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SAN FRANCISCO − If it was possible for the Cincinnati Reds to fumble the newfound momentum from their first series win of 2025, Wednesday's loss to the San Francisco Giants might have done it.
The Reds fell, 8-6, in 10 innings to the Giants on Wednesday at Oracle Park in the series finale between the clubs. The defeat came after Cincinnati twice amassed five-run leads, and was six outs away from the win by a narrower margin after the Giants started to eat into their lead.
Ultimately, Mike Yastrzemski took Emilio Pagan deep and into McCovey Cove on a two-run walk-off homer. That's about as deflating as it gets, especially considering the Reds held San Francisco scoreless over the first 21 innings of the series, notching wins of 2-0 and 1-0 on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
Reds manager Terry Francona wasn't in the mood after Wednesday's loss for a moral victory of winning a series.
"I showed up today to win the game," Francona said. "That's all I care about."
More: ‘We need to see you now’: The untold story of how Elly De La Cruz found his torpedo bat
The fact of the matter is that Cincinnati did blow an opportunity on Wednesday. The charter flight back to Greater Cincinnati carried a team with a 3-4 record from the now-concluded road trip. Had the Reds held on Wednesday, the plane would have taken off carrying a club that went 4-3 on its first road trip of the season, and that was 6-7 overall.
That didn't happen. Cincinnati will return home on a 5-8 record and feeling the sting of a walk-off loss in their first extra-innings game of 2025.
None of that entirely erases the good that was done over the course of the Giants series, though.
Importantly, it was the Reds' first series win of 2025, and it came against a Giants team that's proved to be one of the success stories in in the opening weeks of the season across MLB.
"Won the series. Obviously, when you win the first two games, you want to get the sweep (and) finish the job," Reds designated hitter Spencer Steer said. "I think a lot of positives from this series."
Cincinnati's pitching staff smothered the Giants until around the midway point of Wednesday's game. Flashy, clutch fielding was on display throughout all three games, and the Reds used timely hitting to claim two games prior to finding a stronger offensive rhythm on Wednesday.
All of that occurred in the midst of a flurry of personnel comings and goings. Matt McLain hit the 10-day injured list in the middle of the series. Other significant Reds, like starter Andrew Abbott, Austin Hays and Tyler Stephenson, made progress toward their respective returns from the IL.
Through all that, the Reds still delivered a series victory − their first in four tries. The series win also flipped the season-series with the Giants, which ended 3-3 after Wednesday's thriller.
"The pitching was incredible. The defense was incredible," Steer said. "Offense did enough the first two nights and that's kind of where we fell short today. I think today was a good day for us to, you know, really jump on a team when they were down. We were up 6-1 at one point. I think we had some opportunities to put the game away and we didn't get that big hit."
Even Wednesday's Reds starting pitcher, Nick Martinez, saw the positives of the three-game set.
Martinez didn't get a decision for his efforts. He unraveled late in his 5.2 innings, and was charged with four earned runs.
"We got a series win against a really good ball club," Martinez said. "We gotta use that to keep going. Today was a heartbreaker but there's some good to take out of it."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Did walk-off loss blow the momentum from the Reds first series win?
Continue reading...
The Reds fell, 8-6, in 10 innings to the Giants on Wednesday at Oracle Park in the series finale between the clubs. The defeat came after Cincinnati twice amassed five-run leads, and was six outs away from the win by a narrower margin after the Giants started to eat into their lead.
Ultimately, Mike Yastrzemski took Emilio Pagan deep and into McCovey Cove on a two-run walk-off homer. That's about as deflating as it gets, especially considering the Reds held San Francisco scoreless over the first 21 innings of the series, notching wins of 2-0 and 1-0 on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
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Reds manager Terry Francona wasn't in the mood after Wednesday's loss for a moral victory of winning a series.
"I showed up today to win the game," Francona said. "That's all I care about."
More: ‘We need to see you now’: The untold story of how Elly De La Cruz found his torpedo bat
The fact of the matter is that Cincinnati did blow an opportunity on Wednesday. The charter flight back to Greater Cincinnati carried a team with a 3-4 record from the now-concluded road trip. Had the Reds held on Wednesday, the plane would have taken off carrying a club that went 4-3 on its first road trip of the season, and that was 6-7 overall.
That didn't happen. Cincinnati will return home on a 5-8 record and feeling the sting of a walk-off loss in their first extra-innings game of 2025.
None of that entirely erases the good that was done over the course of the Giants series, though.
Importantly, it was the Reds' first series win of 2025, and it came against a Giants team that's proved to be one of the success stories in in the opening weeks of the season across MLB.
You must be registered for see images
"Won the series. Obviously, when you win the first two games, you want to get the sweep (and) finish the job," Reds designated hitter Spencer Steer said. "I think a lot of positives from this series."
Cincinnati's pitching staff smothered the Giants until around the midway point of Wednesday's game. Flashy, clutch fielding was on display throughout all three games, and the Reds used timely hitting to claim two games prior to finding a stronger offensive rhythm on Wednesday.
All of that occurred in the midst of a flurry of personnel comings and goings. Matt McLain hit the 10-day injured list in the middle of the series. Other significant Reds, like starter Andrew Abbott, Austin Hays and Tyler Stephenson, made progress toward their respective returns from the IL.
Through all that, the Reds still delivered a series victory − their first in four tries. The series win also flipped the season-series with the Giants, which ended 3-3 after Wednesday's thriller.
"The pitching was incredible. The defense was incredible," Steer said. "Offense did enough the first two nights and that's kind of where we fell short today. I think today was a good day for us to, you know, really jump on a team when they were down. We were up 6-1 at one point. I think we had some opportunities to put the game away and we didn't get that big hit."
Even Wednesday's Reds starting pitcher, Nick Martinez, saw the positives of the three-game set.
Martinez didn't get a decision for his efforts. He unraveled late in his 5.2 innings, and was charged with four earned runs.
"We got a series win against a really good ball club," Martinez said. "We gotta use that to keep going. Today was a heartbreaker but there's some good to take out of it."
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Did walk-off loss blow the momentum from the Reds first series win?
Continue reading...
