Vladimir Gutierrez out of Cuba gets the start. Shogo Akiyama singled in his first at bat off Chicago Pitcher Dylan Cease. Jesse Winker was hit by a pitch and left the game. Rule V draftee Mark Payton took his place but Winker's left wrist is fine. Matt Davidson also left the game after he was hit on the hand with a pitch. Winker appeared to be fine but had his forearm x-rayed. There were no results available after the game.
Akiyama quickly got his first fielding chance fielding James McCann's fly ball in the second inning. The Arizona sky makes it difficult to track fly balls. Akiyama appeared to adapt.
The 31-year old Japanese League veteran was 1-for-3 and was caught stealing. He had two fairly routine put outs in center field, given that it is difficult to track balls in the air in Arizona.
"I am relieved I got my first hit," Akiyama said through interpreter Luke Shinoda. "I know how to prepare for the game. At least for today, I was able to see the ball. I've heard that a lot of MLB ballparks it is hard to see. I always check the sun to see where the ball is. The best for me was to be able to play a game today, to see how the ball flew."
Gutierrez pitched two scoreless innings and gave way to Tejay Antone, who's father-in-law is named Gary Schatz. Antone pitched two scoreless innings. When the Reds regulars left the game after getting two or three at bats, there was no score.
The White Sox scored two runs against Lucas Sims. James McCann doubled to open the fifth inning. Nicky Delmonico walked. McCann scored on a single by Leury Garcia;
The White Sox' Seby Zavala hit the first home run of the spring off Alex Powers.
The Reds didn't score until the eighth inning when they cut the lead to 3-2 when Stuart Fairchild hit a two-run home run off Matt Tomshaw with Tyler Stephenson who doubled.
The game got away from the Reds in a four-run ninth by Chicago. Chris Volstad was the pitcher but two errors by the Reds' top draft choice.in 2018, third baseman Jonathan India made two errors. Volstad was charged with four runs but only one was earned.
Despite the 7-2 loss manager David Bell was happy to get games started. He has a lot to sort our with a lot of newcomers, including Akiyama. There are nine outfielders on the 40-man roster. He has to find out about players like Mark Payton, who was 0-for-2 today.
"We had good pitching early on. It was good to get the first one under our belt," Bell said. "Some good things happened. It got away from us there in the end. It was good to start playing games."
"Akiyama looked comfortable," Bell said. "I know it's just spring training but it's kind of nice to get a hit in your first at bat. It kind of takes the pressure off. He settled in pretty quick after that. He said he was nervous before the game. I didn't see it. There were some extra feelings there for him, I'm sure, getting into the flow of the game really quick, getting a hit and getting on base, helps that a lot."
"Jesse is getting an x-ray just to be sure. I'm not 100% if Davidson is getting an x-ray," Bell said. "I haven't seen results but they appear to be fine."
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