Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s homer leads the Reds to a win

History is known to repeat itself, but that wasn’t going to happen on Saturday at Great American Ball Park. The Cincinnati Reds entered the final inning of the game up by a run once again, but this time things went their way as they defeated the San Francisco Giants 3-2 to get to even up their record.

Final
R
H
E

San Francisco Giants (1-1)
2
8
0

Cincinnati Reds (1-1)
3
8
0

W: Lodolo (1-0) L: Bivens (0-1) SV: Pagan (1)

Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread

Wilmer Flores, who homered in the 9th inning for the Giants on Opening Day, made it two at-bats in a row with a homer as he clubbed a solo home run in the 2nd inning to give San Francisco a 1-0 lead. They would tack on another run against Nick Lodolo in the top of the 3rd inning after Heliot Ramos doubled to begin the inning and then scored on a single by Jung Hoo Lee.

Cincinnati would get that run back in their half of the inning when Matt McLain hit Cincinnati’s first home run of the season to cut the lead in half. In the bottom of the 4th the Reds would threaten as they put together two singles to leave runners on the corners for Jake Fraley with two outs, but he grounded into a force out to strand both runners.

The home team put together a little 2-out rally in the bottom of the 5th against Justin Verlander. Matt McLain doubled to get the rally started. Elly De La Cruz fell behind 0-2, swinging through both a fastball and curveball before evening the count up at 2-2. Verlander went back to the breaking ball on the 5th pitch and this time the Reds shortstop didn’t miss, lining a game-tying single into right field.

In the top of the 6th inning it was those two guys getting it done on the other side of the ball. After Nick Lodolo gave up a 1-out single, he got a third ground ball of the inning and this time it was a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play. Fast forward about five minutes and the “3” on that play, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, lined a go-ahead solo homer into the bullpen down the right-field line.

When the 7th inning rolled around the Reds went to the bullpen and called on Tony Santillan out of the bullpen to face the bottom of the Giants lineup. He gave up a leadoff single, but a grounder followed and Cincinnati turned it into two outs. Three pitches later and Santillan was out of the inning unscathed and the Reds were still holding onto their 1-run lead.

Graham Ashcraft took over in the top of the 8th, making his professional debut in a relief role after starting every game he had appeared in since being drafted in 2019. Tyler Fitzgerald saw four straight cutters and lined the last one into center for a leadoff single. He battled with Heliot Ramos for seven pitches, but the eighth one was grounded to Matt McLain who fielded it, stepped on the bag, then fired to first base to turn two. Another single followed, but Ashcraft needed just one more pitch to end the inning with a groundout.

For the second game in a row to begin the season, Cincinnati entered the 9th inning with a 1-run lead. This time around they turned the save opportunity over to Emilio Pagan to face the middle of the Giants order. The veteran right-handed reliever made it quick and easy, throwing 12 pitches to retire the side in order and pick up the save as the Reds held on for the 3-2 win.

Key Moment of the Game

Christian Encarnacion-Strand’s go-ahead solo home run in the bottom of the 6th inning.

Notes Worth Noting

The Reds pitching staff had just one strikeout on the day and they walked no one. Nick Lodolo had the lone strikeout for the club. He also recorded 11 ground outs with just two fly outs during his outing.

Matt McLain, Christian Encarnacion-Strand, and Santiago Espinal each had two hits on the day. Jeimer Candelario went 1-3 and had the only walk in the game for either team.

As noted by Jim Day during the game’s broadcast, Rhett Lowder is now throwing off of the mound as he continues to rehab his way back from his elbow injury.