Cincinnati Reds open season with three series wins for first time since 1990

The Cincinnati Reds hadn’t won the first three series in any season since their wire-to-wire season in 1990.

The Cincinnati Reds haven’t had an elite team since 1990, but they have had a few really good teams since then.  Perhaps the best team that they have had since then was the 2012 team that lost to the San Francisco Giants in five games.  Or maybe the best team was the 2010 team that included National League MVP Joey Votto.

None of the 27 teams that followed the World Series team have won their first three series until the 2017 team beat that challenge in Pittsburgh.  In game one Reds’ manager Bryan Price went to Michael Lorenzen early in the game for three innings when starter Brandon Finnegan didn’t have the control to keep going.  Lorenzen had one at-bat, but didn’t hit another home run.

In game two Price pulled a similar move, going to Tony Cingrani and Drew Storen for an inning each when starter Rookie Davis could only make it through four innings. It was interesting that Cingrani only pitched one inning.  All off-season long the Reds mentioned that they wanted to extend the former starting pitcher.

They followed the pair of late inning relievers with Wandy Peralta.  The Reds don’t have any left-handed specialists, but the Reds want Gregory Polanco to see a lefty whenever he can and they prefer switch-hitting first baseman Josh Bell to bat from the right side, as well.

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The Cincinnati Reds took the lead on a Billy Hamilton RBI hit and then had to try to hold on.

With a three to two lead heading into the eighth, the Reds needed some insurance runs with perennial MVP candidate Joey Votto coming up.  These are the sorts of games that the Reds need to start winning as they turn the corner to competing.    Votto flew out to center and it looked like the 2016 Reds.

Adam Duvall and Eugenio Suarez followed with singles before Scott Schebler recorded the second out of the inning.  Could the Reds pull off this series victory?  Newly acquired Scooter Gennett hit his third home run in the short season and the win appeared imminent.

Of course, that would be too easy.  Blake Wood got into trouble quickly in the eighth and the Reds had to bring in newly minted closer Raisel Iglesias.  Iglesias got out of trouble in the eighth and set the Pirates down without allowing a run in the ninth to earn his third save of the young season.

Next: Billy Hamilton starts 2017 off right

So the Reds did it.  The 6-2 Reds are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for the best record in baseball nine days into the 2017.  More importantly, they just caught the 1990 Reds in a way none of us would have expected on Opening Day.