Terry Francona's first crucial decision gives Reds fans David Bell vibes

The Cincinnati Reds entered the ninth inning of Thursday's opener with a 3-2 lead. Outside of hiccup in the fourth inning, starting pitcher Hunter Greene performed quite well. The Reds bullpen was pitching a shutout through three innings of their own, and Cincy was three outs away from celebrating an Opening Day victory over the San Francisco Giants.

But disaster struck in the ninth inning. New Reds manager Terry Francona, who is without his closer Alexis Diaz, went with Ian Gibaut to close out the game. It did not go as planned.

Gibaut struck out the first batter he faced — former Milwaukee Brewers shortstop and Reds killer — Willy Adames. But a crucial walk to Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee put the tying run aboard. A base hit single off the bat of Matt Chapman put runners at the corners with only one out.

Terry Francona's first crucial decision gives Reds fans David Bell vibes

Undeterred, Francona stuck with Gibaut (but had Sam Moll warming up in the bullpen). The Reds righty induced a strikeout from Giants slugger Heliot Ramos on a beautiful slider that caught the outside edge of the plate.

But Patrick Bailey's RBI single brought home the tying run and then Wilmer Flores stepped into the batters' box. A 1-2 pitch from Gibaut hung up in the strike zone and Flores mashed it 389 feet into the seats in left field. The Reds went from up 3-2 to down 6-3.

The Reds tried to come back in the ninth inning, but a deep drive from Matt McLain fell harmlessly into the mitt of Ramos in left field, ending Cincinnati's rally. The Reds fell 6-4 and begin the 2025 season 0-1.

Francona will no doubt have to answer questions during the postgame press conference as to why he went with Gibaut over Graham Ashcraft. That sinking feeling that fans felt as they left the ballpark probably reminded them of those crucial, failed decisions that haunted David Bell during his tenure as the Reds skipper.

It's just one game, but that's an absolutely brutal way to take an L.

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