The Cincinnati Reds showed up to Baltimore and took it to the Orioles to open up their 3-game series on Friday night. Andrew Abbott was dominant as he struck out 11 batters and the offense had his back as they pounded out 11 hits and scored eight runs. The win moved the Reds to 10-10 on the season.
Final
R
H
E
Cincinnati Reds (10-10)
8
11
0
Baltimore Orioles (8-11)
3
4
1
W: Abbott (2-0) L: Povich (0-2)
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Baltimore got a runner to third base in the bottom of the 1st inning after a walk and two wild pitches, but they were unable to cash in that opportunity. In the next inning Cedric Mullins wasn’t waiting for anyone to help him cash in as he crushed a solo home run to lead off the frame and put the Orioles up 1-0.
Cincinnati didn’t exactly have the best luck in the top of the 3rd inning. Jose Trevino walked and Blake Dunn singled to get the inning started, but after a strikeout Santiago Espinal blooped a ball into right field and Tyler O’Neill came up just shy on a dive for it. But the ball hit his glove and bounced right to second baseman Jorge Mateo who barehanded it and fired to second to get a force out. Elly De La Cruz, though, got plenty of luck on the next play. He hit a long fly ball to center and the ball looked like it hit the top of the wall and came back in play. Trevino scored, but it was ruled a double. It was then reviewed and ruled a home run as it struck just behind the padding before coming back onto the field – giving the Reds a 3-1 lead on what turned out to be a 3-run homer.
The Reds padded their lead in the top of the 4th. Jeimer Candelario got a 91 MPH fastball up in the zone and it may not have been all that fast coming in, but it was 108 MPH going out and landed 415 feet away to push Cincinnati’s lead to 4-1. Jose Trevino came through with a 1-out double and Blake Dunn walked to put two men on for Matt McLain. He made it easy on everyone, clobbering a 414-foot 3-run home run to center to make it 7-1.
Andrew Abbott had been pitching well to that point and he just kept it going. In both the 4th and 5th innings he had two strikeouts, giving him 10 on the day with just one walk.
Cincinnati added to their lead in the top of the 6th inning. Matt McLain led off with a walk and moved up to second on a single by Santiago Espinal. Austin Hays then hit a blooper into shallow right field that fell between three defenders for a hit, and when second baseman Jorge Mateo tried to get a force out at second he short-hopped the throw and it got away, allowing McLain to sprint home and score to make it 8-1.
After throwing another shutout inning in the 6th that included his 11th strikeout of the game, Andrew Abbott’s day ended when Scott Barlow took over for the Reds on the mound in the bottom of the 7th inning. He tossed a perfect 7th inning, but when he returned for the 8th inning the Orioles got through thanks to a single to start the frame and then a 2-run home run by Heston Kjerstad that cut Cincinnati’s lead to 8-3. Barlow rebounded to strike out the next three batters.
Alexis Diaz took over for Cincinnati in the bottom of the 9th and began the inning getting a grounder to third base where Noelvi Marte made a nice play on the ball to just get Tyler O’Neill at first. He’d close the game out with a fly out to center and a strikeout to end things as the Reds moved back to .500 with the 8-3 victory.
Key Moment of the Game
Matt McLain’s 3-run home run in the 4th inning that made it 7-1 and put the game away.
Notes Worth Noting
Andrew Abbott hadn’t had a double-digit strikeout game since June 21st of 2024 when he had 10. He also had a 10 strikeout game on June 21st in his rookie season of 2023. But he fell one shy of his career high 12 strikeouts that he had on July 2nd of 2023 against the San Diego Padres.
The pitching staff as a whole had one walk and 15 strikeouts on the night. The Reds hitters walked seven times and struck out 11 times.
Five of the Reds nine hitters reached base at least twice in the game. Noelvi Marte was the only batter to not reach base safely in the game.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds vs Baltimore Orioles
Saturday, April 19, 4:05pm ET
Hunter Greene (2-1, 0.98 ERA) vs Brandon Young (MLB debut)
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