The Cincinnati Reds fell behind early on Saturday to the Rangers and stayed behind for most of the day. But as they were running out of outs late they rallied for three runs in the bottom of the 8th to take the lead and held on to beat Texas 4-3 as they moved to 12-9 on the spring.
The Highlights
Rhett Lowder had to work around a single and a walk in the top of the 1st inning but he got the job done. In the 2nd inning he needed to work around a walk and a single again, but he couldn’t do so in large part because he committed two errors in the inning on pickoff throws – and on the second one a throwing error by JJ Bleday in right field helped a run score. After that play, Lowder walked his third batter of the game, but did strand him. The next inning was another struggle for the young right-hander as he gave up back-to-back singles with one out but he was able to avoid any damage and escaped the inning.
Lowder would walk the first batter of the 4th before getting a strikeout to end his day. Reliever Jonah Hurney then entered the game and walked the first two hitters he faced before giving up a run on a ground out that put the Rangers up by a score of 2-0. In the bottom of the inning Jose Trevino led off with his second home run of the spring to cut the lead to a run.
Texas would tack on a run in the 6th inning against Tony Santillan. The Reds set up man would give up three singles in the inning with the final one from Rafe Perich driving in a run to extend their lead to 3-1.
After much of the game of the Reds offense being silent things came together in the bottom of the 8th inning. With one out Alfredo Alcantara came through with a double into center to start a rally. Carlos Jorge then came through with an RBI triple on the 6th pitch of his at-bat. Five pitches later it was Michael Toglia capping off thins with a 2-run home run that put Cincinnati up 4-3 thanks to a 3-run inning. Darren McCaughan came out of the bullpen in the 9th and got three outs on 10 pitches to seal the win.
You can see the box score for this game here.
News and Notes
Jose Trevino was the lone Reds player to get on base multiple times in the game, going 2-3 with a double and a home run.
Rhett Lowder allowed one earned run and was charged with an unearned run in 3.1 innings where he gave up four hits, walked four, and struck out four. He threw 76 pitches with 44 strikes on the day.
Emilio Pagan, Sam Moll, Tejay Antone, and Darren McCaughan all tossed a shutout inning of relief in the game. The pitching staff had six walks as a whole, but not a single one from this group. Moll kept his ERA perfect with his outing.
Cincinnati htiters had three walks and just four strikeouts in the game.
Reds prospect Jay Allen II had a single late in the game with an exit velocity of 115.3 MPH. In 2025 during the regular season only Noelvi Marte (116.7) and Elly De La Cruz (117.4) topped that mark for the team.
Carlos Jorge has three hits this spring. One of them is a double and the other two are triples.
Sunday the Reds hit the road to take on the Seattle Mariners. First pitch is scheduled for 4:10pm ET. This will be a radio broadcast only game. Scheduled to pitch for Cincinnati on the day: Brandon Williamson, Pierce Johnson, Brock Bburke, Connor Phillips, and Anthony Misiewicz.
