Reds come up short in a 4-3 loss to the Rangers

Cincinnati and Texas both had a big inning early in the game that left the game tied at 3-3. The Rangers broke that tie by scoring a run in the 4th inning and then the bullpen for both teams took care of everything else as neither team would score another run on the day as the Reds lost 4-3.

The Highlights

Texas didn’t take a lot of time to get to Nick Martinez on Wednesday. A leadoff walk to being the bottom of the 1st inning was followed up by an error to put two men on. Joc Pederson then cashed in with a 3-run home run to give the Rangers the lead.

Cincinnati would get their offense moving in the top of the 3rd inning when Jacob Hurtubise led off with a walk. After a fielders choice, Matt McLain and Elly De La Cruz both singled to load the bases. Jeimer Candelario came through with a double down the left-field line that cleared the bases and tied things up at 3-3.

In the bottom of the 4th inning the Rangers would take the lead as they strung together a double, single, and a sacrifice fly against Nick Martinez. That would be the final inning for the right-handed starter, who allowed three earned runs in his 4.0 innings with a walk and three strikeouts.

Alexis Diaz took over for the Reds in the 5th and he got himself into a jam by giving up a leadoff single, then hitting a batter and walking a batter with one out to load the bases. Diaz was able to get a line out and a pop up to escape things without allowing a run in his inning of work.

Scott Barlow, Tony Santillan, and Albert Abreu would both follow up with a shutout inning of their own as the game remained a 1-run contest. The Reds offense never could get going again, though, as they dropped the game 4-3.

You can see the box score for the game here.

Game Notes

TJ Friedl went 2-4 in the game and is now hitting .379/.455/.448 this spring with as many walks as strikeouts (3) in his 33 plate appearances.

None of the Reds four relievers on the day recorded a strikeout.

Not exactly a game note, but Mark Sheldon had health updates on both Spencer Steer and Rhett Lowder as both continue to progress forward from their respective setbacks.

Thursday’s Game

The Reds are at home on Thursday afternoon as they are scheduled to take on the Sacramento Athletics. First pitch will be at 3:05pm ET (this game was originally scheduled for 4:05pm ET but they have moved the start time up by an hour due to the weather forecast). Scheduled to throw for Cincinnati: Nick Lodolo, Taylor Rogers, Ian Gibaut, Lenny Torres Jr., and Zach Maxwell.