Don’t expect the questions about the Cincinnati Reds‘ closer situation to die down anytime soon.
The Reds took a 3-2 lead in to the ninth inning Thursday on Opening Day against the San Francisco Giants, and even had the Giants down to their final out.
Ian Gibaut, the acting closer for the day, could only record two outs, though. Patrick Bailey thwacked a two-out, game-tying single up the middle before Wilmer Flores hit a go-ahead three-run homer to put the Giants in front in an eventual 6-4 victory.
That loss came before a Great American Ball Park crowd of 43,876.
The blown save erased what was for 8.2 innings an idealic start to 2025 for the Reds.
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Hunter Greene steered the Reds through the opening five innings and allowed two runs. Both came on a two-run homer by the Giants’ Heliot Ramos in the fourth inning. That one swing was the only major blight on Greene’s day as he often used his overpowering velocity, and struck out eight in five innings.
Offensively, Jeimer Candelario drove in all three runs for the Reds. His RBI single in the first inning made it 1-0 and a bases-loaded single in the third plated two more runs.
Elly De La Cruz factored into the scoring. He worked a two-out walk to extend the first inning, and eventually scored, after being down 0-2 in the count against Giants starter Logan Webb.
De La Cruz scored on Candelario’s third-inning hit, too.
In the end, Cincinnati needed four innings from its bullpen. The first three of them were clean. Reds relievers Scott Barlow, Emilio Pagan and Tony Santillan set down nine consecutive batters, one inning to each pitcher, to set the table for Gibaut.
Gibaut had four career saves against nine blown saves in his big-league career upon entering the contest. He exited with his 10th blown save, plus the loss.
The Reds mounted a comeback attempt in their half of the ninth but only produced one run. T.J. Friedl singled home pinch-hitter Jacob Hurtubise, who reached when he was hit by Giants closer Ryan Walker.
Matt McLain then lifted a ball to deep left field, but the ball died on the warning track, and inside Ramos’ glove.
The Giants tie up, and then take the lead
The Reds received three clean bullpen innings, but needed four. The fourth of those innings was somewhat calamitous as Ian Gibaut blew the save on a Patrick Bailey single and then allowed a three-run home run to Wilmer Flores.
Gibaut only recorded two outs before being lifted for Sam Moll.
Crunch time for the Reds bullpen on Opening Day
The Reds will require four innings from a bullpen with some questions marks around it, but so far, so good.
After Hunter Greene’s departure, Scott Barlow and Emilio Pagan both set down the three batters they faced. That got the Reds to the top of the eighth inning, and Tony Santillan is coming out for it.
Hunter Greene goes five innings on Opening Day
Reds starter Hunter Greene exited Thursday’s opener with a 3-2 lead. He went five innings and allowed three hits, a walk and two runs on Heliot Ramos’ two-run shot that barely cleared the right-field wall just to the left of the Giants’ bullpen.
Greene threw 84 pitches (59 strikes).
Reliever Scott Barlow followed behind Greene and set the Giants down in order in the sixth. At last check, Emilio. Pagan was warming for the seventh inning.
The Giants get to Hunter Greene
On the 11th pitch of a battle with Hunter Greene, Heliot Ramos rewarded himself with a two-run homer in the top of the fourth inning.
That broke up Greene’s shutout, although he rebounded on the next batter with a strikeout − his eighth of the game − to end the half-inning.
The Jeimer Candelario game?
Jeimer Candelario, a relatively unheralded player this spring, is 2-for-2 with three RBI so far, and the Reds are leading, 3-0, through three innings.
Candelario has 10 mostly-pedestrian hits in Cactus League play. His .268 batting average didn’t “wow,” but he has sure showed up on the biggest day of the baseball calendar in Southwest Ohio.
Candelario’s first hit in the first inning plated Elly De La Cruz, and he drove in two more runs in the third inning with a bases-loaded single.
The Reds are on the scoreboard
Elly De La Cruz was down in the count to pitcher Logan Webb, 0-2, but worked an impressive walk. After Gavin Lux’s walk put Reds on first and second base, Jeimer Candelario singled to drive De La Cruz in.
De La Cruz’s walk really changed that half-inning because Webb was cruising, and was one strike away from striking out the side.
And the Reds’ first pitch of 2025 by Hunter Greene…
b…was a strike. Greene did his part to fire up the crowd, setting the Giants down in order with two strikeouts. This crowd is juiced and ready to explode.
Reds starting lineup vs. Giants
Here’s the Cincinnati Reds’ Opening Day lineup:
- T. J. Friedl, center field
- Matt McLain, second base
- Elly De La Cruz, shortstop
- Gavin Lux, left field
- Jeimer Candelario, third base
- Spencer Steer, designated hitter
- Christian Encarnacion-Strand, first base
- Jake Fraley, right field
- Jose Trevino, catcher
The Giants batting order
- LaMonte Wade Jr., first base
- Willy Adames, shortstop
- Jung Hoo Lee, center field
- Matt Chapman, third base
- Heliot Ramos, left field
- Patrick Bailey, catcher
- Wilmer Flores, designated hitter
- Mike Yastrzemski, right field
- Tyler Fitzgerald, second base
An All-Star starting pitching matchup
Today’s starting pitchers are a matchup of 2024 MLB All-Stars in the Reds’ Hunter Greene and San Francisco’s Logan Webb.
Greene went 9-5 in 26 starts in 2024, posting 2.75 ERA. Webb was 13-10 in 33 starts with a 3.47 ERA.
How to watch Reds game today
The Giants vs. Reds Opening Day game is scheduled for 4:10 p.m. and will be broadcast locally on FanDuel Sports Cincinnati and Fox 19 (WXIX-TV).
Reds injury report
The Reds have some significant pieces on the injured list (IL) to begin 2025, but so far none of those players are expected to miss extended time.
The big losses for the first couple of weeks of the regular season are Austin Hays, the projected starting left fielder and cleanup hitter who is on the 10-day IL, and Tyler Stephenson, the Reds durable starting catcher who is on the 15-day IL.
Also on the IL are: Andrew Abbott, Alexis Diaz, Rhett Lowder (all 15-day IL). Pitcher Brandon Williamson is on the 60-day IL as he continues to progress in his rehab from Tommy John surgery.
Cincinnati Reds Opening Day tradition
Opening Day in Cincinnati is unique in the baseball world. All clubs mark the day with pomp and pageantry, but no city or region does it quite like Greater Cincinnati, where a parade in the city’s urban core stepped off just after noon Thursday.
A crowd that numbered in the tens of thousands gathered near Great American Ball Park, where the surrounding streets were closed for celebrating and revelry.
