By Luke Essig, Staff Writer

Following one of Cincinnati’s crowning events – the Opening Day Parade last Thursday – the Reds went on to lose the series 1-2 to the San Francisco Giants. 

In his first at-bat of the season, Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz was walked. Second baseman Gavin Lux walked as well, sending De La Cruz to second base. The first hit of the Reds season came from third baseman Jeimer Candelario, who singled to right field, and De La Cruz quickly made his way all the way from second base to home, scoring the Reds’ first run of the season.

In the third inning, center fielder TJ Friedl singled, and after a fly out from infielder Matt McLain, so did De La Cruz. Lux did the same right after, and up to bat walked Candelario. He swung at the first pitch thrown at him, hitting it to right field again for two more runs giving the Reds a 3-0 lead.

The promising start came to a quick end in the top of the fourth inning. With two outs and a runner on first, Giants center fielder Heilot Ramos sent a fastball down the middle 344 feet and over the right field wall, scoring two runs for the Giants.

The score remained 3-2 until the top of the ninth inning. Giants catcher Patrick Bailey brought center fielder Jung Hoo Lee in from third base to home, tying the game at three runs apiece. With two on base, first baseman Wilmer Flores crushed a three-run homer to left field, putting the Giants up 6-1.

Friedl batted a runner in to cut the lead to two runs, but it was ultimately not enough, as the Reds would fall to the Giants 6-4.

The second game at Great American Ballpark turned out in the Reds’ favor. Flores got the game started in the second inning with a 363-foot solo home run to start the Giants off with a 1-0 lead. Ramos hit a double to left field and ended up at third after a groundout by the following batter. Lee hit a ground ball to right field that brought Ramos into home, extending the Giants’ lead to 2-0.

This lead was short-lived. McLain, the third batter for the Reds in the bottom of the third inning, hit a solo homer to left-center field to cut the lead down to one run. De La Cruz would then tie the game in the fifth inning with a groundout that brought McLain from second base to home.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Reds first baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand hit the winning home run to right field that just barely made it over the wall, tying the series 1-1 with the Giants. 

Entering the seventh inning of the third game of the series, the Reds were down 4-0. Catcher Austin Wynns breathed life back into all Reds fans in the bottom of the sixth inning when he crushed a slider thrown right down the middle to 410 feet. McLain, who has looked like the Reds MVP this season so far, hit a homer right after Wynns’, cutting the lead again to one.

The Reds were not able to hang onto this momentum, however. The Giants scored two more runs, giving them the 6-3 win and granting them the series win as well.

With 157 games still to come in the Reds’ season, anything is possible for the Queen City team.