One out away from a 3-2 victory, the Reds gave up four runs in the ninth inning and lost 6-4 to the San Francisco Giants in front of a crowd of 43,876 at Great American Ball Park on the 149th home Opening Day in Reds history.
“It better not deflate us too much,” Francona said. “It’s no fun losing anyway. Losing late is hard. If that’s too much for us, I’ve got the wrong read on our guys.”
Reliever Ian Gibaut gave up a one-run, game-tying single to Patrick Bailey. The next batter, Wilmer Flores, hit a three-run home to give the Giants a 6-3 lead. It was their first lead of the game.
Gibaut, who missed most of the 2024 season with an injury, pitched the ninth because Alexis Diaz, who had 75 saves the last three seasons, started the season on the injured list.
“That’s why you play the game,” Gibaut said. “You want to be the guy that gets the last out. It’s kind of what I’ve done all my life. It’s what I’ve been used to. Obviously, we’ll look for a different outcome next time.”
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
The Reds, now 0-4 against the Giants on Opening Day, have lost three of their last four games on Opening Day. Francona became the seventh of eight managers in the Great American Ball Park era to lose on Opening Day.
Bob Boone (2003), Dave Miley (2004), Jerry Narron (2006), Dusty Baker (2008) and Bryan Price (2014) all lost on Opening Day. David Bell won on his first Opening Day in 2019.
Francona fell to 2-2 in his first game with new teams. He lost his first game with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1997 and won his first games with the Boston Red Sox in 2004 and Cleveland Indians, now Guardians, in 2013.
The Reds scored three runs in the first three innings but didn’t score again until the bottom of the ninth.
Jeimer Candelario, who hit fifth and started at third base on his second Opening Day with the Reds, drove in the first run with a single, scoring Elly De La Cruz in the first. The first two Reds batters, TJ Friedl and Matt McLain, struck out that inning, but De La Cruz and Gavin Lux kept the inning alive with walks before Candelario singled.
In the third, the Reds took a 3-0 lead when Candelario drove in two runs with a bases-loaded single.
Meanwhile, Hunter Greene cruised through the first three innings with seven strikeouts in his second Opening Day start. In the fourth inning, Heliot Ramos hit a two-run home run against Greene, cutting the Reds lead to 3-2. Greene allowed two earned runs on three hits in five innings.
Three relievers — Scott Barlow, Emilio Pagán and Tony Santillan — combined to keep the Reds in front until Gibaut got the ball in the ninth.
Credit: David Jablonski
Credit: David Jablonski
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