Reds Defeat Indians in Spring Training Opener, 10-0

The Cincinnati Reds won their spring training opener on Tuesday, defeating the Cleveland Indians, 10-0.

The Reds offense was firing on all cylinders in their first action of the spring, as the first seven batters in the starting lineup had hits. A couple of non-roster invitees had nice days, as Chris Dominguez came off the bench and went 2-for-2 with a double and a run batted in, while Brennan Boesch went 2-for-2 with a run batted in.

Devin Mesoraco started off the scoring for the Reds, knocking in Brandon Phillips — who doubled two batters earlier — for the first run of the spring off of Indians starter Zach McAllister, who was charged with the loss.

After being shut out by Indians reliever Nick Hagadone in the third, the scoring continued with a three-run outburst in the bottom of the fourth inning off of pitcher Charles Brewer. Todd Frazier led off the inning with a double that nearly left the park. That was followed by a walk to Mesoraco and an RBI single by new left fielder Marlon Byrd.

The very next batter, Jay Bruce, hit with an RBI double off the wall in center field to score Mesoraco and Byrd scored after an RBI groundout by Zack Cozart to give the Reds a 4-0 lead.

Another run was added in the top of the fifth after a sacrifice fly from Frazier scored Billy Hamilton.

The next inning saw the subs come on in masses for the Reds, but it didn’t slow down the offense against Indians pitcher Bryan Price. Top prospect Jesse Winker led off the inning with a single. The next three batters got hits, as Kyle Waldrop smashed an RBI double to right field to score Winker, followed by another RBI double from Dominguez and an RBI single from Boesch.

The Reds added sacrifice flies in the eighth and ninth, coming from Winker and Irving Falu, respectively, to put the score at 10-0.

The Cincinnati pitching was equally as impressive as the offense, as the Indians were only able to manage four hits against six Reds pitchers.

Jason Marquis started the game and picked up the win, pitching two shutout innings with three strikeouts and two walks. Keyvius Sampson, J.J. Hoover, Nathan Adcock, Pedro Villarreal, Daniel Corcino, and Matt Magill followed Marquis.

Hoover was particularly impressive, as he struck out the side in the fifth after giving up two singles to start the inning.

The full box score from today’s contest can be found here.

The game might not have meant much in the grand scheme of thing, but after a 134-day break, it was nice to have Reds baseball back.

The Reds take on the Indians again tomorrow at 3:05 EST. Anthony DeSclafani is slated to start for the Reds, while Josh Tomlin takes the mound for Cleveland.

Next: Expectations for Billy Hamilton in 2015