Cincinnati Reds will try to continue their winning ways on Wednesday night when they host Seattle Mariners in the second game in a three-game set.
On Tuesday, the Red extended their winning line to four matches, everyone came to the current six-game home. Austin Hays met a leading, three-run Homer in the fifth round and drove in four runs while Gavin Lux went 4-for-4 in an 8-4 decision on the sailors.
It was only the third time in franchise history that a player ran in four runs in his Cincinnati debut. Meanwhile, Lux matched a career high with four hits and became the third Reds player this season with a four-hit game.
The red spent season’s first 16 matches without several pieces, including Hays (calf injury) and closer to Alexis Diaz (hamstring). Matt McLain (hamstring) missed only five matches.
But on Tuesday, all three returned and played a role in Cincinnati’s win.
Hays would start the season as Cincinnati’s remediation shitter but suffered a calf injury three days before the season opener and spent the first 16 matches on the injured list before going 2-for-4 for the red on Tuesday.
“It doesn’t always work so fast when a guy comes back, but I think we just missed him,” Reds Manager Terry Francona said about Hays.
“He can hurt in the middle of our range,” McLain said. “He will be an amazing player for us. We are all happy for him. I think we all saw it in the spring, and we all know that he is a really good player. He is a guy we need in the lineup, so it’s good to get him back.”
McLain returned from a 10-day stint on the injured list, went three times and did twice.
At the same time, 2023 All-Star came closer to Alexis Diaz back from a hamstrings injury, retired with two beats but retired a couple.
Cincinnati was not the only team celebrating new faces Tuesday. Seattle third basseman Ben Williamson made his Major League debut, went 1-for-3 and picked up his first major league hit in his first Major League look, in the second round. He scored on Dylan Moore’s RBI single from Nick Lodolo.
“I have refined my approach a lot with two strikes and tried to get the ball as deep as possible,” Williamson said after Tuesday’s loss. “And it just gave me a lot of confidence, and knew that even against the best arms I can still have that method, where I can make tough pitch and try to see if I can get a good to beat.”
Williamson needed tickets for 14 families and friends presence, including his parents, his little league trainer and a childhood friend.
The red on Wednesday sends the right hand Nick Martinez (0-2, 6.06 era) to Haugen, which makes its fourth season start. In his last start, last Wednesday, he rolled into the sixth round with a 6-1 lead. But San Francisco gathered in four runs and then a single run on eighth before Mike Yastrzemski won the 8-6 in the 10th with a two-Run Homer.
Martinez is 0-3 with a 4.41 era in eight career appearance and five start against Seattle.
The sailors will counteract with his right hand Bryce Miller (0-2, 4.50 era), which makes its fourth start for Seattle. Miller will make his second career start against Cincinnati. Miller allowed only one hit and a run over six rounds in the beginning last year and got the victory.
-Field Level Media
