KSReds: Cincinnati Reds Win Series in Wild Fashion

It doesn’t get much more exciting than what fans of the Cincinnati Reds were treated to on Sunday afternoon. Jonathan India was at the plate with two outs, nobody on, and the Washington Nationals held a 5-3 advantage. Then, India extended the game with a double down the left field line. Next up was Will Benson who blasted one to dead centerfield and promptly tied the game at 5-5. It was a sigh of relief for Reds fans as the game would at least be taken into extra innings. However, just two pitches later, Christian Encarnacion-Stranded ended the game. He turned on a splitter over the middle of the plate and planted it in the left field bleachers to lift the Reds to a 6-5 victory.

Opening Day couldn’t have gone much better. The spectacle that is Cincinnati on Opening Day was in full force and the Reds treated fans to a relatively stress-free 8-2 win. However, Saturday, and most of Sunday, didn’t feel as good. The Reds bullpen blew a ninth inning lead on Saturday and it appeared they were going to let one slip away in the rubber match as well. Luckily, the Cardiac Reds made another appearance to save the day. Winning that series, especially in that fashion, is a pretty drastic difference from what it would have felt like to loose it.

Cincinnati will now hit the road for Philadelphia where they have a three-game series with the Phillies. Andrew Abbott is scheduled to start on Monday night with first pitch at 6:40 p.m. Eastern Time. Graham Ashcraft and Frankie Montas are also scheduled to start in Philadelphia.

Opening Day Belongs to the Reds

It isn’t truly Opening Day until the first pitch is thrown at Great American Ball Park. This season, that came at 4:10 p.m. Eastern Time on Thursday as the Cincinnati Reds played host to the Washington Nationals. After a quiet first inning, the bottom of Cincinnati’s order got hot to put them on the board in the second. Jake Fraley reached on an infield single and would eventually steal second base. Then, Spencer Steer poked one to the opposite field to give the Reds a 1-0 advantage. Nick Martini was the next man up and delivered a 405-foot home run into the right field bleachers. Those two were not done making noise in the early innings.

Once again, Jake Fraley got the Reds’ rally started. This time he doubled to left field and would be joined on base by Elly De La Cruz who drew a walk. Spencer Steer came through with another RBI via a double down the right field line. Then, as if the innings were on repeated, Nick Martini belted a home run to right centerfield to give the Reds a 7-0 lead. The 33-year old making his first ever Opening Day roster was one of only two players across all of baseball to drive in five runs on Opening Day.

On the mound, Frankie Montas was excellent in his Cincinnati debut. The veteran made quick work of the Nationals batters by attacking the zone. He consistently induced grout balls and infield popups and finished with an efficient six innings pitched and the win. Montas allowed just four hits, no runs, and struck out four in his six shutout innings. Washington would plate two on a two-run home run from Eddie Rosario in the top of the seventh, but that is all of the damage they could muster. Brent Suter closed the door with two perfect innings as the Reds came away with an 8-2 victory.

Bullpen Let’s One Slip Away

Yes, it is a long season. There are going to be blown leads and bad losses across 162 games. However, that doesn’t make game number two any less costly than games number 162. They all count the same in the standings and the Cincinnati Reds absolutely let one slip away on Saturday evening. After Hunter Greene allowed one run in the top of the fourth, Jeimer Candelario answered with a solo home run in the bottom half of the inning. The long ball came through for the Reds again in the bottom of fifth as Luke Maile connected on a two-run shot to put them on top 3-2. Jonathan India added a RBI in the inning as well and that 4-2 advantage would hold until the seventh inning.

Hunter Greene exited after four and two-thirds innings allowing two runs on five hits. The hard-throwing right-hander struck out seven batters, but also walked four. Inefficiency continues to plague Greene as he reached 100 pitches in less than five innings of work. However, he obviously was good enough to give Cincinnati a chance to win. Justin Wilson turned in a clean inning of work behind Greene, but things would take a turn for the worse soon.

Fernando Cruz recorded all four of his outs via strikeouts, but also allowed a run to score on a wild pitch. That mishap got the Nationals within one at 4-3 going into the eighth inning. Then, in the top of the eighth, Keibert Ruiz tied the game with a solo home run off of Lucas Sims. Nick Martini was ready to respond though after his outstanding Opening Day. Coming in to pinch-hit for Santiago Espinal, Martini ripped a double into right field that plated two and gave the Reds a 6-4 lead. Unfortunately, after saving 37 games in 40 chances last season, Alexis Díaz did not have a good start to his 2024 campaign.

Diaz allowed a four pitch walk to lead off the top of the ninth inning. That simply cannot happen with your closer on the mound pitching with a two-run lead. The leadoff baseline ended up stealing second base and then scoring on a single by former Red Jesse Winker. Despite the run scoring, it was still 6-5 Cincinnati with one out in the inning. However, Diaz could not close the door. Another single put runners at the corners before a second walk loaded the bases. Diaz’s control remained an issue as he hit Keibert Ruiz with a pitch to tie the game. Finally, Eddie Rosario gave Washington a 7-6 lead with a sacrifice fly. Two walks and a hit by pitch doomed the Reds as they let the game slip away.

Cardiac Reds Flip the Script

Full disclosure, the following tweet was loaded up and ready for the final out. Jonathan India was at the plate with two outs, nobody on, and the Cincinnati Reds trailed the Washington Nationals 5-3.

India came through with a double down the left field line to extend the game. The tweet remained ready, but at least the Reds got the tying run into the batter’s box. Then, Will Benson connected on one and sent it 411-feet to dead centerfield to tie the game. At that point, the tweet was deleted and hope remained for the Reds to pull it out in extra innings. However, they only needed a few extra seconds, not extra innings.

Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who grounded into a double play to kill a potential rally in the seventh inning, was the hero. After swing through the first pitch, he connected with a splitter that hung over the middle of the plate and lifted it into the left field bleachers. The Reds were one out, one strike away from losing and in the span of three swings they had won the game 6-5. That was one heck of a way to finish the first series of the season.

Sunday evening’s late momentum swing also gave Cincinnati the series victory taking two out of three from Washington.