behind the Cubs in first. It's the only division in baseball with all winning teams.

Cincinnati had three walk-off losses to Chicago during the losing streak, which shows what the squad needs to clean up moving forward.

Cincinnati is 23rd in baseball with a 4.52 ERA, and the bullpen must do its part to fix that. It can start by performing better in high-leverage spots.

Closer Emilio Pagan blew his third save of the year in Monday's 5-4 loss to the Cubs, right-hander Tony Santillan blew a save in the eighth inning of Tuesday's 3-2 loss, and right-hander Graham Ashcraft blew a save in Wednesday's 7-6 loss. Right-hander Pierce Johnson earned his first save of the year in Saturday's win over the Astros, but that's not enough to undo the errors from the Chicago series.

Up next for the Reds is a home series against the Washington Nationals, are eighth in baseball with a .722 OPS despite being 19-22. Their offense is headlined by shortstop CJ Abrams and right fielder James Wood, who are 18th in baseball with a .918 OPS and 19th with a .916 OPS, respectively.

An improved performance by Cincinnati's bullpen against that squad would be another step in the right direction after turning in a quality outing in Sunday's 5-0 win over Houston, allowing no hits over the final three innings of the contest. The Astros are fifth with a .762 OPS, so the Reds have the chance to show they can shut down two of the better offenses in MLB back-to-back.

Hurlers like Ashcraft (1.74 ERA), left-hander Sam Moll (1.65 ERA), and left-hander Brock Burke (3.06 ERA) are three players who could lead that charge given their performances thus far. However, they need improvement from right-hander Connor Phillips (5.40 ERA), Santillan (5.17 ERA), and right-hander Jose Franco (4.30 ERA).

The Reds are off on Monday before facing the Nationals on Tuesday at 6:40 p.m. ET. Right-handed pitcher Brady Singer (2-2, 5.63 ERA) will start for Cincinnati against right-hander Miles Mikolas (1-3, 7.44 ERA).