The Reds were down 4-0 after the top of the 1st inning and never could come all of the way back. Cincinnati did make things interesting with a 4-run 8th inning that was highlighted by a Rece Hinds home run that set a new record for exit velocity by a Reds hitter, but it wasn’t enough as the Athletics held on for a 9-7 win.
The Highlights
The 1st inning saw a whole lot of action. Cincinnati’s defense wasn’t stellar behind Rhett Lowder. After a leadoff single by Jeff McNeil, Max Muncy hit a line drive into right field that Noelvi Marte misplayed and saw it go over his head for a double. Garrett Hampson couldn’t come up with a ball cleanly at second base on the next play and everyone was safe while the Athletics plated a run on the play. They’d tack on three more runs on a single, double, and a sacrifice fly before the top of the inning came to an end.
The Reds would get some of those runs back in their half of the inning. Matt McLain singled up the middle to start the frame off and then one pitch later he came around to score when JJ Bleday put a hurting on a baseball and hit it 423 feet into right-center for a 2-run home run.
Rhett Lowder worked around a single in both the 2nd and 3rd innings. In the 4th inning he wasn’t as lucky as he gave up a 1-out double before striking out the next batter. That ended his day on the mound. Connor Phillips then entered and gave up a 2-run home run to Jeff McNeil on the first pitch he threw, adding a run to Lowder’s line on the day and watching the Reds deficit grow to 6-2.
In the bottom of the 5th Cincinnati would get a run back. Nathaniel Lowe led off the inning with a double and then came in to score on a 2-out double by Noelvi Marte to push the score to 6-3.
Tejay Antone ran into trouble in the top of the 7th. He gave up a leadoff single and then walked Max Muncy before striking out former Red Chad Wallach. But an RBI single followed and a 2-out walk would load the bases before a pitching change that brought in minor leaguer Johnathan Lavallee. He walked the next two batters, plating two runs, before getting a groundout to end the inning.
Trailing 9-3, the Reds got a little rally going in the bottom of the 8th that began with a walk with one out by Dominic Pitelli. Rafhlmil Torres followed up with a single and then Ruben Ibarra was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Jay Allen II hit a sacrifice fly to get a run in. That bought Rece Hinds to the plate and he battled with Domingo Robles and on the 5th pitch of the at-bat he got a 90 MPH fastball and he hit it out at 120 MPH. No, really, he did – Hawkeye measured it at 119.6 off of the bat and it went 437 feet for a 3-run home run that made it a 9-7 ballgame. Two singles would follow but a fly out would strand them both to end the inning.
Dominic Pitelli would double in the bottom of the 9th inning, bringing the tying run to the plate for the Reds with just one out. They couldn’t come through as back-to-back ground outs to third base ended the game.
You can see the box score for this game here.
News and Notes
The home run by Rece Hinds had the highest exit velocity ever registered by a Reds hitter. It’s spring training so throw an asterisk on it if you want to (and that would be fair). Elly De La Cruz had the previous high at 119.2 MPH on a home run in August of 2023. It’s the second hardest hit ball this spring – Jac Caglianone hit a double at 120.2 MPH with Kansas City earlier this year.
Hinds went 2-2 in the game. Matt McLain and Nathaniel Lowe finished their day going 2-3 with a run scored. McLain also added in a walk.
Sam Moll kept his ERA at 0.00 on the spring with a hitless inning of work that included a walk and a strikeout. Yunior Marte and Davis Daniel each tossed a shutout inning of relief.
Reds pitchers had 13 strikeouts, but also had six walks in the game. Cincinnati hitters had eight walks and seven strikeouts.
The Reds will be on the road on Tuesday as they take on the Colorado Rockies. First pitch for that one will be at 4:05pm ET and it’s a radio only broadcast. The expected pitchers for this game are: Brandon Williamson, Lyon Richardson, Pierce Johnson, Caleb Ferguson, and Anthony Misiewicz.