Cincinnati Reds blown out after comeback in home-opening loss to Cleveland Guardians

With the score tied in the ninth inning Tuesday, the infield drawn in, Cleveland Guardians second baseman Andrés Giménez chose to hit the ball over everybody and spoil the Cincinnati Reds’ home opener.

Giménez crushed a go-ahead, two-run homer to center field off reliever Hunter Strickland with one out in the top of the ninth inning. Four batters later, José Ramírez hit a grand slam against rookie Daniel Duarte that sent most Reds fans to the exits, handing the Reds a 10-5 loss at Great American Ball Park.

It was a home opener with many ups and downs. The Reds were no-hit for five innings before erasing a four-run deficit. Left fielder Tommy Pham exited in the fifth inning with a left hand injury after a collision in the outfield. Reds president Phil Castellini went viral for his radio comments when he responded to a question about fans unhappy with ownership, “Well, where are you going to go?" Then the bullpen issues in the ninth inning.

"Over the course of a long year, as tough as it is to take a loss there, we just need to keep playing like that, and don't give up," Reds Manager David Bell said. "Even if you don't win that game, it can really carry over. We saw that in Atlanta and this team is committed to playing hard and it's going to pay off."

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The GABP crowd of 43,036 was ready to party all afternoon. The Reds opened a season on the road for just the third time since 1890 because the first week of the season was postponed due to the lockout. Even if it wasn’t Opening Day, it was a return to normalcy after a 2020 season without fans and a 2021 season that saw limited capacity crowds until June.

Barry Larkin, the Findlay Market Parade’s grand marshal, raved about the energy. Bell said it felt like a normal Cincinnati Opening Day to him with all the fans wearing red he saw on his drive to the ballpark.

The ballpark had its usual energy. Joey Votto, India and Hunter Greene received the loudest ovations before the game when the team was introduced along the first-base line. The crowd went wild when Joe Burrow stepped onto the field before the ceremonial first pitch and broke into a “Who Dey” chant after he lobbed the pitch to Bengals head coach Zac Taylor.

Ja’Marr Chase, the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, presented India with his 2021 National League Rookie of the Year Award. India proudly waved the plaque above his head, drawing more cheers.

"It’s pretty cool for Cincinnati to have two of them in their city," India said. "He’s a cool dude. It was pretty cool to receive an award from him. I wish I got a jersey swap or something, but I’ll try to do that later on."

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Somebody forgot to tell Shane Bieber the crowd was there to cheer on the Reds. Bieber carried a no-hitter through five innings, quieting the sold-out crowd. He walked two batters and immediately erased them with double plays, facing the minimum number of hitters.

Then in the sixth inning, Jake Fraley finally put a hit on the scoreboard and the party was back on.

“(Bieber) was phenomenal," Fraley said. "He was locating all his pitches. He had good life on a few of his fastballs. He obviously executed what he wanted to. ... He’s Bieber for a reason."

After Kyle Farmer was hit by a pitch, Fraley lined a double to left field. With two runners in scoring position, India hit a two-run double down the third-base line, waving his arms to the crowd as he stood atop second base.

After the Guardians replaced Bieber with left-hander Anthony Gose, Tyler Naquin hammered a two-run homer to the batter’s eye in center field. Naquin celebrated with a bat flip on his trot up the first-base line as the crowd went berserk.

In the span of four batters, the Reds flipped a no-hitter with a four-run deficit to a tied game.

"I mean, that shows what type of team we are," India said. "We show a lot of fight and always want to win, no matter what. We’ll do it to the last out."

Farmer hit a leadoff single in the eighth inning, but he lost his spot on the basepaths when he attempted to steal second base and was too late to retreat to first base on a flyout to left field. Six ninth-inning runs later and it was a blowout. 

It was one of those days where everything lined up for a Reds celebration, but unwise pregame comments and various things on the field fell in the way. 

Tyler Mahle's tough-luck third inning encapsulated the afternoon. He struck out the first batter of the inning, Oscar Mercado, but Mercado reached base through a dropped third strike. The next hitter bounced a comebacker to the mound, a potential double-play ball, but Mahle was unable to corral it and it turned into an error when everyone was safe.

After a sacrifice fly for the game's first run, Ramírez lofted a ball into the left-center gap. Pham and center fielder Nick Senzel collided as they slid for the ball, allowing two runs to score on a triple. Pham exited two innings later and X-rays were negative.  

"All the fans here, everyone having fun," Mahle said, "wish we could have won it for them."