Reds drop spring opener as pitchers struggle to throw strikes

Cincinnati and Cleveland took the field at Goodyear Ballpark on Saturday afternoon to open up their slate of spring training games. There wasn’t much hitting from either side as the Reds and Guardians combined for just 10 hits. Cleveland was able to take advantage of their hits just a little bit more, scoring in three different innings in a come-from-behind win.

The Highlights

It didn’t take long to see the first challenged call of the spring. Sal Stewart took a called strike but tapped his helmet in the 1st inning and the replay from Hawkeye showed that it was outside of the strikezone and the strike call turned into ball four and he trotted down to first base with a walk.

Chase Burns got the start and he struggled to throw strikes in the 1st, walking two batters but he kept the Guardians from scoring. He was more effective in the 2nd inning, but also had a walk in that frame, too.

The game was scoreless heading into the 3rd inning but it didn’t stay that way for very long. Reds #6 rated prospect Edwin Arroyo led the inning off with a double and he came around to score when Will Benson came through with a 2-out, 2-run home run.

Rhett Lowder took over for Cincinnati in the bottom of the 3rd inning and picked up two strikeouts in a perfect inning. Things didn’t go as well the next inning as he gave up back-to-back doubles to get Cleveland on the scoreboard. He would work around a walk later in the inning, getting back-to-back strikeouts to end the inning and hold onto a 2-1 lead.

Julian Aguiar, like Lowder, pitched well in his first inning of the game. But he ran into some trouble in his second inning of the day. He issued a 1-out walk and then saw that haunt him as David Fry followed up with an RBI double that tied the game up. The inning ended on an unsuccessful challenge of a called third strike.

Cleveland would grab the lead in the bottom of the 7th after a leadoff triple that was just out of glove reach of left fielder Hector Rodriguez was followed up later in the inning by a walk and then a 2-run double. The Guardians held that lead over the next two innings as the Reds failed to get a baserunner in the 8th or 9th.

You can see the box score for this game here.

News and Notes

Julian Aguiar was on the mound in a game for the first time since September 19th or 2024. That was his final start before he underwent Tommy John surgery. He topped out at 95.1 MPH during this outing with both his 2-seam and his 4-seam fastball.

The five pitchers the Reds used on the day combined for 11 strikeouts. They also walked seven batters in their 8.0 innings and every pitcher had a walk on the day.

Blake Dunn had the only hit of the day from a non-starter for the Reds. He went 1-2 with a single into center.

And perhaps the most important note: It appears everyone remained healthy in the game and that is really all that matters today.

Sunday’s Game

The Reds are back on the field Sunday afternoon. They’ll be back at Goodyear Ballpark, but this time they will be the home team as they host the Seattle Mariners at 3:05pm ET. Jose Franco is scheduled to get the start in the game. Also expected to be on the mound during the game are Graham Ashcraft, Brock Burke, Connor Phillips, Tejay Antone, Lyon Richardson, Zach Maxwell, and Luis Mey.