The Reds scored three in the first and three in the second against Texas Rangers rookie pitcher Kumar Rocker, making the game feel like baseball’s version of a 440-meter track meet around the bases.
Singer took it from there and took it with aplomb and zest — seven innings, no runs, one hit, two walks, eight strikeouts.
Singer is the first pitcher to make his Reds debut with at least seven shutout innings since Tom Seaver pitched a complete-game shutout in his 1977 Reds debut.
And the Reds piled it on and piled it on and piled it on en route to a 14-3 annihilation of the Rangers.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Elly De La Cruz, sporting a ski mask and swinging the controversial torpedo bat, sunk the Rangers with four hits that included two home runs, a double, a single, a stolen base and seven RBIs.
Of his torpedo weapon, De La Cruz said, “I tried it for the first time today in batting practice and I feel comfortable with it. It feels really good. It doesn’t feel different (from a normal bat), but it just feels good.
“If you feel good with something it’s gonna be good for you,” he added.
Reds manager Terry Francona’s take on the bat? “It’s more the player than the bat.
“I told Elly that the most impressive thing was his line drive to left field,” said Francona about his double the opposite way. “When he does that, it means he is on balance. And when he is on balance, you better make some pretty good pitches.”
“I learned a lot from last year,” De La Cruz added about his game. “There are a lot of things, like keeping myself down (not swinging at bad pitches) and waiting for my pitch to hit.”
Matt McLain was on base four times that added up to a home run, his third in three games, a single, walk, hit by pitch, four runs scored and two RBIs.
“That’s impressive,” said Francona. “It was cold out there and he has hit four balls — a couple went, a couple didn’t.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Singer was most appreciative of the offensive onslaught, especially the six early runs.
“The offense was incredible,” he said. “That was really good baseball, fun to watch. It makes my life a lot easier when they score 14. That took the pressure off.”
Singer was acquired in the off-season from the Kansas City Royals, where All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. played behind him.
“I’m really lucky to play with two guys like Bobby and Elly, two of the best players I’ve ever seen play the game,” he said. “They are game-changers with one swing of the bat or one play.”
Rangers’ starter Rocker must have thought it might be an easy night when his first two pitches of the game were strikes to TJ Friedl.
But Friedl singled to center on the third pitch. McLain homered and De La Cruz singled and stole second, the Reds’ first theft of the season. Gavin Lux doubled and it was 3-0.
Jose Trevino singled with one out in the second. McLain was behind 0-and-2 with two outs, but worked a walk. De La Cruz made them pay by drilling his first homer over the center field wall and it was 6-0 after two.
Then came the sixth and the Reds sent 11 batters to the plate and scored six runs.
Spencer Steer singled to open the inning and Trevino reached on an error, Friedl singled for a run, McLain singled and De La Cruz doubled to left for two more runs and it was 12-0.
McLain was hit by a pitch with one out in the seventh and De La Cruz unloaded with every ounce of his being — a 436-foot rocket that crashed against the black batter’s eye in straightaway center.
So which home run did De La Cruz admire the most?
“I like both. . .yeah, I like both,” he said with a laugh. “I hit them both really well.”
Meanwhile, Singer just kept monotonously retiring the Rangers with cutters and sinkers and getting stronger each inning. He struck out the side in the sixth and his final pitch, his 91st, was his swiftest at 94 miles an hour.
“Brady was outstanding because that’s a good offensive club,” said Francona. “A dangerous offensive club. He established all his pitches and he worked quick.
“On a night when it’s cold, it’s a lot better being in the dugout than on the field,” he added, realizing that the quick-working Singer put his team in the dugout fast and the offense kept the Rangers shivering on the field.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
“He threw strikes and he was very impressive,” Francona added. “He’s a pro and a worker, works at his craft.”
The only downer for the Reds was that Christian Encarnacion-Strand was hit on the wrist by a pitch in the sixth and left the game.
It was against the Rangers early last season when Michael Lorenzen fractured Encarnacion-Strand’s wrist with a fastball, and CES missed the rest of the season.
Francona said the report was better this time.
“X-rays were negative and he is day-to-day. . .as we all are.”
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