Cincinnati’s starting lineup was clicking early and often in this one as they jumped out to an 8-0 lead. Brandon Williamson took care of things on his end, too. But the Reds bullpen allowed five runs in the final three innings and the tying run was at the plate in the 9th before the 8-6 win was locked down.
The Highlights
Cincinnati would get on the board first in this game. Sal Stewart led off with a double down the right field line. On a fly out to center, Pete Crow-Armstrong thought Stewart was going to tag up and fired the ball to third but the ball got by everyone and wound up in the dugout, allowing Stewart to score on the play. Tyler Stephenson then followed up with a 447-foot solo home run that pushed the score to 2-0.
The next inning started out well for the Reds when Dane Myers picked up a single to begin the inning and then Jose Trevino drew a walk. Matt McLain then battled with Matthew Boyd for six pitches and on that final one he crushed a 3-run home run to extend the lead to 5-0. It was McLain’s 7th homer of the spring.
In the top of the 5th inning the Cincinnati offense piled it on. After having to be pulled in the 4th inning, Matthew Boyd came back out to the mound for the 5th and the Reds just went back to doing damage with a 1-out rally that began with a double by Sal Stewart, an RBI single by Eugenio Suarez, and then a 2-run home run by Spencer Steer as the road team built an 8-0 lead.
Brandon Williamson had kept Chicago scoreless through the first four innings. He couldn’t do so in the 5th as Jefferson Rojas got around on a 90 MPH cutter and put it over the fence in left-center for a 2-out solo home run. He returned for the 6th inning and faced two batters, picking up one out and ending his day after a single by Ian Happ. Tejay Antone came out to complete the inning with two groundouts.
Kyle Nicolas took the mound to begin the bottom of the 7th inning in his first outing with the Reds after being acquired in a trade earlier in the month and pitching for Team Italy in the World Baseball Classic. Things did not go well for him as he allowed a run and walked four batters while recording two outs before being pulled. Julian Garcia took over and picked up a strikeout to strand the bases loaded.
The Cubs would get their offense rolling in the 8th inning against Brock Burke. He gave up a leadoff single. Then he picked up a strikeout where the last two strikes were overturned from balls after P.J. Higgins challenged them and won. Christian Bethancourt would follow that up with an RBI single on the first pitch he saw and then scored when James Triantos homered to cap a 3-run inning as Chicago cut the lead to 8-5.
Chicago clawed closer in the bottom of the 9th inning with Zach Maxwell on the mound. He gave up back-to-back doubles to begin the inning before retiring the next two batters. The big righty then walked Carter Trice to bring the tying run to the plate. Maxwell came through as he got a broken-bat groundout to end the game with a Reds 8-6 win.
You can see the box score for this game here.
News and Notes
Brandon Williamson’s final line: 5.1IP, 6H, 1ER, 1BB, 2K. He threw 75 pitches with 53 strikes.
Dane Myers went 3-3. Matt McLain, Sal Stewart, and Spencer Steer all had two hits in the game.
Tyler Stephenson and Spencer Steer both hit their 1st home run of the spring in the game.
Three relievers in the game combined to strand six inherited runner. Tejay Antone stranded on, Julian Garcia stranded three, and Tyler Beede of the Cubs stranded two.
The Cincinnati Reds are back at home in Goodyear on Saturday night. This time they’ll be facing off against the other team from Chicago as they host the White Sox. This will be a radio only broadcast. First pitch is scheduled for 9:05pm ET. Scheduled to pitch for the Reds: Andrew Abbott, Pierce Johnson, Emilio Pagan, Connor Phillips, and Zach Maxwell.