Sal Romano Solves Tangles Texas Likely Starts In Rotation In April

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Sal Romano pitched his scheduled three innings against the Texas Rangers on Thursday in a 7-6 win. He wishes to head to Cincinnati on Sunday after a stop in Dallas.

He hasn't been told but barring a late spring development, Romano is likely to get his wish.

Through 15 Cactus League innings, Romano has allowed just five earned runs on 15 hits.  He walked just two batters in the 15 frames.  He also pitched 5 1/3 innings in a minor league game, walking one.

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"Besides the homer to Odor the stuff was really good," Romano said.  "A couple ground balls, a couple strikeouts, it was a good end to the spring."

If Bryan Price chooses to make it official, Romano would follow Homer Bailey, Luis Castillo and Tyler Mahle to the mound on April 2, the fourth game of the season.  Brandon Finnegan needs more time but the Reds don't need a fifth starter until April 9.  The picture became clearer today after Robert Stephenson was optioned to Triple A Louisville.

"I came in ready from the beginning," Romano said.  "I was able to pitch the game, I needed to do.  I feel like I put myself in a really good spot to make this club.  I'm really excited for this opportunity and we'll see what happens."

The Reds had Romano stretched out in the minor league game.  He is going to pitch one of the two games in Dallas against the Rangers on Monday or Tuesday.

"Sal was terrific," Price said.  "He had a good fastball and a really good hard breaking pitch today. When we had our pitching summit in January, the challenge we had was that we wanted to know what to expect when they're on the mound.  The least we expect is that you can throw the ball over the plate.  Challenging hitters is something Sal has done most of his career."

The Reds supported Romano with six runs off Texas lefty, Mike Minor.

Billy Hamilton singled and scored on Eugenio Suarez' double just past Adrian Beltre inside the third base bag.  Adam Duvall hit his third home run of the spring.

Cliff Pennington, trying to nail down a spot on the Reds bench, fielded a ground ball off leadoff hitter Delino DeShields Jr. and threw it in the stands for a two-base error.  Two ground outs sent DeShields home.

The Reds added two in the second.

Pennington made up for the error with a one-out triple.  Romano sneaked a ground ball past Beltre inside the line to score Pennington.  Hamilton forced Romano at second.  Suarez single sent Hamilton to third.  Joey Votto's ground ball up the middle was fielded by Odor but instead of throwing to first, Odor held the ball and tagged Suarez, rounding the base.  Hamilton crossed the plate before the tag.

Odor hit a home run off Romano in the bottom of the third.

The Reds got the run back in third.  Duvall singled, went to third on Scooter Gennett's double and scored on Scott Schebler's deep fly to left.

Barnhart singled and scored on Pennington's second triple.

Texas scored a run off Vance Worley in three innings.  Joey Gallo capped a three-run inning with a home run with a man on in the seventh.

Tanner Rainey, who was reassigned to minor league camp earlier, pitched two scoreless innings for a save.  Rainey got out of a first and second, no out jam by getting Beltre to fly out to end the game.