The Cincinnati Reds picked up a series win on Sunday afternoon over the Boston Red Sox. Trailing in the middle of the game, Eugenio Suarez put the Reds on top with a long 3-run home run in the bottom of the 6th inning and the bullpen took care of the job after that.
Rhett Lowder and Connelly Early were both throwing well through the first three innings of the game. Lowder, making his first start in the big leagues since September of 2024, had thrown just 40 pitches in those three frames. But he ran into trouble in the top of the 4th when he gave up a 1-out single to Willson Contreras and then lost a 9-pitch battle with Wilyer Abreu who hit a go-ahead 2-run home run to put Boston in the lead. Lowder would come back and toss a shutout 5th inning to complete his day with just those two runs allowed, but he left the game trailing 2-0 as the offense couldn’t get going against Early.
That changed in the bottom of the 6th inning. Early came back out to start the inning and gave up a leadoff single to Matt McLain. After striking out Elly De La Cruz Early headed to the dugout as the Red Sox went to the bullpen. Greg Weissert came into the game and walked Sal Stewart. Four pitches later he tried to come inside on Eugenio Suarez with a fastball and he paid for it as the Reds slugger crushed it 431 feet and into the upper deck in left field for a go-ahead 3-run home run.
After throwing a shutout 6th inning, Brock Burke returned to begin the 7th. He would get a ground out before before being removed from the game in favor of Pierce Johnson. He would give up a 2-out double, but got out of the jam with a routine fly ball to center to strand the tying run at second base. Tony Santillan got himself in trouble as he allowed a hit and two walks, but he picked off the first runner of the inning in what likely saved what would have been the tying run from scoring later in the inning. He would get out of the inning with a strikeout of Caleb Durbin after falling behind 3-0 to begin the count with runners on the corners.
Cincinnati would strand two men on in the bottom of the 8th. That left Emilio Pagan in charge of holding onto a 1-run lead in the top of the 9th. He’d give up a 1-out double into the corner to Andruw Monasterio. After getting a second fly out to TJ Friedl in left field in the inning, Pagan fell behind 3-0 to Roman Anthony before the Reds decided to just intentionally walk him. That move paid off as the very next pitch resulted in a shallow fly ball to Dane Myers in center to end the game.
Key Moment of the Game
The 3-run home run by Eugenio Suarez in the 6th inning to put Cincinnati ahead for good.
Notes Worth Noting
Sal Stewart got on base all four times he came to the plate on Sunday. He had two hits and is now 7-10 on the season with three doubles and a home run. He’s walked three times and hasn’t yet struck out. Stewart hit .700/.769/1.300 in the series.
Rhett Lowder’s return to the big league mound went well. He allowed two runs in his 5.0 innings with two walks and five strikeouts while throwing 86 pitches with 56 of them being strikes. Lowder had 14 swings and misses and got at least two of them on each of his four pitches.
Eugenio Suarez picked a perfect time for his first home run with the Reds since October 3rd of 2021. He just missed a home run earlier in the game with a 403-foot fly out to center. That was the second furthest hit baseball of the game, topped only by his home run.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Pittsburgh Pirates vs Cincinnati Reds
Monday March 30th, 6:40pm ET
Braxton Ashcraft (4-4, 2.71 ERA in 2025) vs Chase Burns (0-3, 4.57 ERA in 2025)