By Dominic DeGrinney, Staff Writer

The Cincinnati Reds beat the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Sunday to triumph in the season-opening series after Opening Day celebrations.

Celebrations for baseball’s first professional team began a little before noon, with a party at the Banks hosted by the Reds Community Fund. Around that same time, many streets around the area from Findlay Market to Fountain Square closed down in anticipation of the Findlay Market Opening Day Parade.

The parade marched from Race Street down to the Taft Theatre on Fifth Street. The 107^th parade featured 148 entries with over 6,000 people having taken part in the procession. Cincinnati Center City Development Corporation (3CDC) held two viewing zones in Washington Park and Fountain Square. While not confirmed, it is likely that over 100,000 people attended these pre-game celebrations.

The game ball was delivered by Cincinnatian and Olympic gold medalist in freestyle skiing Connor Curran. This was followed by the national anthem and a flyover by three Apache AH-64 Helicopters, and a Blackhawk based out of Fort Campbell, KY. The first pitch was thrown by the Reds Hall of Famer Bronson Arroyo.

Despite the celebrations the Reds did not perform during their opener. The first game was dominated by Boston Red Sox pitcher Garret Crochet, who allowed only three hits in six innings. These six-shutout innings by the Red Sox helped to mark the first time that the Reds have blanked in an opener since 2018; the ninth time overall.

The Red Sox first run came from Ceddane Rafela’s RBI single, driving in Marcelo Mayer. Red Sox Trevor Story and Jaren Duran put the game on ice in the ninth inning with two more singles bringing in two more runs. At the bottom of the ninth, all three Reds batters, Spencer Steer, Tyler Stephenson and Dane Myers flew out. 

Game two ran 5-5 into the bottom of the eleventh inning, finalized by Myers with a walk off single to left, bringing in TJ Friedl to score the game-winning run.

The phenomenal performance by the Reds in the last game was headlined by the homers by Sal Stewart and Elly De La Cruz. The Red Sox took the lead in the fourth inning courtesy of a homer from Wilyer Abreu who also scored Willson Contreras. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning Red’s Matt McLain singled, later followed by Stewart walking to first, setting the stage for Eugenio Suarez. After two sinkers and a fastball, Red Sox pitcher Connelly Early threw another fastball which Suarez homered for 431 feet; putting the Reds up by one followed by strikeouts from Steer and Myers.

The Red Sox failed to respond by the top of the ninth, securing the season opening for the Reds.